What’s the Difference Between Drain Clearing and Drain Cleaning?

As a consumer, you have your choice of plumbers, and a $99 drain cleaning service sounds like a great deal. Here’s the catch with these discount drain clearing services: They may get your drain working temporarily, but they won’t give you a fully functional drain or a long-term solution.

That’s because most discount companies use a technique called drain clearing or drain opening, which doesn’t truly clean the pipe or remove the whole clog. In contrast, Roto-Rooter offers drain cleaning services, which remove all obstructions along the length of the drainpipe.

Understanding Drain Problems

Drain problems develop over time as substances stick to the drain walls. FOG (fat, oils, and grease) are common causes of drain problems, as they solidify in drain pipes and catch other substances, increasing the size of the clog. Hair, animal fur, soap scum, food scraps, wet wipes, paper and hygiene products also cause clogs. If your drain line is close to trees or shrubs, plant roots can break into the pipe, where they find a reliable source of water and nutrients and quickly grow to block the pipe.

Drain Clearing vs. Drain Cleaning

There’s a significant difference between drain cleaning and clearing. Many discount drain-cleaning companies use equipment that isn't designed for larger diameter sewer pipes and doesn’t have the power to fully remove a clog. These machines have just enough power to poke holes through the sewer clog, allowing your pipe to drain for a few days or weeks until the clog reforms.

The Roto-Rooter Method

Unlike discount companies, Roto-Rooter offers professional sewer and drain cleaning services. We provide an upfront, flat-rate price to clean your sewer or drain pipe, and always use the proper machine for whatever pipe we’re cleaning. For sewers, we use a heavy-duty Roto-Rooter sewer drain cleaning machine with a thicker cable and a tough steel blade designed to flex outward against the pipe walls and slash through tree roots, wet wipes, and other foreign matter.

After clearing the clog, we machine-clean the entire pipe from end to end, cutting away any remaining roots and debris. We do more than open the drain; your drainpipe or sewer pipeline will be almost as clean as a new pipe and will remain clog-free for a longer period. We’ll do the job right the first time, or we’ll do it again for free.

After a professional Roto-Rooter drain cleaning, many customers will never need our service again. Others may need to call us again in a year or two if tree roots are aggressively growing into their underground sewer pipe or if someone in the household flushes something they shouldn’t. Whatever you need, we’ll be there to fix it — honestly, transparently, and with a smile.

Roto-Rooter Gives You Options

At Roto-Rooter, we believe in giving our customers options to help them decide what works best for them and their household budget. Sewers are sealed systems, and roots indicate the presence of pipe joint separations or other voids in the pipeline that only worsen over time. In many cases, Roto-Rooter can continue cutting roots out of the pipe as needed, but the roots will eventually grow back. For that reason, some homeowners prefer to have Roto-Rooter repair or replace their sewer, so they never have to worry about it clogging again. After all, there’s never a convenient time for a sewer backup.

We also understand that sewer replacements can be challenging to fit in the budget — though with our lineup of coupons and financing options, you might be surprised at just how affordable they can be. If a replacement isn’t in the cards, regular cleaning is essential to keep your sewer flowing freely. Whichever you choose, Roto-Rooter lets you skip the hidden fees, pricing games, and pushy upsells and go straight to what you need: expert work by professional plumbers at a fair price.

The Real Cost of Drain Cleaning

Very few sewer and drain cleaning companies can make a profit from a $99 drain cleaning job, which is why most such companies add on numerous extra fees. A typical bill from a discount plumber will often include trip fees, equipment fees, extra cable fees, and a myriad of other expenses — and as a result, the final amount you pay can be anywhere from $299-$799, depending on the company and your location. Worst of all, your drain will likely still be at least partially clogged when the technician leaves.

There’s a better way to do it. Schedule a professional Roto-Rooter sewer or drain cleaning service and get an accurate, upfront price quote and a guaranteed professional sewer or drain cleaning. When it comes to drain cleaning and drain clearing, you really do get what you pay for.