Why Does My Drain Keep Clogging? A Phoenix Plumber Explains

If your drain keeps clogging, the cause is almost always one of four things: hard water scale, grease buildup, tree roots, or an old pipe that has gone rough inside. A snake can open the line for a while, but until the real cause is fixed, the clog will keep coming back.

I own Phoenix Plumbing Co., and my family has been clearing Valley drains since 2012. Repeat clogs are one of our most common calls. Here's what's really going on, and how to make it stop.

The Real Reasons a Phoenix Drain Keeps Clogging

Phoenix is rough on drains. Our tap water runs 16 to 20 grains per gallon, which is some of the hardest water in the country. That mineral scale sticks to the inside of your pipes like plaque in an artery. Then grease, soap, and hair grab onto the rough spots. Pretty soon a two-inch pipe is doing the job of a one-inch pipe, and every little thing plugs it up.

Here's what we find on most repeat-clog calls:

• Hard water scale that narrows the pipe and gives gunk something to grab
• Grease and soap that cool and harden inside kitchen and laundry lines
• Tree roots that sneak into older clay and cast iron sewer lines
• Old cast iron or galvanized pipe that's rusty and rough inside, common in homes built before the 1980s

Any one of these will make the same drain clog over and over. That's why our drain cleaning and clog removal service starts with figuring out which one you've got, not just poking a hole in the blockage.

Why the Clog Comes Back After You "Fixed" It

Here's the part most folks never hear. A basic snake doesn't clean your pipe. It punches a hole through the gunk so water can pass. The scale and grease are still stuck to the pipe walls, and they start catching debris again the same day.

Chemical drain cleaners are even worse. They burn a small channel through the clog, then sit in the pipe eating away at old metal. I've cut open cast iron lines that were half full of hardened sludge the chemicals never touched.

If the same drain has clogged three or more times in a year, the pipe walls are the problem. Hydro-jetting scrubs them clean with high-pressure water, and we run a camera down the line first so you can see exactly what's in there before you spend a dime.

A Kitchen Drain in Mesa That Wouldn't Quit

Last spring we got a call from a homeowner in Mesa whose kitchen sink had clogged four times in one year. He'd rented a snake twice and paid another company twice. Each time, the sink drained fine for a few weeks, then plugged right back up.

We put a camera down the line and found scale so thick it looked like the inside of an old coffee pot, with a shelf of hardened grease sitting on top. We hydro-jetted the line back to bare pipe, and it's been more than a year now with zero clogs. He didn't need a fifth snaking. He needed someone to actually look.

When It's Not the Drain, It's Your Sewer Line

If more than one drain is slow at the same time, or your toilet gurgles when the tub empties, stop thinking clog and start thinking main line. Roots and scale in the sewer line will back up the whole house, and our summer monsoons make it worse. Those July and August storms overwhelm older lines that were already half blocked.

We wrote a whole post on sewer problems in Phoenix homes if you want the deep dive. The short version: a camera inspection tells you whether you need a simple clearing or sewer line repair, and it's a lot cheaper to find out in spring than during a monsoon.

The Honest Truth: Sometimes You Don't Need Me

I'll be straight with you: not every clog needs a plumber. If a bathroom sink or shower clogs once and it's hair, a five-dollar plastic hair tool and five minutes will fix it. A plunger clears most simple toilet clogs. That's a fine do-it-yourself job.

Call a pro when the same drain keeps clogging, when several drains act up at once, or when you smell sewage or see water backing up. Those are signs of a problem deeper in the system, and guessing gets expensive.

Tired of a Drain That Keeps Clogging? Call 602-834-1208

If your drain keeps clogging no matter what you try, let's find the real cause and end it. Phoenix Plumbing Co. is family-owned and three generations deep, and you'll see a flat price before we lift a wrench. Our trucks are stocked to finish nine out of ten jobs on the first visit, and every job comes with a written workmanship warranty.

Want to catch the next problem before it starts? Ask about our $129 40-point plumbing inspection while we're there. Call 602-834-1208 and a live Phoenix dispatcher will answer, not a phone tree.