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

Pill Hill, Historic Southwest and the neighborhoods near downtown and Mayo have homes from the 1880s through the 1930s, with basements and clay laterals.

Kutzky Park, Slatterly Park and the near northeast have bungalows and older homes from the 1910s through the 1950s.

Neighborhoods built from the 1950s through the 1980s on the north and south sides have ranches and split-levels.

Rochester has grown rapidly since the 1990s, with newer subdivisions in the northwest and southeast.

The Zumbro River runs through the city, which built flood control channels after major floods in 1978.

Rochester Public Works runs the city's sewer system and the Water Reclamation Plant. Rochester homeowners maintain the sewer service line from the house to the public main.

Spring thaw and summer storms raise groundwater and load sump pumps and sewers, and roots grow fastest in summer.

Winters bring deep cold that freezes pipes and shallow service lines.

Pill Hill, southwest of downtown, got its name because so many Mayo Clinic doctors built homes there in the early 1900s. Its large Tudors, Colonial Revivals and Prairie-style homes sit on hilly, tree-lined streets. Clay laterals under big trees fill with roots, and lining protects historic landscapes.

Kutzky Park, northwest of downtown, has bungalows and older homes, many rented to Mayo employees and medical students. Old clay laterals and heavy use mean regular clogs.

Mayo Clinic employs tens of thousands of people, many on shifts, and patients and families from around the world stay in Rochester for treatment. Households keep odd hours, and rentals near downtown turn over frequently. Regular jetting keeps rental lines clear.

Rochester winters bring weeks below zero with wind across the open prairie. Frost drives deep under plowed driveways, and shallow service lines can freeze. Pipes in garages, porches and exterior walls freeze first. A warm basement and insulated pipes help.

In February, after a subzero week, a family in a 1925 Tudor on Pill Hill finds water backing up in the basement floor drain. The plumber finds the service line frozen near the driveway, thaws it with steam and then finds roots at a cracked joint farther out. They plan to line the line in spring.

The Zumbro River flooded Rochester badly in 1978, and the city built flood control channels and reservoirs afterward. Neighborhoods near the river still have higher groundwater, and cracked laterals take in water during spring thaw.

Most Rochester basements built after the 1960s have sump pumps. When a pump fails during spring thaw or a summer storm, the basement floods with groundwater. Test the pump each spring and keep the discharge line clear of ice in winter.

Neighborhoods built from the 1950s through the 1980s, when IBM opened a large campus in Rochester, have ranches and split-levels with cast iron and clay laterals now aging. Scale and roots are common.

Rochester's rapid growth has added many newer homes in the northwest and southeast with PVC drains. Grease and wipes cause most clogs there.

Some newer homes have basement bathrooms below the main line that rely on an ejector pump, which needs its own maintenance.

Downtown Rochester's restaurants and hotels serve Mayo patients, families and staff year-round. Kitchens in older buildings stay open by keeping interceptors pumped.

When snow melts in March and April, groundwater rises and seeps into basements and cracked laterals. Sump pumps run constantly. Keeping snow piles away from foundations helps.

Historic Southwest, next to Pill Hill, and Slatterly Park on the east side have bungalows, foursquares and cottages from the 1910s through the 1940s, many built for Mayo staff, IBM's early workforce and local tradespeople. Basements there typically have a floor drain near the furnace and a laundry tub, both tied into the clay service line. After a century of boulevard trees growing overhead, roots at the joints are almost a given. A root cutting every year or two keeps many of these lines open, and a liner ends the cycle.

Because Rochester has so many medical residents, visiting families and long-term patients, many homes have finished basements with bedrooms and bathrooms rented out. Those lower levels sit at the bottom of the plumbing, and a clogged service line can flood them quickly. A backwater valve and regular jetting are inexpensive protection compared to replacing flooring and drywall.

Southeastern Minnesota's clay soils hold water, and when that water freezes, the ground heaves. Over many winters, frost heave can lift and shift shallow service lines and crack old clay joints. Lines under driveways and sidewalks, where snow is cleared and frost goes deepest, are most affected.

When IBM opened its Rochester campus in 1956, thousands of engineers and their families arrived, and neighborhoods of ramblers and split-levels spread across the north and west sides. Those homes are now sixty years old or more. Their cast iron and clay lines have scale and root problems, and many have finished basements added over the years that would be badly damaged by a backup.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's a rental and whether you have a sump pump. Note whether the backup followed a deep freeze, a quick thaw or a heavy rain.