Stop using the fixture. If water is coming up a floor drain during rain, that's a storm-related backup, not a simple clog - don't run water elsewhere in the house until a crew has looked at it. Call and describe what you're seeing; we'll tell you what to do next.
What Does "Rodding" Mean?
In the Chicago area, clearing a clogged drain is usually called rodding - a plumber runs a flexible steel rod or cable down the line to break up and pull out whatever is blocking it. Outside this region the same work often goes by "snaking" or "cabling." It's the same family of work; local crews just call it rodding.
Power rodding uses a motorized machine for a main line or a stubborn clog; hand rodding is enough for a single fixture. Hydro jetting is a different tool - high-pressure water that scours the inside of the pipe rather than just punching a hole through the clog. A sewer camera inspection is how a crew sees what's actually happening inside the line instead of guessing.
Why It Keeps Coming Back
Older neighborhoods across Chicagoland run clay or cast-iron sewer laterals under parkways lined with mature trees. Roots find the joints, work in, and rebuild the same blockage a season or two after it's cleared. A line that's rodded but not inspected is a line that will likely clog again in the same spot.
Cast-Iron Stacks in Older Housing
Bungalows, two-flats and pre-war frame houses often run on cast-iron drain stacks. Iron corrodes and scales from the inside, narrowing the pipe until slow drains become a constant instead of an occasional annoyance - a different problem than a simple clog, and one rodding alone doesn't fully solve.
Storm Backups & Combined Sewers
Much of the older Chicago core and inner-ring suburbs run combined storm and sanitary sewers - one pipe carries both rainwater and wastewater. In a heavy storm, that pipe can fill and push water back toward the lowest fixture in the house, usually a basement floor drain. That's why a floor drain or basement shower can back up during rain even when nothing inside the house is wrong.
A line that's been rodded can still back up in a storm - that's a capacity and grading issue, not a sign the clearing failed. Backwater valves and overhead sewer conversions address the storm pattern; rodding addresses the clog. They're different fixes for different problems.
Drain & Sewer Services
Full-service clearing for kitchen, bath, floor and laundry drains.
Main line rodding for clogs that back up multiple fixtures at once.
Motorized rodding for stubborn or recurring main line blockages.
High-pressure water jetting to scour grease and buildup from pipe walls.
A camera run down the line to show exactly what's causing a repeat clog.
Root cutting for clay and cast-iron laterals under parkway trees.
Where We Work
Crews dispatched across the Chicago metro area - Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane and Will counties, plus the Rockford area (Rockford area coverage).
How It Works
When you call, you reach a service line that routes your job to a local drain and sewer crew working in your part of Chicago or northern Illinois. Tell us where the water is showing up, which fixtures are slow and whether it is raining. That helps the crew arrive with the right machine, whether a small drum for a kitchen line, a sectional cable for the main sewer, a jetter for grease and sand or a camera for a line that keeps backing up. Pricing is confirmed on site before any work begins, and you decide what to do next.
Why Chicago-Area Drains Clog
Much of the region's housing is old. Chicago's bungalows, two-flats and greystones, and the historic cores of suburbs from Evanston to Aurora, have cast iron stacks and clay laterals that have been in service for close to a century. Over that time, mortar joints loosen, parkway tree roots find their way in and cast iron builds up internal scale that catches grease and paper. Postwar suburbs have laterals now fifty to seventy-five years old, reaching the same stage. Even newer homes with PVC drains clog from grease, wipes and lines that settle in the region's dense clay soils.
What to Do First
If water is rising through a floor drain, stop running water in the house: no laundry, dishwasher, showers or flushing. Keep children and pets away from standing water, move valuables off the basement floor if it is safe and call. If the backup happened during a heavy storm and neighbors are affected too, the public sewer may be surcharged; the crew can help you tell the difference and recommend protection such as a backwater valve or overhead sewer.
Preventing the Next Backup
A few habits prevent most clogs: collect cooking grease in a can instead of pouring it down the sink, flush only toilet paper, use hair catchers in tubs and showers and clean the washing machine's lint screen. For lines with known roots, rodding every twelve to eighteen months keeps them from building into a blockage. Test sump and ejector pumps every spring, and consider a camera inspection if the same line has backed up more than once.
Buying a Home?
Before closing on any home more than a few decades old, schedule a sewer camera inspection of the lateral. It shows roots, cracks, sags and offsets that a standard home inspection does not cover, and it gives you leverage to negotiate repairs before you own the problem.
Every Kind of Home, Every Kind of Sewer
The areas we serve include Chicago's combined sewer system, where storm water and household waste share the same pipes; suburban sanitary sewers that can be overloaded by groundwater during heavy rain; and rural septic systems around the lakes and farmland of Lake, McHenry, Kane and Will counties. Homes range from 1880s row houses in Pullman and Victorian mansions in Evanston to postwar slab ranches in Rolling Meadows and brand-new subdivisions in Huntley and Plainfield. Local crews know the housing and sewer conditions in their territory, which is why we route each call to someone who works in your area rather than across the region.
Around-the-Clock Service
Drain emergencies rarely happen at convenient times. Many crews in the network work nights, weekends and holidays, though availability varies by area and hour. If your situation can wait, let us know when you are available and we will try to match a crew to that window.
Local Knowledge Matters
A crew that works in Beverly knows about ridge-top laterals and old oak roots; one in Albany Park knows the North Branch flood history; one in Hometown knows the slab ranches built after the war. That local knowledge shortens diagnosis and helps you choose the right repair. Each area page on this site describes the housing and sewer conditions in that community, so you can see what is likely going on before the crew even arrives.
Common Questions
What does "rodding" actually mean?
Rodding is the local term for running a flexible steel cable through a drain or sewer line to clear a blockage. It's the same family of work as "snaking" or "cabling" - different regions, same job.
Why does my basement floor drain back up during heavy rain?
Many older Chicago-area homes sit on combined sewers that carry both stormwater and wastewater in one pipe. In a heavy storm, that pipe can fill and push water back toward the lowest fixture in the house, usually a basement floor drain.
Why does the same drain clog again after it's been rodded?
In older neighborhoods, tree roots often work into clay or cast-iron sewer laterals through the joints. Rodding clears the immediate blockage, but the roots can regrow into the same spot within a season or two unless the line is inspected and treated.
Is rodding the same as hydro jetting?
No. Rodding uses a rotating cable to break through a clog. Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water to scour the full inside surface of the pipe, which removes buildup rodding can leave behind.
How do I know if it's my line or a shared line?
In two-flats, three-flats and condo buildings, a single stack often serves multiple units. If more than one unit is affected, or the blockage is past your unit's cleanout, it's likely a shared line - worth mentioning when you call.
What should I do the moment a drain backs up?
Stop using the affected fixture and avoid running water elsewhere in the house until someone has looked at the line. Treat any backed-up water as contaminated and keep people and pets away from it.
Water Where It Shouldn't Be? Call Now.
Straight answers, upfront pricing, a crew that knows Chicago-area sewers.
Call Now: (833) 724-1017