24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Shreveport, LA

Highland, Fairfield, South Highlands and the neighborhoods near downtown have homes from the 1890s through the 1930s, many on piers with clay laterals.

Broadmoor, Anderson Island and the neighborhoods around Shreve Island were built from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Southeast and southwest Shreveport filled in from the 1950s through the 1980s with ranches on slabs.

Newer subdivisions toward Southern Hills and the far south side have grown since the 1980s.

Shreveport sits on red clay soils along the Red River, with hot, humid summers and heavy spring rain.

Shreveport's Department of Water and Sewerage runs the city sewer system and treatment plants. In Shreveport, the homeowner maintains the private sewer line that runs from the house to the public main.

Spring storms soak the red clay and push water into cracked laterals, and long, hot summers drive roots toward water.

Short winters with occasional ice storms can freeze pipes under raised houses.

Highland and South Highlands grew during Shreveport's oil boom in the early 1900s, with Craftsman bungalows, Tudors and grand homes on tree-lined streets. Many sit on piers, with drain lines running under the house. Clay laterals under big oaks and pines fill with roots, and red clay movement cracks joints.

When oil was discovered at Caddo Lake in the early 1900s, Shreveport boomed, and neighborhoods spread south from downtown. Homes built then have clay laterals and cast iron that are now about a century old.

Broadmoor, built from the 1920s through the 1950s, has brick homes on curving streets shaded by big trees. Many are on slabs or low crawlspaces, and clay or cast iron laterals there have roots and cracks.

Shreveport's red clay swells after heavy spring rain and shrinks in hot, dry summers. That movement shifts slabs and laterals, cracking joints and creating sags. Watering around foundations in drought helps.

In July, a family in a 1925 bungalow in Highland notices the bathtub filling with gray water when the washer runs. The plumber goes under the raised house, opens the line and clears roots from a big water oak about thirty feet out. The camera shows cracked clay. They plan a liner.

Southeast and southwest Shreveport grew after World War II with ranches on slabs for families working at Barksdale Air Force Base, General Motors and the oil industry. Cast iron under those slabs is now sixty to seventy years old, and red clay movement can crack it. Slow drains throughout the house are a common sign.

Many older Shreveport homes sit on piers, with drain lines running under the floor. In the humid climate, those lines rust, and leaks can soak the soil under the house. A sewer smell coming through the floor is a sign to check.

Barksdale Air Force Base, across the Red River in Bossier City, brings many military families to the area. Homes that turn over often benefit from a jetting between tenants.

Shreveport's riverfront casinos, downtown restaurants and the busy corridors along Youree Drive serve plenty of fried catfish, boudin and Cajun food. Kitchens there need interceptors pumped on a tight schedule.

Shreveport gets heavy spring rain, and storms can drop several inches in a day. Saturated clay pushes water into cracked laterals, and low areas near bayous and the Red River see more infiltration.

Cross Bayou and the bayous that thread through the city rise quickly after storms, and homes near them notice slower drains for days afterward.

Shreveport winters are mild, but occasional ice storms, like those in 2021, freeze pipes under raised houses. Wrap exposed pipe and leave a tap trickling when a freeze is forecast.

Southern Hills and the far south side have newer homes with PVC drains that hold up better in clay. Kitchen grease and wipes cause most clogs there.

Fairfield Avenue was once Shreveport's grandest street, lined with mansions built by oil and cotton families in the early 1900s. Many have been restored, and many others were divided into apartments or offices. Long laterals from deep front lawns to the street run under massive oaks, and roots are almost always present. Lining lets owners renew the pipe without digging up the old lawns and walks.

Downtown Shreveport's older commercial buildings and the restored Red River District have restaurants and lofts on old sewer lines, some more than a century old. Busy nights and festivals like Red River Revel and Mudbug Madness push kitchens hard, and regular jetting keeps their lines open.

Shreveport households fry a lot of fish, chicken and boudin balls, and that oil causes many kitchen clogs when it's poured down the sink. Letting it cool and pouring it into a can for the trash keeps the kitchen line open.

Share the neighborhood, the home's age, whether it's raised or on a slab and whether there's a cleanout. Mention big oaks or pines near the line.