Hydro Jetting in Lithonia, GA

Hydro jetting can remove a frequent source of lingering drain smells: the slimy coating that builds up inside sink, shower and kitchen lines. Not every odor comes from the pipe walls, though, and a Lithonia homeowner who books a cleaning for a smell that really comes from a dry trap or a failed toilet seal will be disappointed. Sorting out the source first keeps the visit pointed at the real problem.

Where drain odors come from

• Biofilm on the pipe wall: a sour, musty or rotten smell from a sink or shower that is used every day.
• A dry trap: a sewer smell from a guest bath, floor drain or basement shower that rarely runs, because the water seal in the trap has evaporated.
• A toilet seal: odor around the base of a toilet, sometimes with a stain on the floor.
• A vent problem: smells that arrive with gurgling, or traps that seem to lose their water after a large drain.
• A damaged sewer line: a smell outdoors near the cleanout or along the path of the line, sometimes with a soggy patch of lawn.

Jetting deals with the first item directly and helps with the last only by clearing the line so a camera can see the damage.

What builds that slimy coating

Every drain carries a mix of soap, skin oils, hair, food particles and grease. Bacteria settle into that film and feed on it, forming a living layer that thickens over time in warm, damp, dark pipe. As they break down organic material they release gases with a sour or sulfur-like smell, which drifts back up through the drain opening, especially when hot water stirs the layer. Kitchen lines and shower drains are the usual offenders, and a garbage disposal supplies plenty of food for the film.

Simple tests before booking a cleaning

1. Pour a few cups of water into every drain that sees little use, floor drains included, to refill the traps.
2. Sniff at each drain opening and then near the base of each toilet to narrow down the location.
3. Notice whether the smell gets stronger right after hot water runs down that drain.
4. Check outside around the sewer cleanout cap and along the route of the line.

If refilling a trap ends the smell, no cleaning is needed. If one heavily used drain still smells with its trap full, the pipe beyond it is a good candidate for jetting.

Scrubbing out the slime layer

Enzyme products and hot water can thin biofilm near the opening, but they rarely reach the full length of a branch. A jetter's rotating nozzle scrubs the entire pipe wall as it travels, and the water carries the loosened slime down to the main line. On a sound kitchen or shower branch, the smell often fades once the coating is gone. A sewer camera inspection after cleaning shows whether the walls are clear, along with any crack or poorly sloped section where waste might sit and start the cycle again. Our overview of hydro jetting in Georgia describes the method more broadly.

When the smell needs a different fix

A trap that keeps going dry even with regular use, a missing trap under an old fixture, or a vent that is blocked or was never connected properly is a design problem rather than buildup. Those call for drain repair, which may mean adding or replacing a trap, correcting a vent connection or resetting a toilet. A strong smell outdoors with wet ground nearby can point to a broken sewer pipe that needs repair rather than cleaning.

Lithonia permits when piping changes

Jetting only cleans the pipe that is already there, but correcting an odor problem sometimes means changing it, for example by adding a trap or reworking a vent. Lithonia's permit checklist names fixture work that alters piping among the jobs that require a permit, and the city's Building and Permitting Division issues those permits.

Drain odor questions in Lithonia

Will hydro jetting get rid of a smelly kitchen drain?

If the smell comes from grease, food residue and biofilm coating the kitchen line, jetting removes that layer, and the odor often goes with it. If it comes from a dry trap, a garbage disposal holding rotting food in its chamber, or a vent issue, cleaning the pipe will not help much. A short look at the sink and disposal usually tells which it is.

Should I pour bleach down a smelly drain?

It may mask the odor near the opening for a day or two, but it does little to the film farther along the pipe. Never mix bleach with ammonia, vinegar or a drain opener, since dangerous fumes can form. If a smell keeps returning to a drain that is used daily, cleaning the line works better than any product poured into it.

Can a smell come back after the line is cleaned?

It can, because the same mix of soap, food and hair starts a new film as soon as the drain is used again. In a cleaned line it usually takes much longer to reach the point of smelling than it did before. Sink strainers, scraping plates into the trash before rinsing and keeping grease out of the drain all slow it down.

Track down the smell

Scrubbing the sink has not touched the smell? Call Alpha Plumbing and Sewer at (404) 409-4448, and we will work out where the odor in your Lithonia home starts before deciding whether the line needs jetting.