How Often Should Drains Be Cleared?

By Brooks Sitko, owner of Sitko Services. 20+ years in the plumbing trade. Updated September 29, 2026.

People ask me this a lot, usually right after we've cleared a drain for them. The honest answer is that a drain that's working doesn't need anything from you or from me, and I'm not going to sell you a cleaning you don't need.

What I'd rather do is tell you how to spot a drain that's starting to have a real problem. I spent about ten years at one of the biggest plumbing companies in San Diego before starting Sitko, and lately drain calls are what ring our phone the most. Most of them are simple. The ones that aren't usually give you warning signs first.

The 30-minute rule we use on every drain call

A normal stoppage should open up in 5 to 10 minutes with a snake. If we're still working on it after 30 minutes, something is wrong in that line, and running the snake longer won't change that. At that point it's one of a few things: a heavy buildup of old grease, baby wipes packed into the sewer line, roots, or a broken section of pipe.

That's the real answer to "how often." A drain that clears fast and stays clear is fine. A drain that fights back, or comes back a few weeks later, is telling you there's something inside the pipe that clearing alone won't fix.

What decides how often your drains clog

• What goes down them. Grease hardens inside kitchen lines, and baby wipes don't break down the way toilet paper does. Both build up until a snake can't get through.
• Roots in the main line. On one home we worked on, roots were getting into the main sewer line under each bathroom and causing stoppages over and over.
• Pipe material and age. Cast iron drains last about 70 to 75 years, and they rot out faster buried in dirt. A lot of homes in North Park, near the beach, and in the older neighborhoods off the 805, the 163, and the 15 are well past that. Newer tract homes mostly have ABS plastic drains already.
• Broken or cracked sections. No amount of clearing fixes a break. It has to be located and then dug up or jackhammered out and repaired.

Signs a drain needs attention now

• More than one drain backs up at the same time. That points to the main sewer line, not one fixture.
• The same drain stops up again soon after it was cleared. Something is still in the pipe or the pipe itself is damaged.
• A clog that won't clear with normal effort. Whether it's you with a plunger or us with a snake, a drain that won't open is a sign to look inside with a camera.

What happens when you call us about a drain

1. Either I or my wife Lisa picks up the phone. We get out the same day about 9 times out of 10, and if we can't and you're willing to wait until the next day, we give you a discount.
2. We give you options before anything starts. The first one is usually a plain snaking to get the drain cleared.
3. If the snake doesn't open it in about 30 minutes, we run a camera down the line to see what's in there.
4. If the camera can't see through the buildup, we recommend hydrojetting, then we camera the line again.
5. If that second look shows heavy corrosion, cracks, or broken sections, we lay out repair options, from a spot repair up to a full repipe.
6. Everything goes into a detailed written work order, so you know exactly what we did and why.

You can see the full list of what we handle on our plumbing services page.

What decides the cost of clearing a drain

We don't have a set price for drain repairs because we can't know what's in the line until we look. Once we do, these are the things that move the number:

• How far the job goes. A drain that clears with a snake is a very different call from one that needs a camera, jetting, and a second inspection.
• How deep the pipe is and what's on top of it. A lot of sewer work is hand-dug, often around 6 feet down.
• Whether old cast iron has to come out. Cutting out cast iron and replacing it with new ABS is dirty, slow work, and most of what you pay for on a sewer repair is labor, not material.

Two drain calls from our job files

Every drain in the house backing up

This homeowner called because every drain in the house was backing up, which pointed to the main sewer line. We opened the clean-out cap in the yard, cleared the main line from there, and ran the camera to see what had been stopping it. The homeowner left us five stars on Google.

Roots under each bathroom

This family had called us for drains more than once. On this visit we found roots getting into the main sewer line under each bathroom, which explained the repeat stoppages. We recommended an upstream clean-out so the line is easier to get into and maintain from here on.

"Brooks and Joey have helped us with our drains and other plumbing issues around our house multiple times, and they are so great! Incredibly responsive, exceptional work, and just lovely people. We would recommend them to anyone!"

Samantha Elliot, 5-star Google review

"Great Service, very responsible, knowledgeable and prompt, I would use them again and again!"

Peggy Elliot, 5-star Google review

You can read more from homeowners on our customer reviews page.

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