Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to sewer and drain
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any sewer and drain contractor in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
Tell us which drain is backing up
Sent straight to us, day or night. We respond immediately.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Sewer and Drain · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- Water rising in the tub when a toilet flushes
- A floor drain that gurgles as the washer empties
- The lowest drain in the house backing up first
- A line that clears with a cable and closes within weeks
- Sewage odor near the cleanout or the crawl-space door
- Spongy, bright green grass over the septic field
- A sump pit that refills seconds after the pump stops
Your options
More than one right answer.
A stopped-up line does not always need replacing; sometimes a clearing and one spot repair are enough. Below, each fix and the kind of line it suits.
Clear it and look
Cable or jet the line, then run the camera to see why it stopped. Right for grease, wipes and the first visit from roots in a line that is otherwise sound.
Spot repair
A short sectional liner or one dug-up joint, when the recording shows a single bad stretch with good pipe on either side.
Line or burst the lateral
Trenchless renewal from the house to the main. A liner uses the old pipe as its host; bursting splits it and pulls new HDPE in behind. Either way most of the yard stays put.
Dig and replace
An open trench and new PVC. Slower and harder on the yard, and still the honest answer for a collapsed line, a deep belly or a grade that has to change.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
A sewer job is priced by what the camera finds, how deep the line runs, what sits on top of it and whether it can be lined or has to be dug. We see the pipe before we price it.
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What the camera finds
One root ball at a single joint and a line that has gone oval for forty feet are different jobs. The price follows the recording, so the camera goes in before we write a number.
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Depth and what sits above the pipe
A lateral four feet under open lawn is cheaper to reach than one eight feet down beneath a driveway, a patio or an old oak. Whatever has to be lifted and put back is part of the price.
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Lined, burst or dug
Lining needs a host pipe that still holds its shape, and bursting needs room for a pit at each end. Where neither fits, the line is dug, and the length of that trench moves the price more than the pipe itself.
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Rock in the trench
Limestone sits a few feet down across much of the Nashville area. A trench that meets it slows to the pace of the breaker, and we tell you the moment we hit it.
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Permit, cleanout and tie-in
Replacement is permitted and inspected, a cleanout is usually added at the foundation, and the connection at the main has rules of its own. Each belongs on the written quote as its own line.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Get the water moving
The stoppage cleared first, from the cleanout where the house has one, so the toilets and sinks work while the rest is figured out.
Camera the line
Recorded from the cleanout toward the main with the footage counter on screen. You keep the video along with our reading of it.
Locate and mark
A transmitter in the camera head is traced from the surface, so the route and depth of each defect are painted on the ground. Utility marks come first, and Tennessee 811 needs three working days before excavation starts.
Repair and inspection
A liner, a burst or a trench, then the permit inspection where the work calls for one, before anything is buried.
A second camera pass
The finished line is recorded again, so the repair is on video next to the defect it fixed.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
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Cabling the same line every spring
A cable cuts a hole through roots and leaves the mass in the pipe. When a stoppage returns on a schedule, the next visit should bring a camera.
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Closing on a house without a scope
Most home inspections stop at the fixtures. In Metro Nashville the owner is responsible for the sewer line from the house out to the public main, and a scope before closing is the only look at it you get while it is still the seller’s.
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Lining pipe that has lost its shape
A liner cures to the shape of whatever it sits inside. Orangeburg gone oval or a line with a sag comes out of lining still oval or still holding water, so those are burst or dug.
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Living without a cleanout
A house with no reachable cleanout gets cleared through a toilet flange or a roof vent, which is slower and riskier for the fixtures. A two-way cleanout at the foundation makes every later visit quicker.
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Pumping the tank to fix the field
Pumping empties the tank for a while. If the field has stopped taking water, the tank rises back to its outlet within days and the slow drains return.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any sewer and drain contractor.
Including us. If a sewer and drain contractor cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
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Will you run a camera and give me the recording?
The video, with the footage counter on screen, shows what is wrong and how far down the line it sits. A repair priced without it is a guess about pipe nobody has seen.
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Where exactly is the defect, and how deep is it?
A locator traced from the surface puts the spot on the ground with a depth reading. That number decides whether the job is a small pit, a liner or a trench.
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Can my line be lined, or does it need bursting or digging?
Lining only works in pipe that is still round and continuous. Ask what in the footage rules each method in or out for your line.
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Who pulls the permit and calls Tennessee 811?
Replacement is permitted and inspected, and every dig starts with marked utilities. The answer should be the contractor, before a start date is set.
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What does the price cover beyond the pipe?
The cleanout, the tie-in at the main, the backfill, and putting the drive or the lawn back. Two quotes for the same line usually part ways on those items.
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Which parts of the repair carry a written warranty?
A liner, new pipe and the labor that installed them can each carry their own terms. Get every term on paper and keep the after-repair video with it.
FAQ
Choosing a sewer and drain contractor in Nashville
How do I choose a sewer and drain contractor in Nashville?
The sewer and drain company doing our work holds the plumbing license its jobs require and carries liability insurance, its septic crews work under TDEC installer and pumper permits, and copies of all of it are on file with us before the first job. Ask the six questions above of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for sewer and drain?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. In Nashville a drain call is priced by the stoppage and how the line is reached, and a sewer repair by what the camera found, how deep the pipe runs and what sits over it; the recording comes before the number, so the quote describes the pipe you actually have.
Is the cheapest sewer and drain quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. One thing we will not do, at any price: sell a new line for a clog. A grease plug in sound pipe is cleared, and the pipe is left alone.
Do I need a permit for sewer and drain in Nashville?
The codes office for your city or county handles the permit when a sewer line is replaced, and nothing is backfilled until it passes inspection; septic systems in Tennessee are permitted by TDEC’s Division of Water Resources or by a county that runs the program under contract, and we pull the permit either way.
How far in advance should I book a sewer and drain contractor?
Sewage coming up in Nashville is answered day or night, because a house with no working drain cannot wait for Monday; a slow drain, a camera inspection or a septic check is usually booked within a few days.
Free estimate
Drains backing up right now?
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.