Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Floor Drain Cleaning in Nashville
Basement, garage and laundry floor drains cleared and their traps checked, so sewer gas stays below the floor.
Estimate request
Tell us which drain is backing up
Sent straight to us, day or night. We respond immediately.
Floor Drain Cleaning in Nashville, Tennessee
Basement, garage and laundry floor drains cleared and their traps checked, so sewer gas stays below the floor.
For floor 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 floor drain cleaning work includes
- Strainer lifted and the drain body cleaned out
- Trap cleared of silt, lint and debris
- Line cabled or jetted to where it joins the main
- Trap seal refilled and checked for evaporation
- Backwater valve or float checked where one is fitted
- Where the drain discharges confirmed before it is cleared
- Trap primer suggested for drains that rarely see water
- Grate reset level with the floor
How Floor Drain Cleaning goes, from cleanout to final pass
Every floor drain has a trap under it, a U-bend that holds water and blocks sewer gas. In a basement or garage that seldom sees water, that seal evaporates, and the sewer smell people chase around for weeks often turns out to be a dry trap. A bucket of water poured in every month or so fixes it, and a trap primer does the same job automatically.
In a house with a basement, the floor drain is usually the lowest opening on the sewer, so it is the first place a main line backup appears. Sewage in a floor drain rarely starts at the floor drain. The blockage is further down the main, and we clear it from the cleanout instead of through the grate.
Not every floor drain goes to the sewer. Some older basements have floor drains piped out to daylight downhill or into a sump pit. We find out where yours goes before clearing it, because the right tool depends on it, and a sewer connection where you expected a storm line, or the reverse, is something you will want to know.
A house that has taken a backup through a floor drain can add protection. A backwater valve on the main, or a floating ball check in the drain itself, closes when water flows the wrong way. Both need a look now and then, since a bit of debris lodged in the seat holds them open at exactly the wrong moment.
Also available
Other sewer, drain and septic work
Drain Cleaning
Kitchen, bath, laundry and main line stoppages cleared at the cause, with the camera brought in when the same drain keeps coming back.
Learn moreHydro Jetting
Water at several thousand psi scours grease, scale and fine roots off the pipe wall, where a cable only punches a hole through them.
Learn moreMain Line Drain Cleaning
The line every fixture empties into, opened from the cleanout when two drains back up at once or the lowest one gurgles.
Learn moreCommercial Drain Cleaning
Restaurant, retail and office lines kept open on a schedule, with grease lines jetted before they close a kitchen on a Friday.
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
Floor Drain Cleaning: what people ask first
Why does my basement floor drain smell like sewage?
Most often the trap under the drain has dried out. Water sitting in that U-bend is the only thing between the sewer and your basement air, and it evaporates from a drain that is seldom used. Pour a bucket of water in, and if the smell is gone the next day, that was it. If not, the trap may be cracked or the venting may need a look.
Is it normal for a floor drain to have standing water in it?
Yes, a little water sitting below the grate is the trap doing its job, holding back sewer gas. What isn’t normal is water rising toward the grate, water that drains away very slowly, or a drain that has gone completely dry, which means the seal is gone and gas can come through. The first two point to a blockage, the last to evaporation.
Where does a basement floor drain go?
In most houses it joins the sanitary sewer, the same line the toilets drain into. Some older houses had their floor drains piped outside to daylight or into a sump pit instead. Knowing which you have matters before anything is poured into it and before it is cleaned, and a camera run or a simple dye test answers the question quickly.
Can a floor drain be fitted with something to stop sewer backups?
Yes. A floating ball check or a flapper insert sits in the drain body and closes when water rises from below, and it is a small job to fit one. A backwater valve on the main line protects the whole house and is the stronger fix where backups have already happened. Either one needs occasional cleaning, because debris in the seat keeps it from closing.
Free estimate
Book floor 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.