Drain cleaning and sewer line repair in Franklin

Cast iron lasts a long time but rusts from the inside, building up a rough scale that traps paper and grease. Clay tile comes in short sections with many joints, and roots are drawn to the moisture at every one. Both are workable, and a lot of old lines can be cleared and kept in service for years. Some reach the point where replacement is the cleaner choice.

In newer neighborhoods the lines are PVC, and the usual problems are construction debris, a belly where fill settled, or a kitchen line full of grease. A line that is sagging holds water and catches whatever follows. We find the low spot and talk about repair.

Franklin developed along both banks of the Harpeth River, and lines in older neighborhoods have a long history of sharing space with tree roots and shifting ground. A cast iron line that has been fine for decades may still carry rough scale inside that catches paper. A clay line may have joints that have slipped a little. None of this is dramatic, and it explains why a clog in an old line often recurs.

A gurgle is air being pulled backward through water. Every fixture drain has a vent, a pipe that goes up through the roof and lets air in so water can flow smoothly. If a vent is blocked, by a bird nest, leaves, a collapsed section or ice, the drain behaves oddly. It may gurgle, drain slowly, or smell, even though the pipe below is clear.

In an old house, vents have often been altered over the years, and some are not connected the way they should be. Clearing a drain that is really a vent problem gives a few days of relief and then the problem returns. We look at both, and tell you which one is responsible.