West Linn Hydro Jetting Services: When High-Pressure Water Beats a Snake

What hydro jetting does that snaking does not

A drain snake, or auger, pushes a cutting head or a coil through a blockage. It usually clears a channel big enough for water to pass. What it leaves is the coating on the pipe wall around that channel.

Hydro jetting feeds a hose with a nozzle into the line and sends high-pressure water out through jets. The water scours the inside of the pipe, sweeping grease, soap scale and silt out instead of only boring through them. That is the idea behind complete pipe wall cleaning.

Because jetting uses specialist equipment, it is usually priced as its own service. The page on routine drain clearing covers the simpler cases.

Which clogs call for jetting

• Grease buildup: a kitchen line that clogs again and again after cleaning.
• Scale and soap residue: a line that has narrowed over time.
• Roots: jetting can cut and flush roots, though if roots entered through a crack, the crack is still there afterward.
• Repeat blockages: a main line that needs clearing every few months.
• Slow drains throughout a house: a line coated along its length.

None of these should be assumed. A camera look at the line before jetting shows what is in it and what condition the pipe is in.

When jetting is the wrong choice

High-pressure water can cause harm in a pipe that is already failing. Be wary of anyone who proposes jetting without looking inside first.

• A cracked, collapsed or badly offset pipe: the water can make a weak section worse or push soil into the line.
• Old or brittle pipe that a camera shows to be thin or damaged.
• A line with a low spot, called a belly, that holds water: jetting cleans it, but the sag stays.
• A blockage that is a solid object: it needs to be retrieved or broken up, not washed.

If the camera shows damage, the better question is repair. The sewer line repair page explains the options, and trenchless pipe lining covers repair without a long trench.

Tree roots and jetting

Roots enter a pipe through joints and cracks, where they find moisture. Jetting with the right nozzle can cut and flush the roots that have grown inside the line, and that restores flow for a while.

It does not close the opening they came through. If the camera shows roots entering at a crack or an open joint, the pipe needs a repair, and roots may return until it is fixed. That is a question for the camera and for the pipe's owner: under West Linn Code §4.045, the lateral up to the City main belongs to the property owner.

What a jetting visit looks like

1. Camera first. The plumber looks inside the line to see the blockage and the pipe condition before choosing a method.
2. An access point. The hose goes in through a cleanout or another opening. Finding yours ahead of time helps.
3. Jetting along the line. The nozzle is worked through the pipe, cleaning outward as it is pulled back.
4. A second camera pass. The line is checked again so you can see the result, and ask for the recording.

Expect some water and debris at the access point, and ask where it will drain. Jetting is also not a cure for a pipe that has failed, only a cleaning.

What hydro jetting costs and how often you need it

Jetting is usually more than a basic snaking because of the equipment, and the price depends on the line, its length, access and what the camera finds. You will hear a price after the diagnosis, not a number guessed over the phone. The pricing guide explains how plumbing quotes are built.

There is no single schedule that fits every house. A line with a history of grease or root trouble may call for follow-up; a line that was clogged once by a dropped object may never need jetting again. Ask the plumber what the camera suggests for your line.

Restaurant and commercial grease lines

Grease buildup is the best-known reason for jetting, and commercial kitchen lines handle far more of it than a home does. If your line serves a commercial kitchen, say so on the call so the plumber can tell you whether the job fits, since grease interceptors and larger lines are a different scale of work.

Preparing for a jetting visit

A little preparation keeps the visit short. Clear the area around the cleanout and any floor drains so the plumber has room for a hose and a camera. If the cleanout is under a cap in a yard, find it before the visit.

Tell the plumber about anything that has been poured or flushed down the line, and about any previous repairs. If jetting is not the right tool after the camera look, a plumber who has seen the pipe can say so before you pay for it.

What to tell the plumber about a repeat clog

• How often the line clogs and what was done each time.
• Which drains are slow and which are fine.
• Whether you have a camera recording from an earlier visit.
• Where the cleanout is, if you know.
• The age of the house, and whether the drain line has ever been repaired.

Hydro jetting questions