24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Minneapolis, MN

Lowry Hill, Kenwood, the Wedge, Whittier and Stevens Square have homes and apartment buildings from the 1880s through the 1920s, with basements and clay laterals.

South Minneapolis, including Longfellow, Powderhorn, Standish, Nokomis and Kingfield, is full of bungalows, foursquares and duplexes from the 1900s through the 1930s.

Northeast and North Minneapolis have worker homes and duplexes from the 1880s through the 1940s.

Southwest neighborhoods near the lakes, like Linden Hills and Fulton, have homes from the 1910s through the 1950s.

Minneapolis separated most of its combined sewers in past decades, but cracked laterals and old connections still let groundwater and rain in.

Minneapolis Public Works maintains the city's sewers, and the Metropolitan Council's Environmental Services treats the wastewater at the Metro plant in St. Paul. Minneapolis homeowners own the sewer service line from the house out to the city main.

Spring thaw and summer storms load the sewers and raise groundwater, and roots grow fastest from June through August.

Winters bring weeks below zero, frost deep in the ground and frozen pipes in porches, garages and exterior walls.

Longfellow, Powderhorn, Standish, Nokomis and Kingfield are full of bungalows and foursquares built in the 1910s and 1920s, nearly all with basements. Their clay laterals run under boulevards lined with trees, and roots are the most common cause of backups. Many homes have finished basements, so a backup can do real damage.

Minneapolis has thousands of up-and-down duplexes, with one unit on each floor sharing a basement and service line. When the line clogs, water from the upper unit comes out the basement floor drain. A jetting every year or two keeps most duplex owners from getting the 2 a.m. call from the downstairs tenant.

Minneapolis once had one of the great American elm canopies, much of it lost to Dutch elm disease in the 1970s and replaced with ash, maple and other trees. Emerald ash borer has since killed many ash trees. Dead and removed trees leave root systems in the ground, and replacement trees grow new ones. Laterals under boulevards see roots from all of them.

Minneapolis winters bring weeks below zero, and frost can drive four or five feet into the ground under plowed driveways and boulevards. Shallow service lines can freeze. Pipes in enclosed porches, garages and exterior walls freeze long before that. A warm basement, insulated pipes and a slow drip on the coldest nights prevent most problems. Frozen service lines need steam or warm water jetting to thaw safely.

In late January, after a week below minus ten, the lower-unit tenant in a 1915 duplex in Powderhorn finds water backing up in the basement floor drain. The plumber finds the service line frozen under the boulevard, thaws it with a steam jetter and then sees roots at a cracked joint on the camera. The owner plans a liner in spring.

The Chain of Lakes, Minnehaha Creek and the Mississippi shape Minneapolis, and neighborhoods near them sit on higher groundwater. Spring thaw and heavy rain push water into cracked laterals and old basement walls.

Northeast Minneapolis, built by Polish, Ukrainian and other immigrants who worked in the mills and rail yards, has small homes and duplexes with old clay laterals. North Minneapolis has older homes and duplexes, some affected by vacancy. Old lines and missing cleanouts are common.

Uptown, Whittier, Stevens Square and the neighborhoods near the University of Minnesota have many old brick apartment buildings with shared stacks and service lines. Grease from many kitchens builds up quickly, and building owners who jet lines regularly avoid backups.

Nicollet Avenue's Eat Street, Northeast's breweries and taprooms, Lake Street's international restaurants and downtown's dining scene produce plenty of grease. Kitchens that pump interceptors on schedule avoid weekend shutdowns.

When a winter's snowpack melts in March and April, water floods into thawing ground. Basements take on water, sump pumps run constantly and cracked laterals take in groundwater. Moving snow piles away from the foundation helps.

In some years, rapid melt combined with spring rain raises the Mississippi and the creeks enough to push groundwater into basements across lower neighborhoods.

Linden Hills, Fulton and the neighborhoods around Lake Harriet have homes from the 1910s through the 1950s on tree-lined streets. Long laterals under big trees and higher groundwater near the lakes mean roots and infiltration.

Many Minneapolis homes have finished basements, and some older houses and duplexes have basement apartments. Those spaces have the lowest drains in the building, so a clogged service line floods them first, damaging carpet, drywall and belongings. A backwater valve on the main line and regular jetting of older clay lines are the best protection. Some homeowners also add a standpipe or float plug to the floor drain.

Say which neighborhood you're in, the home's age, whether it's a duplex and whether the basement is finished. Mention whether it's been bitterly cold or whether a thaw or storm came first.