Is it one drain, a shared branch or the main line?

Chosen when: Where is the problem: One fixture

Start at the fixture itself: its own trap and the short pipe after it are the first places to look. Clear the stopper or strainer, try a plunger, and if the fixture has a removable trap, a bucket under it and a look inside will often find the problem. If none of that works, ask a plumber to cable that one fixture. Clearing a stoppage is one of only two kinds of repair LARA exempts from a plumbing permit, so a cable job that changes no piping needs none.

Try first: Stopper or strainer, plunger, then the trap.

Stop and call someone if: Water rises at the lowest drain while you work, or a second fixture slows down. That is the next rung.

Drain cleaning · What drain cleaning costs in Michigan, and what we can and cannot tell you

Chosen when: Where is the problem: Several fixtures

When more than one fixture slows down together, the blockage is past the individual traps, on a pipe those fixtures share. A plunger will not reach it. Go easy on water use until it is cleared, because every drop you add has to go somewhere. The job is a cable run from a cleanout or through a roof vent, and a plumber can tell you which. If it clears and comes back, ask for a camera inspection so you can see the pipe instead of guessing.

Try first: Cut back on water. Do not keep running the tap to see if it clears.

Stop and call someone if: Water shows at the lowest drain. That is the main line.

Drain cleaning · What drain cleaning costs in Michigan, and what we can and cannot tell you

Chosen when: Where is the problem: The lowest drain

Water at the lowest drain means the blockage is below every fixture in the house, or the sewer beyond your property is full. Stop using water. If neighbours have the same trouble, call your city's sewer department as well as a plumber, because the problem may be the public sewer and not your pipe. Who owns what differs by municipality: Traverse City, for one, says property owners maintain their own lateral including the connection to the main. Ask your city where yours ends. A camera shows whether this is a blockage or a broken pipe, and a broken pipe is a repair rather than a cleaning, and a repair needs a permit and a MISS DIG notice before anyone digs.

Try first: Stop using water. Check whether neighbours are affected.

Stop and call someone if: Sewage is coming into the house. Treat it as an emergency.

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Chosen when: Where is the problem: The lowest drain; When does it happen: Only after heavy rain or fast snowmelt

If the lowest drain fails only in a downpour or a fast thaw, cleaning the line may not stop it, because the water coming in is stormwater and groundwater rather than household waste. Michigan State Police say many floods follow snowmelt or heavy spring rain, and advise a sump pump and sewer backflow valves. On insurance, the state regulator says sewer and water back-up is not automatically covered under a homeowners policy, and advises telling your insurer the damage is water damage, since a sewer backup or a failing sump pump may be covered. If a public sewer backed up into your home, a claim against a Michigan government agency needs written notice within 45 days of discovery. We are not lawyers and the law has exclusions, including for blockages in your own service lead, so read the statute or ask one.

Try first: Photograph the water and where it came from, then phone your insurer.

Stop and call someone if: Sewage is inside the house. Keep people and pets out of it.

Sump pump · Sewer backup after heavy rain in Michigan: what to do and who to tell