Sewer & Drain Cleaning

We specialize in clearing both residential and commercial drains and sewers. We utilize professional grade equipment and techniques to clear blockages and prevent further issues from occurring. We have extensive experience in diagnosing plumbing drain systems of all sizes and we guarantee all of our work.

Common Causes of Sewer & Drain Blockages

• Foreign objects flushed down toilets or drains
• Too much toilet paper
• Weak toilet flushes
• Build up of soap scum, grease & dirt
• Main sewer drain blocked by tree roots

Why drains clog the way they do in Southwest Florida

Two things fill our sewer lines faster than anywhere else we know of: roots and wipes. Ficus, palm, and oak roots follow the moisture from a hairline crack or a loose joint into the pipe, then grow into a mat that catches everything that passes. A yard with a mature ficus near the sewer run is the first place we look when a main line backs up every few months. Wipes, even the ones sold as flushable, do not break down the way toilet paper does. They snag on any rough spot, roots, or a sag in the line, and grease from the kitchen binds them into a plug.

The pipe itself matters too. Homes built before about 1975 in Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, and the older parts of Cape Coral and Naples usually have cast iron drain lines under the slab. Fifty years of use leaves the bottom of the pipe rough, scaled, or channeled through, and a rough pipe clogs again and again no matter how carefully the house is used. Newer homes have PVC drains, which stay smooth but can sag or separate where the fill settled under the slab.

Cabling or jetting: matching the tool to the clog

A drain cable, sometimes called a snake or an auger, is a steel cable with a cutting head that spins its way through the blockage. It is the right tool for a single slow drain, a toilet that will not clear with a plunger, and a main line stopped by a soft clog or a small root intrusion.

A hydro jetter uses water at high pressure through a hose with a nozzle that cuts forward and scours backward. It is the right tool for grease, for lines that keep clogging after cabling, for heavy root growth, and for restaurants and commercial kitchens. Jetting cleans the full inside wall of the pipe, so the line stays open longer. It is not used on every job: a badly deteriorated cast iron pipe or a line with a known break is cabled carefully or inspected first, because jetting can enlarge a hole that is already there.

• Single slow sink, tub, or shower: cable, usually from the fixture or a nearby cleanout.
• Toilet that plunging will not fix: closet auger, then a camera if it recurs.
• Main line backup with more than one fixture affected: cable from the cleanout to get you draining, camera to see why.
• Grease, recurring clogs, or heavy roots: hydro jetting.

A camera after the clearing, not just the clearing

Clearing a main line tells you the pipe is open today. It does not tell you why it closed. After a main line backup, or any clog that has happened more than once, we run a camera through the line and watch the screen with you. The camera shows roots, a belly holding water, a separated joint, or the channeled bottom of an old cast iron pipe, and it shows exactly where along the run the problem is. That turns a guess into a plan.

What to expect on the visit

We start at the cleanout closest to the problem, protect the floors and fixtures around the work, and clear the line. If the house has no accessible cleanout, which is common on older slab homes, we may work through a roof vent or pull a toilet, and we tell you before we do. When the drain is running, we test it with a full volume of water and put everything back. If the clog was in the main line, the camera comes out next, and you get a plain explanation of what it found.

If you are on a septic system, which includes much of Lehigh Acres, Alva, Buckingham, and the eastern edges of Estero and Bonita Springs, we check whether the backup is a clog in the house line or a full tank and drainfield. A clog is cleared the same way as on sewer. A tank that has not been pumped in years is a job for a septic pumper, and we will tell you which one you have.

Call Van Franey Plumbing at (239) 851-0207 for drain or sewer cleaning, or use the request form on this page. A plumber answers 24/7.

When a backup is an emergency

Water or sewage rising in a tub or shower when a toilet is flushed means the main line is blocked and the house has nowhere to drain. Stop using water, keep people and pets out of anything that came up, and call. A single slow drain, or a sink that gurgles, can wait for a normal appointment, and until then the safest thing to do is nothing: no chemical drain cleaners, which damage old pipes and make the job more dangerous for whoever opens the line next.

Call Van Franey Plumbing 24/7 service at (239) 851-0207 to solve your sewer and drain problems

Learn more before you call

• Why are several drains backing up at the same time?
• Are flushable wipes really flushable? No, and here is what they do to your drains
• Hydro jetting vs. cabling: which drain cleaning does your line need?
• Ficus roots and your sewer line: the Southwest Florida clog nobody warns you about
• Sewer smell in the house: the seven usual causes

Common questions about drain cleaning