Grease in the kitchen line.
It goes down warm and sets on the pipe wall like candle wax, narrowing the line until one plate of drippings closes it.
One slow drain, or all of them
Drain cleaning starts with which fixtures are slow. That single answer tells a plumber whether the trouble is under your sink or under your yard.
First question: one fixture, or the whole house?
One fixture is slow and the rest are fine
The blockage sits in that fixture's own trap or branch. A kitchen sink that drains while the bathroom is fine is a kitchen problem, and it is the cheap one.
Two or more fixtures on the same side
You are past the fixture and into the branch that joins them. Often a shared bathroom line, sometimes a blocked vent.
Every drain is slow, or the lowest one overflows
Stop using water. This points at the main line leaving the house, and every gallon has to come out somewhere. Usually the basement floor drain. Read sewer line repair next.
It only happens when it rains
Rain should not reach your sanitary drain at all here. When it does, something is cross connected or broken open underground. A camera job, not a rodding job.
What drain cleaning actually removes
Hair and soap in the bath.
Soap scum binds hair into a mat at the stopper or the trap. The one you can often clear yourself.
Roots, or a sagging pipe, in the outside line.
Roots follow moisture into any crack and grow into a mesh that catches paper. A sag holds waste in the low spot. Either one clears with rodding and then returns on a schedule.
What to do now, and what not to pour down it
Stop adding water.
No dishwasher, no washer, no long shower. If the main line is blocked, the washer emptying puts water on the basement floor.
Skip the chemical drain cleaner.
It rarely reaches a real blockage, it sits in the trap, and it makes the pipe a burn risk for whoever opens it. If you already poured some in, say so.
Plunge properly, once.
Fill the basin enough to cover the cup, block the overflow with a wet cloth, and use steady strokes rather than hard ones. If two tries do not shift it, stop.
Find your cleanout.
A capped fitting in the basement floor or outside the foundation. Do not open it. A photo saves the plumber a search.
Rodding, jetting, or a camera
Rodding
A cable with a cutting head, driven down the line by machine. It punches through the blockage and cuts roots, and it is the usual first move. It does not clean the pipe wall, so grease and scale start rebuilding as soon as it leaves.
Hydro jetting
High pressure water through a nozzle that scours the pipe back to full bore. The right answer for a grease-packed kitchen line or years of sludge in cast iron, and it lasts far longer than rodding. It costs more, and it is not for a cracked pipe.
Camera inspection
A camera on a push rod, with a locator that marks the fault's depth and position in your yard. The only way to know whether you have a blockage or a broken pipe. Worth paying for when the same drain backs up two or three times a year.
What changes the price
Where the cleanout is, and whether there is one at all. Whether the plumber can work from a floor cleanout or has to pull a toilet. The length of the run to the street. Whether roots mean a second visit with a bigger machine.
Why drains here back up the way they do
- In Gurnee, call the village before you call a plumber
It asks residents with a basement backup to contact Public Works first, to work out whether the fault is in the village main or the homeowner's line. That call can save you a bill. Source for In Gurnee, call the village before you call a plumber
- The line under your yard is yours
Highland Park counts about 10,000 private sewer laterals, owned by the property owner. Deerfield puts it in its code and gives an owner 7 days to repair after notice. Source for The line under your yard is yours
- Rain should never reach your sanitary drain
The North Shore Water Reclamation District, which treats sewage for Waukegan, Gurnee, Highland Park, and Lake Forest, states there are no combined sewers in its area. A backup that only happens in a storm is a fault on your side. Source for Rain should never reach your sanitary drain
- Old towns, old drain pipe
Highland Park's median home was built in 1962 and Waukegan's in 1967, about fifteen years older than the county as a whole. Homes of that age commonly have cast iron inside and clay tile outside, which is general plumbing knowledge, not a village record. Source for Old towns, old drain pipe
Drain cleaning near you
Each town page names who treats the sewage there and who to call first.
Questions people ask about drains
Will chemical drain cleaner damage my pipes?
It can, and it often does not reach the blockage anyway. Repeated use eats at old metal pipe and rubber seals, and it leaves a caustic pool somebody must deal with before opening the trap.
Why do all my drains back up at once?
Because the fault is past the point where they join, in the main line leaving the house. Roots, a collapse, a sag, or a blockage at the street are the usual causes. Get a camera down it before buying any repair.
Is it illegal to do plumbing without a license in Illinois?
Illinois licenses plumbers by law, and villages here ask for a licensed plumber on a permit. A narrow exemption covers an owner working on the home they live in. Clearing your own sink trap is fine. The line under the street is not. Look up any plumber on the state's license verification page.
My drain clears and blocks again every few months. Why?
A blockage that returns on a schedule is rarely a blockage problem. It is roots growing back, or a low spot collecting waste. Rodding treats the symptom. A camera finds the cause.
What to put in the form for a drain
Two or three lines is enough. These decide what the plumber brings.
- Which fixtures are slow. One, several, or all of them.
- How long it has gone on. Since this morning, slowly for months, or every few months on repeat.
- Whether water comes back up anywhere, and whether you poured anything in. The floor drain and the lowest toilet matter most, and chemical cleaner matters for the safety of whoever opens the pipe.
North Shore Plumbing connects Lake County homeowners with a licensed local plumber. We are not a plumbing contractor.
Sink still standing full?
Tell us which fixtures are slow and which town you are in. A person reads every request. If we cannot place yours with a licensed plumber who covers your town, we tell you. See how it works.