Drain Cleaning in Pasadena, TX

Pasadena boomed during and after World War II as refineries and chemical plants along the Ship Channel hired thousands of workers. Most homes in the northern and central parts of the city were built from the 1940s through the 1960s, on slabs with cast iron drains and clay laterals.

South Pasadena, toward Clear Lake and Ellington, filled in during the 1970s and 1980s with larger homes, many with cast iron or early plastic drains.

The city sits on flat, low coastal plain where groundwater is close to the surface. Heavy rain overwhelms drainage quickly, and sewers can back up into low drains.

Gumbo clay swells and shrinks with the weather, moving slabs and cracking pipes underneath.

Many homes are rentals or house large families, and many have been added onto over the years.

The City of Pasadena's public works department maintains the sewer system and treatment plants. The lateral from the house to the city's main belongs to the property owner.

Hurricane season and spring storms bring heavy rain that can overload sewers within an hour. Homes that flood may have silt and debris in their drains afterward.

Long, dry summers shrink the clay and crack old cast iron. Rare freezes can burst exposed pipes.

The neighborhoods closest to the Ship Channel and along Red Bluff Road, Shaver Street and Pasadena Boulevard were built for refinery and plant workers from the 1940s through the 1960s. Cast iron drains under those slabs have been rusting and scaling for decades. Many lines have lost much of their opening, and some have rusted through on the bottom. A camera inspection shows whether descaling, lining or a reroute is the answer.

South of Spencer Highway and toward Clear Lake, homes built in the 1970s and 1980s are larger, with a mix of cast iron and plastic drains. Clogs there come from grease, wipes and roots, plus the same clay movement that affects the rest of the city.

Pasadena is almost completely flat and close to sea level. When a tropical storm or a stalled front drops several inches of rain, streets flood and sewer mains fill. Water then pushes back toward homes and shows up in the lowest drain. A backwater valve on the lateral is one of the best protections a Pasadena homeowner can install.

Hurricane Harvey in 2017 flooded thousands of Pasadena homes. Many were gutted and rebuilt with new interior plumbing, but the laterals and under-slab drains often weren't touched. Silt and debris from that flood still turn up in some lines. If your home flooded and the drains have never been scoped, it's worth doing.

During a June storm, a family in a 1958 home near Pasadena Memorial High finds gray water rising in the shower and the toilets bubbling. The plumber waits for the rain to ease, clears the main from the front cleanout and runs a camera. It shows heavy scale and a crack in the cast iron under the slab, plus groundwater seeping in. The family schedules lining and a backwater valve.

The black gumbo clay under Pasadena holds water like a sponge. After a wet spring it swells and lifts slabs, and after a dry August it shrinks and lets them settle. Every cycle bends the cast iron underneath a little more. Running a soaker hose around the foundation during long dry spells keeps the soil steadier, and new cracks in floor tile or sheetrock are a cue to have the drains tested, not just the foundation.

Many Pasadena residents work rotating shifts at the plants and refineries along the Ship Channel, and drain trouble doesn't wait for a day off. A backup at two in the morning after a night shift is common. Many homes are rentals too, and tenants change often. Knowing where the cleanout is, when the line was last cleaned and who to call for approval saves time no matter what hour it is.

The Pasadena Strawberry Festival each May, the livestock show and rodeo, and the long run of taquerias, seafood spots and barbecue joints along Spencer Highway and Fairmont Parkway all keep commercial kitchens busy. Interceptors pumped on a fixed calendar and kitchen lines jetted every few months keep those places from closing on a Friday night.

Plenty of Pasadena homes have grown over the decades, with a converted garage, an extra bathroom or a back room added on. Every new fixture ties into the same old lateral. If clogs became more frequent after an addition, the original pipe may simply be overloaded on top of its scale.

Give your neighborhood and the home's age, whether it flooded during Harvey or another storm and whether the trouble started during rain. Mention any foundation work or cracks in the floor, whether it's a rental and how many people live there.