Lansing, Ingham County

Blocked & slow drains in Lansing

18 of the 37 drain enquiries in this company’s enquiry book came from Lansing — nearly half of them, at 18 separate addresses.

Blocked & slow drains in Lansing, specifically

Lansing is where this job is asked for and it is where the plumbing record already is: 58 completed Lansing jobs are filed as plumbing or leak work, which is more than every other town on this site put together. Two of the 18 drain enquiries became finished jobs. Sixteen did not, and that ratio is the reason this page exists rather than a reason to hide it. The Lansing pattern is rental: most of these arrive as a work order from a property manager with a tenant who already cannot use the fixture, and the useful question on the phone here is which OTHER fixtures in the unit are affected — because in a divided house on a shared stack, that one answer decides whether this is our job or a licensed plumber’s before anybody gets in a van.

On the Lansing record

a leaking sink drain, and separately a sink drainage leak, at two different rental addresses
bathroom drains on a work order that came back as a recall and was seen again
a shower with a drain fault behind the mold that had been reported
an object retrieved from a toilet
a maintenance list where the disposal and the drain were two lines of six
a garbage disposal and drain parts fitted on a return visit

Everything else this company does in Lansing is on the Lansing page, and the full explanation of this work — what it involves, what decides the price and where it stops — is on Blocked & slow drains.

Where this stops

When it is not a handyman job

This is at the top of the page rather than the bottom because getting it wrong costs you a wasted visit. Insured, and no contractor licence is claimed or implied — the Michigan residential builder licence is not held.

There is no sewer camera in this company and none is pretended to. Where the honest answer needs one, you are told that — not sold a second cable visit.
No line replacement, no excavation, no root cutting and no hydro-jetting.
A drain that backs up again within weeks of being cleared, sewage at a floor drain, or several fixtures failing together is a main-line or sewer-lateral fault. It gets referred to a licensed plumber and named as such on the paperwork, and the visit that establishes it is not charged for.
Water-heater replacement is referred to a licensed trade. Diagnosing one is not.
Plumbing here is repair and like-for-like replacement of what already exists. Anything past that is a licensed trade and is named as such rather than absorbed.

What it costs

There is no price list for this, and here is what actually decides the number.

The same three words describe a twenty-minute job and a two-day one. Rather than publish a figure that is wrong for one of them, here is what moves it — so you can work out roughly which end of it you are at before anybody comes out.

Which fixture it is and how the pipe is reached. A clean-out in the basement, a trap under a vanity and a roof vent are three different jobs on the same house.

How far in the blockage sits. The first few feet is a hand auger and a short visit. Forty feet of cable is a machine, a longer visit, and a mess that has to be contained on the way.

One fixture, or the branch they share. A single slow bath is one job; a bath, a basin and a shower all slowing together is the branch behind them, and pricing that as one fixture is how a quote gets revised on somebody’s landing.

What is actually in there. Soap and hair come out. Grease has set like a candle and comes out slowly. Roots do not come out with a cable at all — finding roots ends the drain job and starts a different conversation.

Whether the trap or the trap arm has to be replaced rather than cleared, which adds a part, a joint and a leak test.

Access. An occupied let where a tenant has to be arranged around uses more of the day than an empty unit on a turnover, and that is a real cost rather than a surcharge.

How to get a real number

Somebody comes out, looks at it properly, and you get a fixed price in writing with the work set out line by line and the exclusions written down as plainly as the inclusions. Coming out to do that is not charged for, and neither is working out what is wrong. If something is found once a wall or a floor is open, it is priced as a written change order and you decide before the work carries on rather than after it is billed. Materials are supplied at cost with the receipt attached, first-time customers get 10% off labour, and labour carries a one-year craftsmanship warranty.

If this is happening right now

What to do in the next five minutes, and what happens when you ring.

Before anybody arrives

Stop running water into it, including the dishwasher and the washing machine. Both empty into the same branch and both will surface in the lowest fixture on it.
Do not put a second dose of caustic drain cleaner down it. If the first did not clear it, the first is still sitting in the trap — and it is still there when somebody opens that trap by hand.
If a floor drain is backing up, or more than one fixture is failing at once, stop using all of them and call a licensed plumber rather than this company. That is the case above, and it is not our work.
Take a photograph of the fixture and of the cupboard underneath it. Most of the questions asked on the phone are about what the pipework actually looks like.

Call the business line

(517) 505-7135

Answered Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00. There is no out-of-hours line and this page is not going to invent one — outside those hours, leave a message with the address and what is happening, and it is picked up in the morning.

On the call you get asked what is happening, what else in the building is affected, and whether it is still getting worse. That is how it gets decided whether this is our job at all — and if it is not, you get told that on the phone rather than after somebody has driven out.

No trip charge
No call-out fee or minimum
No diagnostic fee
No charge for a return visit

True across all 84 written quotes this company has issued. Most contractors in this market charge to turn up.

Or send the details

When the right answer is not this company

You can smell gas: Leave the building and call the utility from outside. Not us, and not later.
Water you cannot stop: Your main shut-off first, then a licensed plumber. Every minute of this one costs money.
Sewage backing up, or several fixtures at once: A licensed plumber with a camera. That is the shared line, not a fixture, and a cable down one sink will not touch it.
Sparking, scorching or a burning smell at an outlet or a panel: Breaker off, and a licensed electrician. Electrical work here is repair and like-for-like replacement, and this is neither.
No heat, or heating and cooling equipment that has failed: A licensed mechanical contractor. That trade is not offered here at all, and knowing that in one phone call is worth more than a visit.

Two questions worth answering before you call

Have you actually cleared a blocked drain in Lansing?

Yes, and here is the Lansing record that bears on it directly: a leaking sink drain, and separately a sink drainage leak, at two different rental addresses; bathroom drains on a work order that came back as a recall and was seen again; a shower with a drain fault behind the mold that had been reported; an object retrieved from a toilet; a maintenance list where the disposal and the drain were two lines of six; a garbage disposal and drain parts fitted on a return visit. Alongside that, 185 jobs have been completed and invoiced in Lansing across every trade.

What does clearing a blocked drain cost in Lansing?

There is no rate card and there is no Lansing surcharge. What sets the price is the job rather than the postcode — which fixture it is and how the pipe is reached. A clean-out in the basement, a trap under a vanity and a roof vent are three different jobs on the same house. Somebody comes out and looks, and you get a fixed price in writing with the exclusions listed as plainly as the inclusions. There is no trip charge to reach Lansing, no call-out minimum and no diagnostic fee, so finding out what it costs costs nothing.

Also in Lansing

Blocked & slow drains elsewhere

Blocked & slow drains in Lansing?

Send the address and what is happening and somebody will come and look. No trip charge to reach Lansing, no call-out minimum, and a fixed price in writing before anything starts.

Get a Free Quote Call (517) 505-7135