24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Oklahoma City, OK

Heritage Hills, Mesta Park, Crown Heights and the Paseo have homes from the 1900s through the 1930s, many on pier-and-beam foundations with crawlspaces and clay laterals.

Neighborhoods like Edgemere Park, Gatewood, Classen Ten Penn and Capitol Hill were built from the 1910s through the 1940s with bungalows, Tudors and cottages.

Postwar neighborhoods across the city, from Nichols Hills' edges to south OKC, Del City and Midwest City, were built from the 1950s through the 1970s, mostly ranches on slabs with cast iron drains.

Newer subdivisions toward Edmond, Yukon, Mustang and far north OKC have PVC drains on slab foundations.

Oklahoma's red clay soils shrink and swell dramatically with moisture, shifting foundations and buried pipe.

Oklahoma City's Utilities Department runs the city sewer system and treatment plants. Oklahoma City owners are responsible for the private sewer service line from the house to the city main.

Spring storm season brings heavy rain that saturates the clay and swells it, while summer droughts dry and shrink it. Both stress sewer lines, and roots chase water hardest in July and August.

Winter ice storms and occasional deep cold can freeze drains in garages and crawlspaces.

Central Oklahoma's red clay is famous for shrinking and swelling. After a wet spring, it expands and pushes on foundations and pipe. After a hot, dry summer, it shrinks and pulls away, leaving gaps. Over decades, that movement cracks foundations, shifts sewer lines and separates joints. Many homeowners water their foundations during droughts to keep the soil stable, which also helps protect buried pipe.

Heritage Hills and Mesta Park, just north of downtown, have grand homes built by oil men and merchants in the early 1900s, many on pier-and-beam foundations. Their clay laterals run under big elms, oaks and pecans. Roots are the most common cause of backups, and soil movement adds cracks.

Crown Heights, Edgemere Park and the Paseo Arts District have bungalows, Tudors and Spanish Revival homes from the 1920s and 1930s. Many sit on crawlspaces, with drain lines running under the floor. Clay laterals, roots and crawlspace leaks are common.

After World War II, Oklahoma City spread in every direction with ranch homes on concrete slabs, built for families working at Tinker Air Force Base, the oil fields and aviation plants. Most have cast iron drains under the slab. After fifty to seventy years, that cast iron scales, cracks and sometimes collapses, especially where the clay has shifted the slab. When every tub and sink in the house drains a little slower each year, scaled or cracked cast iron under the slab is the usual reason.

In August, after weeks without rain, a family in a 1962 slab ranch in south OKC notices every drain in the house running slowly. The plumber opens the yard cleanout and clears roots and scale, then sends a camera under the slab and finds the cast iron cracked where the foundation has shifted. They get quotes for lining and a reroute.

Oklahoma's spring storm season brings heavy rain, hail and the occasional tornado. Heavy rain saturates the ground, seeps into cracked lines and can surcharge sewers in low areas. After severe weather, check for slow drains and odors, and have the line inspected if anything seems off.

Tinker Air Force Base is one of the area's largest employers, and Midwest City and Del City nearby grew up with postwar ranches for base workers. Cast iron under slabs and clay laterals there are now aging.

Older OKC homes on pier-and-beam foundations have drain lines in the crawlspace that can sag, leak or separate as the clay moves. A slow leak can soak the soil under the house and make movement worse. A plumber can inspect crawlspace lines while clearing the main.

Bricktown, Midtown, the Plaza District and the busy corridors along May Avenue and Memorial Road are full of restaurants, including plenty of chicken fried steak and barbecue. Kitchens in older buildings stay open by keeping interceptors pumped on a short cycle.

Oklahoma City gets occasional ice storms and arctic blasts. The February 2021 freeze burst pipes across the state. Pipes in garages, crawlspaces and exterior walls are the first to freeze. Open cabinet doors on exterior walls and let faucets drip during a hard freeze.

Newer subdivisions in far north OKC and suburbs like Edmond, Yukon and Mustang have PVC drains, which handle soil movement better than cast iron. Most calls there are about grease, wipes and hair.

Say which part of the city you're in, roughly when the home was built and whether it's on a slab or pier-and-beam. Mention whether it's been very wet or very dry, whether big trees grow near the line and whether foundation cracks have appeared.