Areas We Cover

We connect callers with drain and sewer rodding crews across the Chicago metropolitan area - Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane and Will counties, plus the Rockford area. Regional pages and individual city pages for 174+ communities we cover are being published progressively; check back or call to confirm coverage for your address.

Not seeing your community listed yet? Call (833) 724-1017 to confirm we cover your address.

Where We Work

We connect callers with local drain and sewer crews across Chicago and much of northern Illinois: all seventy-seven Chicago community areas, the North Shore, the northwest suburbs, the west suburbs and DuPage County, the south suburbs, Lake County, McHenry and Kane counties, parts of Will County and the Rockford area. Each region page describes the housing, soils, sewer systems and common drain problems of that area, and each community page goes into local detail, from Pullman's row houses to Naperville's Riverwalk neighborhoods and the lake cottages of Antioch.

Wherever you are, the process is the same: call, describe the problem, and we route a crew that works in your area. Pricing is confirmed on site before any work begins.

Chicago

Chicago's sewers are among the oldest in the country, and nearly the whole city is served by combined sewers that carry stormwater and wastewater together. That makes basement floor drains the weak point during heavy rain. Housing is dominated by pre-1930 bungalows, two-flats, greystones and courtyard buildings with cast iron stacks and clay laterals approaching or exceeding a century in the ground, plus postwar neighborhoods on the far Northwest and Southwest Sides. Root intrusion from parkway trees, grease in shared stacks and storm backups are the most common calls.

Inner Suburbs

Evanston, Oak Park, Cicero, Berwyn, Forest Park, Blue Island and similar inner suburbs share Chicago's age and many of its challenges, including combined sewers in older sections. Their historic homes and dense bungalow blocks call for careful work on old pipe and strong basement protection.

Postwar Suburbs

Much of the northwest, west and south suburbs was built between 1950 and 1975. Ranches, raised ranches and split-levels dominate, with clay laterals now fifty to seventy-five years old, lower levels served by ejector pumps and, in some developments, slab foundations where clogs show up first at a tub. Neighbors built by the same developer often face the same problems in the same years.

Newer Growth Areas

Huntley, Gilberts, Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Grayslake, Round Lake and other fast-growing communities have homes built since the 1980s with PVC drains, sump pits and ejector pumps. Roots are less common there; grease, wipes, settling in clay and pump failures are the usual causes of trouble, along with early construction issues that surface years after move-in.

Lakes, Rivers and Rural Properties

Around the Chain O'Lakes, the Fox River and rural parts of McHenry, Kane, Lake and Will counties, many homes began as seasonal cottages or were built on septic systems. Plumbing may have been added in stages, some properties are still on septic and high groundwater affects both drain fields and sewer laterals. Tell us whether you are on sewer or septic when you call.

The Rockford Area

Rockford, Loves Park, Machesney Park and Roscoe line the Rock River, with historic factory-town neighborhoods, postwar homes and new subdivisions. Colder winters there mean deeper frost around shallow lines.

Rivers and Flooding Across the Region

The Des Plaines, Fox, DuPage, North Branch and Little Calumet rivers and dozens of creeks have flooded neighborhoods during major storms in 1987, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2017. If your home is near any of them, a backwater valve or overhead sewer and a sump pump with battery backup are the most effective protection.

How to Get Help

Call the number at the top of any page, day or night. Share your town or neighborhood, the type of home, whether it is on sewer or septic and which fixtures are affected. We will route a crew that serves your area. For first-time clogs, rodding from the cleanout usually restores flow; for recurring problems, a camera inspection shows the cause. Pricing is explained on site before work begins, and you decide what to do next.

Kitchen and Bathroom Habits

Most clogs in any home start with what goes down the drain. Pour cooking grease into a can and throw it away once it cools, scrape plates into the trash and use a sink strainer. Flush only toilet paper; wipes labeled flushable, paper towels and hygiene products do not break down. Fit hair catchers in tubs and showers and clean the washing machine's lint screen regularly.

Rodding, Jetting or Lining?

For most homes, a first-time main line clog is handled with cable rodding, which cuts through roots, paper and grease and restores flow quickly. Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water to scour grease, scale and sediment from pipe walls and is better for lines that clog again soon after rodding. Lining installs a new seamless pipe inside the old one and is the long-term fix for laterals with cracked, separated or root-damaged joints. A camera inspection tells you which of these fits your line, so you pay for the right repair instead of repeating the wrong one.

Keep a Service History

Keep a simple log of every service visit at your home, including the date, what was found, how far the cable reached and whether roots were present. Save camera footage and invoices when you can. That history helps the next crew diagnose problems faster, shows whether a permanent repair would save money compared with repeated cleanings and gives buyers confidence when you sell.

Reading Your Home’s Age

The single most useful fact for diagnosing a drain problem is when your home was built. Homes from before about 1930 almost always have cast iron stacks, galvanized branch lines and clay laterals with mortar joints; after a century, those joints loosen, roots find their way in and cast iron scales up inside. Homes from roughly 1945 to 1975 usually have cast iron drains and clay or early plastic laterals, now at the age when roots and joint separation become common. Homes built since the 1980s typically have PVC throughout, which resists roots and corrosion but can settle in clay soils and still clogs from grease and wipes. Telling us your home's approximate age and type helps the crew arrive with the right equipment and expectations.

Basement Protection Everywhere

Whether your home is on Chicago's combined system or a suburban sanitary sewer, the lowest drain in the house is where backups appear. A backwater valve, an overhead sewer conversion, a working sump pump with a battery backup and good grading around the foundation are the tools that keep water out. Many owners install them after a single backup; installing them before one is far less stressful.

Buying Anywhere in the Region

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 a basis for negotiating repairs. Ask about flooding history, pump age, basement protection and, in rural areas, whether the property is on septic.

What Happens on a Service Visit

When a crew arrives at your home, they will start by asking which fixtures are affected and when the problem began, then locate the cleanout. For a main line clog, they feed a sectional cable machine from the cleanout toward the public sewer, using a cutting head sized to the pipe. Once flow is restored, they run water to confirm the line is draining normally.

If the same line has backed up before, or if the cable brings back roots, sand or pieces of pipe, the crew may recommend a camera inspection. The video shows the exact distance and depth of any defect, which is what you need to decide between routine maintenance, a spot repair or lining. Pricing is explained before any work begins, and you decide what to do next.

When to Call

Call when several drains slow at once, when a basement floor drain gurgles, when water rises in the tub as the toilet flushes or when an ejector pump alarm sounds. These early signs point to a restriction in the main line or a pump problem, and calling before a full backup protects finished basements and keeps costs down.

Seasons and Drains

Chicago-area weather is hard on drains. Deep winter frost shifts buried pipe and can freeze shallow lines and sump discharge pipes. Spring thaws and April and May storms raise groundwater and load sewers to capacity, which is when most basement backups happen. Summer brings intense thunderstorms that can overwhelm combined sewers in minutes, and fall leaves clog gutters and downspouts. A preventive main line cleaning in late fall and a sump pump test before spring are two simple habits that prevent many emergencies across every region we serve.

Share What You Know

If you have lived in your home for years, you probably know which drain clogs first and how often the main needs rodding. Tell the crew; that history often shortens diagnosis considerably and helps them start in the right place.