Clogged drains, rooter service and main sewer lines across Seattle and the Eastside — same‑day, with the price quoted before we start. Every main line gets HD camera proof of what we found and what we cleared.
The Drain Authority is a locally owned drain and sewer company serving Seattle, the Eastside and North King County. We clear clogged drains, hydro jet main sewer lines and run HD camera inspections — 8 AM to 8 PM every day, at a flat price quoted before any work begins.
For a clog, a sewer backup or a slow main line, call a drain cleaning company — it’s the only work we do.
General plumbers fit drains in between water heaters and fixture installs. A drain specialist arrives with a hydro jetter, root cutters and a sewer camera already on the truck, so the line is diagnosed and cleared in one visit instead of two. We break down the difference in why hiring a drain cleaner, not just a plumber, saves Seattle homeowners money.
Snaking punches a path through one blockage; hydro jetting scours the whole pipe wall back to full diameter.
A rooter cable is the right — and cheaper — call for a single soft clog in a sound pipe. Hardened grease, mineral scale and root hair need hydro jetting; cabling them only buys a few months. Because high pressure can crack old clay or corroded cast iron, we camera the line before we jet, and recommend descaling or the smaller fix when that will hold.
Most Seattle drain cleaning runs $200–$600; hydro jetting a line runs $500–$700.
Where the price lands depends on access (is there a cleanout?), how far out the blockage sits and what’s causing it. You get one flat number before work starts — no hourly meter, no trip fee, no diagnostic fee. Be wary of $99 specials: they usually cover a cable through an easy ground-level cleanout and nothing else. See how the $99 drain cleaning offer works and the full Seattle drain cleaning cost breakdown.
Old pipe, big trees and a long wet season.
Much of the city runs on clay and cast-iron side sewers laid decades before garbage disposals. Mature street trees send roots into every joint looking for water, and months of saturated soil keep the pressure on. A line that drains fine in August starts backing up in November. A gurgling toilet or a sewer smell that returns after heavy rain usually isn’t a one-time clogged drain — it’s a line losing diameter.
When two or more fixtures back up at the same time, the blockage is in the main line, not a branch.
The tell-tale signs: the tub fills while the washer drains, a basement floor drain surfaces when you flush, or toilets gurgle after a storm. That’s main sewer line cleaning — worth handling before the next heavy rain, not after it.
A blocked storm drain in the street belongs to the city; report it to Seattle Public Utilities.
The side sewer from your house to the public main is the property owner’s responsibility in Seattle — along with yard drains, area drains and downspout lines. That private side of the system is exactly the work we do.
Same-day availability across the region — see every service area
Calls get the earliest same-day windows. Online booking is open around the clock.
In Seattle, drain cleaning typically costs $200–$600, hydro jetting $500–$700 and a sewer camera inspection $300–$400. The Drain Authority quotes every job as a flat price before work begins — no trip fee, no hourly meter, and the price you approve is the price you pay.
| Service | Best for | Seattle price |
|---|---|---|
Drain CleaningMost bookedDrain cleaning clears a blocked fixture line — kitchen, bath, laundry or floor drain — through its full length, then flow-tests it before we leave. |
Best forOne slow or clogged sink, tub, shower or floor drain | $200–$600Flat quote up front |
Rooter ServiceRooter service runs a mechanical cable through the line to cut a blockage open and restore flow the same day you call. |
Best forA toilet or drain that has to work again today | $200–$600Same-day, flat rate |
Main Sewer Line CleaningMain sewer line cleaning clears the one pipe carrying every fixture out to the public main — what Seattle calls your side sewer — and confirms the result on camera. |
Best forTwo or more fixtures backing up at the same time | $200–$600$500–$700 if jetting is needed |
Hydro JettingHydro jetting uses 4,000 PSI water to scour grease, scale and root hair off the pipe wall and return the line to its full diameter. We camera the line first, so fragile clay or cast iron is never jetted blind. |
Best forClogs that keep coming back, grease buildup and tree roots | $500–$700Camera before & after |
Sewer Camera InspectionA sewer camera inspection sends an HD camera through the side sewer to find cracks, bellies, offsets and root intrusion — and marks exactly where each one sits. |
Best forBuying an older Seattle home, or before anyone quotes a dig | $300–$400Footage is yours to keep |
Cast Iron Pipe DescalingPipe descaling strips mineral scale and rust off the inside wall of cast iron with a rotating chain knocker — no excavation and no torn-up yard. |
Best forOld cast iron that runs slow with no single clog | From $800Bid after camera |
Why ranges instead of a $99 special? The $99 rarely survives the visit — it’s a door-opener that turns into a $400 upsell in your basement. Here’s how the $99 drain cleaning scam works in Seattle.
Match what’s happening at your place to the service that fixes it.
Four things about Seattle plumbing change what a backup costs and who is responsible for fixing it.
In Seattle, the property owner owns and maintains the side sewer from the building to the public sewer — including the stretch under the street. Seattle Public Utilities maintains only the main itself.
Older neighborhoods run on clay and cast-iron side sewers laid long before disposals and high-efficiency washers. The city’s Side Sewer Card Viewer shows the original permit drawing for your address.
Shared side sewers are common on older platted lots, and shared lines mean shared responsibility. A camera pass shows where your line ties into your neighbor’s before repairs are scoped.
In parts of the city, wastewater and stormwater share the same pipes. A marginal line handles August fine and surcharges the first week of real rain — seasonal backups mean the line was already losing capacity.
Sewage backing up right now? Call Seattle Public Utilities at (206) 386-1800 alongside your plumber. They’ll confirm whether the problem is on the public side before you pay anyone to dig on the private side.
Phones are answered by the owner 8 AM to 8 PM, seven days a week. Same-day slots fill quickly — calling gets you the earliest window.
When sewage comes up through a floor drain, tub or toilet, the main sewer line is blocked — and it won’t clear on its own. The owner answers the phone, tells you on the call whether it sounds like a branch line or the main, and quotes a flat price on site before any work starts.
Figures from our own job records. Licensed, bonded & insured — WA #DRAINDA756MA. Meet the owner
The minutes before a drain cleaner arrives decide how much a sewer backup costs. Do these five things first.
Every fixture drains into the same blocked line — including the dishwasher and washing machine. A cycle finishing mid-backup is how water reaches the floor.
Sewage carries bacteria. Don’t wade in, and if water is near outlets or appliances, only shut power off at the breaker if you can reach the panel without standing in it.
Neither moves a main-line blockage, and chemicals sit in the standing water for whoever opens the line. If you’ve already poured some in, tell us before we start.
A capped pipe at ground level, usually near the foundation or out toward the street. Knowing where it is shortens the visit and can keep the price down.
Take photos of the water level and anything it touched before cleanup starts — insurers ask for them, and stored items near the lowest drain should be moved once you have.
Calls get the earliest same-day window. Online booking is open around the clock for next-available slots.
Most Seattle drain cleaning visits take 45 minutes to 3 hours from arrival to cleanup. A single clogged sink is usually under an hour; a root-blocked main sewer line can take three. Here’s the whole visit in order — no four-hour windows, no “sometime Tuesday.”
We ask which fixtures are affected, whether anything gurgles and where your cleanout is. That usually tells us whether it’s one branch line or the main before a truck moves.
A window, not a whole day. Morning calls generally go out the same afternoon; late-day calls get the first slot the next morning.
The truck parks as close to the access point as the street allows — a real issue on older Seattle blocks with no driveway. Floors are covered before equipment comes inside.
We work from the access point nearest the blockage, not from the fixture. That one choice is usually what keeps a two-hour job from becoming a four-hour one.
You get the camera footage, what we found and a written note on anything worth watching. Then the work area goes back the way we found it.
Time on site once we’re at your door, for the jobs we run most in Seattle.
| Job | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Sink, tub or shower drainHair, soap or grease in one branch line | 45–90 min |
| Toilet or floor drainCabled from the fixture or a cleanout | 45–90 min |
| Main sewer lineRoots or grease in the side sewer | 1–3 hrs |
| Hydro jettingIncludes camera before and after | 1.5–3 hrs |
| Sewer camera inspectionFull side sewer, footage included | 30–60 min |
No cleanout adds time — we’ll go through a pulled toilet or roof vent instead, and you’ll hear that before we start, not after.
Seattle keeps a free, hand-drawn record for most parcels showing where your sewer line leaves the building, the route it takes to the main, and often its material and depth.
Old cards can be rough, but they regularly turn up a cleanout nobody knew was there.
The practical ones nobody puts on a website.
A soft clog sometimes slows down and passes; a main-line blockage almost never does. Roots and hardened grease only get worse, and every load of laundry pushes more water against them. If two fixtures are affected, don’t wait.
Only at the start. Someone 18 or older should point out the affected fixtures and approve the price. On a main line, most of the work happens outside at the cleanout.
Usually the work never comes inside. When it has to, floors are covered first and the cable stays contained. Wastewater goes back down the line, not onto your floor.
Then you shouldn’t pay us to fix it. A camera pass shows where your line ends and the public main begins — further out than most expect. Seattle Public Utilities explains where private responsibility stops.
No. The schedule runs 8 AM to 8 PM seven days a week, and a Saturday evening slot costs the same as a Tuesday morning one.
Only when they need it — except a main line with known roots. Those are worth jetting every 12 to 24 months, before the wet season, rather than after the first backup.
As soon as the line is verified clear — usually before we’ve finished loading the truck. If we found damage, you’ll get specifics on what’s safe to run until it’s handled.
Not for cleaning, jetting or a camera pass — none of it breaks ground. If a repair needs excavation, Washington requires a free utility locate at least two business days ahead; see the state’s Call Before You Dig page.
None of these need a truck. Describe what you’re seeing on the phone and we’ll say so — we’d rather talk you through a twenty-minute fix than bill you for a visit you didn’t need.
Two minutes on the phone is usually enough to tell you what you’re dealing with.
Call The Drain Authority at (206) 590-1455, 8 AM to 8 PM every day, or send the form. Most Seattle plumbers route drain calls through a dispatcher; here the person who answers is the person who shows up with the equipment.
Water backing up? Call.Same-day windows are assigned by phone.
Tell us which fixtures are affected and roughly when it started — that’s usually enough for a straight answer and a flat price. Most jobs land between $200–$600, with no trip fee either way.
The Drain Authority serves Seattle, the Eastside and North King County — 14 cities and neighborhoods — at the same flat-rate pricing everywhere. No travel surcharge, no zone pricing and no trip fee, whether the job is in Ballard, Renton or Lake Forest Park.
See every service areaSchematic, not to scale. Select a city for its drain cleaning page.
Big lots and mature evergreens are a root problem waiting to happen. A lot of Bellevue work is cutting roots out of a line that ran fine five years ago.
Renton runs from Highlands-era housing to new valley construction, so the right approach changes block to block. We camera first rather than assume.
Flat blocks and long shallow runs out to the main. Easy lines to camera, and easy lines to lose to root intrusion at the joints.
Mostly mid-century housing on modest lots — original laterals still in the ground and cleanouts landscaped over two owners ago.
Every service, in every area we cover.
Outside Seattle, the rules change. Who owns which length of pipe, whether a cleanout is required and which department issues a permit all vary city to city. We work to whichever jurisdiction the property sits in — and tell you which one that is before anything gets scheduled.
The Drain Authority holds a 5.0-star rating across 100+ Google reviews — 99 of the first 100 are five stars. If you’re weighing the best drain cleaning company in Seattle, this is the part of the page we don’t write: unedited reviews from people whose lines we actually opened.
Had us out to clear a line? A review takes a minute — it’s how most of our neighbors find us.
Our equipment, our truck, our crew, in actual Seattle-area homes and businesses. Not a single stock photo on this page.
Every main-line job gets a camera pass, and the footage is yours. Most people find out their pipe is in better shape than they feared.
Plain-English guides from a Seattle drain cleaning company — what drain and sewer work really costs, how King County and Snohomish County rate changes hit your bill, the 2026 stormwater rules, and when a clog actually needs a professional.
The Drain Authority is a drain and sewer cleaning company at 5608 17th Ave NW, Suite 2025, Seattle, WA 98107, open 8 AM to 8 PM every day. From our Ballard base we cover Edmonds and Lake Forest Park in the north, south to Renton, and east across the lake to Redmond and Woodinville — the area on the map below.
The Drain Authority
The Drain Authority LLC · Drain & sewer cleaning
In Seattle, the property owner is responsible for the entire side sewer — from the house all the way to the connection at the public sewer main, including the stretch under the sidewalk and street. The city owns and maintains only the main itself.
That surprises a lot of people who moved here from cities where the utility owns the curb-to-main section. It means a root intrusion or collapse under the parking strip is the owner's repair. Our Ballard side sewer report walks through who owns what and which sections fail first in older neighborhoods.
Many pre-1950 Seattle homes do — two or more houses tie into one shared side sewer before it reaches the city main, and the owners on that shared section share responsibility for it. The original side sewer card for your address shows whether your line runs alone or joins a neighbor's.
It matters most during a backup: a blockage in the shared run surfaces in whichever basement sits lowest, regardless of whose drain caused it. We see it constantly in Ballard, Wallingford, Queen Anne and Capitol Hill — more on that in our guide to drain cleaning for older Seattle homes.
A Seattle side sewer spot repair typically runs about $3,000 to $7,000, and full replacement about $6,000 to $20,000 or more — the high end is almost always a run that crosses the street to reach the main. Trenchless lining or pipe bursting often lands mid-range and spares the yard, driveway and sidewalk.
Length, depth, pipe material and whether the street has to be opened drive the number far more than the method does. Repair or replacement in Seattle also needs a permit through Seattle Public Utilities side sewer permits. Before anyone quotes a dig, compare your repair and cleaning options — plenty of "replace it" lines only need a cleaning.
A standard homeowners policy usually covers neither: backup damage inside the house typically needs a water backup endorsement, and the pipe itself typically needs a separate service line endorsement. Both are inexpensive add-ons, and neither applies retroactively.
Because Seattle owners carry the whole side sewer to the main, the service line endorsement is worth more here than in most cities. Policies also treat sudden damage very differently from gradual leaks — the Washington Insurance Commissioner's water damage guide explains the difference. Check your declarations page before you need it.
Yes — on any Seattle house built before about 1980, a sewer scope is the cheapest protection in the purchase, typically $300 to $400, and it is not part of a standard home inspection. The buyer inherits the whole line to the city main the day the sale closes.
The scope shows the pipe material (clay, concrete, cast iron or plastic), root intrusion, offset joints, bellies and collapse, with footage you can hand to the seller during the inspection window. Our Seattle sewer camera inspection includes the recording and a plain-English summary of what it shows.
Hydro jetting is worth it when a line keeps clogging from grease, scale or root hair, and a jetted line typically stays clear for one to three years. For a single soft clog in a sound pipe, a cable is cheaper and just as effective.
Kitchen grease rebuilds fastest; roots return on their own schedule, usually within 12 to 24 months, because jetting cuts them at the pipe wall without sealing the joint they came through. See when hydro jetting is worth it and when it's overkill, or our Seattle hydro jetting service.
Hydro jetting will not damage a structurally sound pipe, old cast iron and clay included — but it can open up a section that is already cracked, crushed or rotted through. That is why the line gets a camera before the jetter goes in.
Heavily scaled cast iron is its own case: the scale needs to come off mechanically before water pressure does any good. That's cast iron pipe descaling, and it is often the step that saves an old drain from replacement.
Not by cutting alone — roots grow back to the same open joint or crack, usually within 12 to 24 months. A permanent fix seals the entry point, either by lining the pipe or replacing the failed section.
Until then, scheduled root cutting and jetting keeps the line flowing and is far cheaper than an emergency call in November. More on why Seattle's street trees and clay pipe are such a bad mix in tree root drain clogs in Seattle.
Most Seattle restaurant kitchens need the grease line jetted every three to six months, and high-volume kitchens closer to monthly. Menu and volume set the interval far more than the pipe does.
A line that backs up mid-service costs more in one night than a year of maintenance, which is why our commercial drain cleaning accounts run on a schedule, after hours, instead of on emergency calls.
A clog clears and stays clear; a broken line backs up again on a cycle that gets shorter each time. Other signs of a break: a patch of lawn greener or soggier than the rest, a dip or sinkhole along the line's path, sewer smell in the yard, or rodents turning up indoors.
If a main sewer line cleaning only buys you a few weeks, the camera footage from that visit usually shows why.
A sewage smell indoors means sewer gas is getting past a water seal — most often a dried-out trap in a fixture nobody uses, a blocked vent, biofilm in the drain, or a break in the line under the house.
Run water in every unused sink, tub and floor drain first; refilling a trap takes ten seconds. If the smell is back within a day or two, the cause is further down. It's one of the most common plumbing problems in Seattle homes.
Not really — caustic drain cleaners rarely clear a real blockage, they can soften old plastic and pit cast iron, and they leave a hazardous pool for whoever opens the line next. A hand auger is the better first try on a simple hair clog.
If two fixtures are slow at once, no store product reaches far enough. Here's an honest look at professional drain cleaning vs. DIY and where the line between them sits.
Get the price in writing before work starts, ask to see the camera footage behind any "you need a new line" verdict, and confirm the company is registered and bonded with Washington L&I. A $99 coupon that turns into a $1,000 ticket is the most common pattern here.
Registration takes thirty seconds to check on the state's L&I contractor lookup. We broke down exactly how the $99 drain cleaning scam works so you can spot it on the phone.
Ask it on the phone. Two minutes of description is usually enough for a straight answer, and if you don't need us, you'll hear that too. Or browse the full Seattle drain & sewer FAQ.
Drain backed up? Get a flat price before we start.
Same-day service when the schedule allows. No trip fee to look. Open daily, 8 AM to 8 PM.
The Drain Authority is a Seattle drain and sewer cleaning company based in Ballard, serving homes and businesses across King and Snohomish counties.
5608 17th Ave NW, Suite 2025Recent Drain & Sewer Work
Real jobs from Seattle, Bellevue and Renton: roots, grease, scale, floor drains and sewer camera inspections.
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