Hydro Jetting for Sewer Lines in Toronto

Signs you need hydro jetting

• The main line has been snaked several times and keeps clogging
• Camera footage shows grease build-up or a thick root mat along the walls
• A restaurant-style grease problem from a busy home kitchen
• Sand or silt in the lateral after a sewer repair or flood

What causes it in older Toronto homes

Decades of kitchen grease coat the inside of cast iron and settle in the low spots of clay laterals. Fine hair-like roots grow through clay joints and form a net that catches paper. A cable cuts a channel through that mass but leaves most of it on the pipe walls, so the clog returns. Jetting removes the build-up rather than just piercing it.

What we do on site, in order

1. We always look with a camera first. Jetting is not safe for every pipe: badly cracked clay or thin, rotted cast iron can be damaged by high pressure, and we refuse to jet pipe that is too fragile for it.
2. We feed the jet hose from a cleanout. Rear-facing jets drag the hose up the line and scour the pipe walls on the way.
3. Different nozzles handle different jobs, including a rotating head for grease and a cutting head for roots.
4. We run the camera again so you can see the pipe before and after.

What affects the price

Jetting takes more equipment and more time than a cable, so it costs more. Run length, how much build-up is in there and whether we must camera it first drive the cost, and you get the price before the hose goes in. In many cases one thorough jetting replaces several cable visits over the following years.

When to call right away

If sewage is on the floor, call now. We will open the line first by whatever method is safest, then talk about whether jetting makes sense once the emergency is over.

The job, in four moves

1. 1
   Pull the trap or cleanout

   Bucket under it, cap or trap off, standing water bailed first.

2. 2
   Run the right cable

   Small drum for sinks and tubs, sectional machine for the stack and lateral.

3. 3
   Camera the line

   Push camera fed in after the cable to read joints, roots and belly.

4. 4
   Flush and show you

   Hot water run at full flow, footage played back, trap reset with new washers.

Common questions