Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Emergency Drain Cleaning in Nashville
After-hours clearing of the stoppage that will not wait for Monday, starting at the main cleanout.
Estimate request
Tell us which drain is backing up
Sent straight to us, day or night. We respond immediately.
Emergency Drain Cleaning in Nashville, Tennessee
After-hours clearing of the stoppage that will not wait for Monday, starting at the main cleanout.
For emergency drain cleaning, Nashville's Sewer and Drain works across Middle Tennessee — licensed, insured, with the price in writing before the work starts. Drain and sewer crews who clear the stoppage first, then put a camera down the line and show you what caused it.
Why homeowners call
Signs that bring people to us for this
- Sewage coming up a floor drain
- Every drain in the house slow at once
- Gurgling toilet when the washer drains
- Sewer smell in the yard or basement
- A soggy, sunken strip over the sewer line
- Roots back in the line every year
- Sump pump running and running
What is included
What our emergency drain cleaning work includes
- Fixtures kept off while the line is opened
- Main cleanout found and uncapped
- Cable sized to the pipe run to the stoppage
- Jetter brought in where grease or sludge packs the line
- What comes back on the cable checked for the cause
- Every fixture run to confirm the house drains
- Camera run where the cause is still unclear
- Area around the cleanout cleaned up
How Emergency Drain Cleaning goes, from cleanout to final pass
We start at the main cleanout because it sits closest to where most whole-house stoppages form, in the run between the house and the street. Where a house has no cleanout, the way in is a toilet, lifted off the floor and reset afterward on a new wax ring, which takes longer and makes more of a mess.
A cable punches a hole through the stoppage, which is enough to get a house draining tonight. It leaves grease coating the pipe wall and roots growing through a joint, so a line cleared after hours with a cable may need jetting or a camera in daylight to keep it from closing again within weeks.
What comes back on the cable is evidence. Root hair means a joint is open to the soil. Gray grease points at the kitchen. Wipes, paper towels or a child’s toy explain themselves. Mud or pieces of pipe mean the line has broken, and that one gets a camera before anyone calls it fixed.
After-hours clearing costs more than a weekday visit. Its job is to get the house draining again tonight. If the same line stopped last year as well, book a camera inspection for a business day once the house is working, because a repeat stoppage has a cause that clearing alone won’t remove.
Also available
Other sewer, drain and septic work
Emergency Sewer and Drain
Sewage coming up a floor drain or a tub, or no drain in the house that will take water, answered day or night.
Learn moreSewer Backup Response
The blockage cleared, the line scoped to find out why it backed up, and the cleanup and repair steps laid out in order.
Learn moreBurst Pipe Repair
A split or burst line cut out and replaced after the water is shut off, with the pipe either side checked for the next weak spot.
Learn moreService area
Sewer and drain calls we take across Middle Tennessee
Our trucks reach Nashville and 100 more towns in 12 counties, and we take sewer and septic calls anywhere within about an hour of the city.
FAQ
Emergency Drain Cleaning: what people ask first
Can a clogged main drain be cleared in the middle of the night?
Yes. A main line stoppage can be cleared after hours from the cleanout with a cable machine, or a jetter where grease has packed the pipe. The night visit gets the house draining again. Finding out why it happened, with a camera, is usually better done afterward on a business day, unless the cable brings back signs of a broken pipe.
Should I pour chemical drain cleaner in before calling for help?
No, especially on a main line. Chemical cleaners rarely reach a stoppage in the main, and they leave a pool of caustic water in the pipe and the fixture that splashes on whoever opens the line next. They can also attack old pipe. Tell us if you have already poured some in, so the crew can protect themselves.
Why are all my drains backing up at the same time?
Because the stoppage sits in the main line that every fixture empties into. When the main closes, water from anywhere in the house collects at the lowest opening, so a shower can fill when the washer drains. Plunging a toilet won’t clear it; the line has to be opened from the cleanout or through a pulled toilet with a cable.
What is a sewer cleanout and why does it matter in an emergency?
A cleanout is a capped access pipe into the sewer line, usually outside near the foundation. In an emergency it is the quickest way in: the cap comes off, the backed-up water drains out, and the cable goes straight toward the stoppage. A house without one has to be opened through a toilet, which takes longer and makes more mess.
Free estimate
Book emergency drain cleaning with our crew
Call or write to Nashville's Sewer and Drain with what the drains are doing; we clear the line first and price any repair from the camera footage.