Drain cleaning in Glendale

Start with the question the city itself asks: is the sewage backing up, or is it just not draining? Turn every tap off. If waste keeps rising through the tub, shower or toilet, the blockage may be in Glendale's main line and the city wants a call straight away. If it stops, the clog is in your own pipe, which is generally yours up to the main in the street.

Glendale is one of the Los Angeles areas we cover, and it is a mostly rented, mostly multi-unit city, so who actually makes that call is often a landlord.

Is a Glendale sewer backup the city's problem or mine?

The test is simple. With all water off, a backup that continues points to the city main and a backup that stops points to your private line. Public Works Maintenance Services takes the first kind at (818) 548-3950. Between 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. you can leave a message on its after-hours line, or call the Police Department.

The second kind belongs to you. The waste pipe from the house to the main is generally the owner's to maintain. We could not read the city's own wording on exactly where your part ends, so ask Maintenance Services about the connection at the main. For that you want a plumber, and our page on sewer backup into the house covers the first hour while one is on the way.

Glendale's wastewater crew looks after more than 361 miles of public sewer line and clears blockages from roots, debris and grease.

How far does my pipe run, and what does digging it up need?

It runs from the house to the main, so the stretch under the sidewalk, the parkway and the street is generally yours. Ask the city where its main takes over at your address.

Two permits usually apply. Work on your own lot falls under a plumbing permit for sewer on property, and anything from the sidewalk out to the street needs a Public Works engineering permit for sewer excavation in the right-of-way, reachable at (818) 548-3945. Municipal Code Chapter 12.08 forbids digging in a public right-of-way without that written permit.

A sewer line repair that stays on your property is a different bill from one that reaches the street, and we flag which one your quote is.

What if the roots in my line came from a city tree?

Call the city while the pipe is still open. Glendale's FAQ says trees on the parkway, the grassy strip between sidewalk and gutter, belong to the city, and that roots in a lateral usually mean an old line has separated or deteriorated and can be fixed without removing the tree. Ask Maintenance Services whether it wants to see the tree and the exposed lateral before the trench is covered.

Do not count on the tree coming out. That makes roots a maintenance matter for the pipe, and getting rid of roots in a sewer line lays out cutting, jetting and what a permanent fix looks like.

Do protected trees on my lot change how a lateral gets repaired?

They can. Glendale protects native oak, bay and sycamore (trunk 6 inches or more across) on private property. Cutting, removing, relocating or working inside the protected zone needs a city permit; routine pruning on your own lot does not. A trench through the root zone of a protected oak is a bigger decision than a trench across lawn, so say so when you describe the property.

The upside is that a camera inspection can show whether roots are inside the pipe before anyone digs. If the damage is at one joint, a short repair beats replacing the whole run.

How does a renter-heavy city change drain work?

About 65 in 100 Glendale households rent, and only about a third of the city's 77,783 homes are standalone houses. Around 26 in 100 homes are in buildings of 20 or more units, and the typical building dates from 1966. With that many multi-unit buildings, many lines are shared.

For a tenant, the first step is a message to the owner or manager, because the building's sewer line is not the renter's to repair. For a landlord or association, shared lines suggest a camera pass before a cleaning, so the report shows which unit's branch is the culprit.

Glendale also has over 600 food service businesses, each required to hold an Industrial Waste Permit that controls grease. Restaurants and cafes can read commercial drain cleaning for how that cleaning is scheduled.

How hard is Glendale's water?

Glendale Water and Power calls anything above 10 grains per gallon very hard and says, on a page that dates the figure to 2008, that the city's average passed 12 grains per gallon. According to that page, about 70 percent of supply is imported by the Metropolitan Water District, and about 30 percent is pumped from local wells, which is generally harder than Colorado River water.

Hardness varies with how the two are blended, so two Glendale neighbors can see different scale. It is not a health risk, and the white deposits it leaves on fixtures and in water heaters are the visible sign.

Questions people ask

How much does drain cleaning cost in Glendale?

Los Angeles area ranges run about $100 to $300 for a single fixture and about $200 to $600 for a main line, with jetting higher. Glendale has no separate price list. Our drain cleaning cost page shows what moves the bill.

Who do I call about a sewer smell in Glendale?

The city says a sewer odor can signal a serious problem. Check the tubs, sinks and showers, look in the crawl space for pooled water, and make sure your cleanout cap is secure. Standing water in the cleanout means the line is blocked; call Maintenance Services or a plumber.

Does the City of Glendale clean the pipe from my house to the street?

No. Public Works maintains the public sewer mains. The pipe from your house to the main is generally yours, so a house-side blockage is for a plumber and not for the city crew.

Can I get a plumber on the weekend in Glendale?

Send the price request form with your address and say the problem is urgent, and we'll arrange a local plumber to call you. Other services are listed on the home page. If sewage is coming up from a manhole or across the street, ring the city line first, because that is the public system. Our emergency sewer backup page explains how after-hours jobs are priced.