Drain Cleaning in Mableton, GA

Who do I call when sewage comes up in my Mableton home?

Usually a plumber. Cobb County Water System serves the City of Mableton for both water and sewer, and its emergency line, 770-419-6201, covers sewer backups and broken lines in the county system. If sewage is spilling out of a manhole or into the street, call that number. When the backup is limited to your own fixtures, the blockage is almost always in your home's drains or the building sewer leading to Cobb's line, and that's private plumbing.

Why do so many older Mableton homes have drain problems?

Mableton grew up as a rail-era community, and much of its housing is from the 1960s through the 1980s. Census survey figures put the median home at 1988, with about 35% built before 1980. Houses from that period often have cast iron inside and sometimes clay or cast iron under the yard. Cast iron scales on the inside and narrows over decades; clay has joints every few feet where roots can enter. The newer subdivisions mostly have plastic, which clogs from grease, wipes and hair instead.

What can I safely try before calling?

• Plunge a single toilet or sink with the right plunger
• Pull hair from a tub stopper or bathroom sink pop-up
• Run hot water through a slow kitchen sink after removing standing food

Stop there if more than one fixture is affected, water rises at another drain, or the clog keeps returning. Chemical openers are a poor bet in old cast iron and make the plumber's job more hazardous. A rented drum machine can also do harm: an inexperienced hand can kink the cable inside the pipe or break through a weakened joint, turning a cleaning visit into a dig. If you've already tried one and it stalled, say so when you call, since a stuck cable changes how the plumber approaches the line.

One local note

Since cityhood, Mableton issues its own plumbing permits through the City Building Division, covering sewer line installation and repair, with applications online only through Cloudpermit. A routine clearing doesn't need one, but a lateral replacement does.