Drain Cleaning in Lithonia, GA

Who do I call when sewage backs up in Lithonia?

It depends where it's coming up. If sewage is spilling out of a manhole or into the street, that's DeKalb County Watershed Management's system; its 24-hour emergency repair line is 770-270-6243. The City of Lithonia lists no water or sewer utility of its own, and DeKalb crews handle mains in the city. If water is rising through your own tub, toilet or floor drain, the blockage is almost always in your private plumbing, and DeKalb's service-line rules put the pipe on your side of the meter on the owner. That's a plumber's call.

Why do drains clog in the older part of town?

Lithonia is a small historic granite-quarrying town, the "City of Granite," with a Main Street commercial core ringed by older residential streets. Housing-age data for the city itself weren't available; the 30058 ZIP figures cover a much larger area that's mostly newer. Homes near the historic core are the ones most likely to have cast iron drains that scale inside and clay or cast iron yard lines that let roots in. Newer homes in the wider mailing area have plastic pipe that clogs from grease, wipes and hair. Ask the plumber what your line is made of after it's cleared.

When should I stop trying on my own?

• More than one fixture is slow at the same time
• Water comes up in a tub or floor drain after a flush
• A toilet gurgles while the washer drains
• Rust flakes or roots appear when the drain clears
• The clog keeps coming back

Those point to the main line or to aging pipe. Chemical openers are a poor bet in old cast iron, and continued plunging pushes water toward the lowest opening in the house. A plumber can clear the line from a cleanout and, if it keeps clogging, run a camera to see whether the pipe itself is the problem.

Local note

Unlike neighboring Stonecrest, the City of Lithonia lists plumbing as its own trade permit, issued by its Building and Permitting Division at City Hall on Main Street. That applies inside city limits; Lithonia-mailing addresses in Stonecrest or unincorporated DeKalb use those permit offices instead.