Main sewer line clogs in Folsom

When more than one drain is slow, or water comes up where it shouldn’t, the blockage is usually in the main line that every drain shares. Stop running water and call.

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Homes and properties in the City of Folsom, CA (ZIP 95630). For owners, landlords and property managers.

You’ll be asked for your address, which drains are affected, and whether water is coming back up.

We’re a referral service, not a plumbing company. Your call connects you with an independent local plumber, who may pay us for the referral. How this works

Call to check when a local plumber can come out.

What to do right now

Stop using water everywhere in the house.No showers, laundry, dishwasher or flushing. Every gallon you send down has nowhere to go but up the lowest drain.
Find the outdoor cleanout and look at it.It’s a capped pipe sticking out of the ground, usually near the foundation or toward the street. If water is seeping from the cap, leave it closed. Opening it can release everything behind it.
Check whether it’s just your house.If sewage is coming out of the cleanout near the street, out of a manhole, or your neighbors have the same problem, the blockage may be in the City’s part of the system. Report it to the City (see below).
Call a plumber.Say which drains are affected, what came up and where, and what you saw at the cleanout. It tells them how much line they’re dealing with.

Signs the clog is in the main line

One slow sink is a local clog. These point further down, to the pipe all your drains share:

Two or more fixtures are slow or backing up at the same time, often on different sides of the house.
A toilet gurgles or bubbles when the washer drains or a tub empties.
Water rises in the shower or tub when you flush.
The lowest drain in the house (a floor drain, a ground-floor shower) backs up first.
Water or sewage at the outdoor cleanout, or a sewage smell in the yard.
Toilets that clear with a plunger but clog again within days.

Which cleanout tells you most

If your home has a cleanout near the property line and it’s dry while the house is backing up, the blockage is between the house and that cleanout, on your side. If it’s full, the blockage is further along, toward the main. That’s worth telling the plumber, and it matters for who pays. See who maintains what in Folsom.

What usually causes it

Roots entering at joints and cracks, especially near mature trees. These clogs come back after a cable clears them. See tree roots.
Wipes and paper towels. “Flushable” wipes don’t break down the way toilet paper does. Folsom’s sewer code lists debris and rags among the things not to send down the line.
Grease from the kitchen that cools and sticks further down the pipe, then catches everything else.
A sag or offset joint, where solids settle in a low spot or catch on a lip.
Construction debris in newer homes: grout, drywall mud or concrete washed into a drain during building or remodeling.

How a plumber clears it

The plumber gets into the line at a cleanout, or through a toilet opening or roof vent if there isn’t one. Most main lines are opened first with a sewer cable, a motor-driven cable with a cutting head. That restores flow, often the same visit.

If the line has clogged before, or the cable brings back roots or grease, the next step is usually a camera inspection. It shows what is actually holding the pipe closed. Hydro jetting can then clean the pipe walls rather than just punching a hole through the blockage. If the camera shows a broken or collapsed section, cleaning won’t fix it. That’s a repair, lining or replacement, which may need City permits.

Ask for the camera recording and the distance to any defect, measured from the cleanout. That’s how you know whether a repair is on your side of the line or the City’s.

Questions about main line clogs

Why does the shower or tub back up when I flush the toilet?

Every drain in the house empties into the same main line. When that line is blocked, water from a flush has nowhere to go and rises out of the lowest opening, usually a shower, tub or floor drain. It is one of the clearest signs the blockage is in the main line rather than the toilet.

Can I clear a main line clog myself?

Hardware-store snakes are usually too short and too light for a main line, and opening a cleanout that is holding back sewage can release it all at once. A plumber with a sewer machine is the safer route. If you do open a cleanout, look first: if the cap is seeping, leave it closed.

Is a main line clog the City’s problem or mine?

It depends where the blockage is. In Folsom the owner maintains the upper lateral, the pipe from the house to the cleanout near the property line. The City maintains the lower lateral and the main when it owns the main. A plumber’s camera can show which side the problem is on. See the Folsom sewer lateral guide.

Main line backing up? Call a Folsom plumber.

You’ll be connected with an independent local plumbing company. Have your address ready, and say which drains are affected and whether anything is backing up. It helps the plumber bring the right equipment.