Clogged Drains in Kokomo, Indiana

A clogged drain is the most common call a Kokomo plumber gets, and nine times out of ten it’s a $59 fix. The tenth time it’s a sign of something further down the line, and the difference matters. Summers Plumbing Heating & Cooling has cleared drains across Howard and Tipton counties since 1969; our plumbers are licensed, drug-tested and background-checked, they come from the Rank Parkway office with cable machines and a camera on the truck, and they’ll tell you which kind of clog you have before they charge you for anything. Phones are answered 24/7, and after-hours emergency service is available when a drain is backing up into the house.

Book drain service or call 765-236-1212.

Which Drain Is Clogged? That Tells Us What’s Wrong

Kitchen sink. Almost always grease and food, especially in homes without a disposal or with a long horizontal run to the stack. Clears with a cable; if it comes back every few months, the pipe wall needs hydro-jetting.
Bathroom sink. Hair, toothpaste and soap scum packed in the P-trap or the pop-up stopper assembly. Often a quick job.
Tub or shower. Hair bound up with soap and the scale Kokomo’s hard water leaves behind. If the tub drains slow and the toilet gurgles when it does, the clog is past the trap in the branch line.
Toilet. Usually something that shouldn’t have been flushed (wipes, even the “flushable” ones), or a low-flow toilet with a mineral-narrowed trapway. If plunging doesn’t clear it, see toilet repair.
Basement floor drain. Common in older Kokomo homes after a heavy rain. Either the floor drain trap is silted up, or the main line is backed up and the floor drain is just the lowest exit. The second one is a sewer problem, not a drain problem.
Laundry standpipe. Lint and detergent sludge. Clears with a cable; a lint trap on the washer hose stops the repeat.
Every drain in the house. Not a clogged drain. That’s the main sewer line, and it needs a camera. See sewer line repair.

What to Do Right Now, and What Not To

Do: stop running water into the affected fixture, try a plunger (a flat-bottom cup plunger for sinks and tubs, a flange plunger for toilets), and pull the pop-up stopper or tub strainer and clear any hair you can reach. For a slow tub, that alone fixes a lot of them.

Don’t: pour a chemical drain cleaner down it. It rarely reaches a clog in the wall or under the floor, it corrodes the galvanized and cast-iron pipe in older Kokomo homes, and it sits in the trap waiting for the next person who opens the line. Don’t run the dishwasher or washing machine until the drain is clear, since both push a lot of water fast. And don’t keep plunging a toilet that’s backing up into the tub; that’s the main line.

How We Clear It

Standard drain clearing is a flat $59, price in writing before we start. The plumber opens the nearest cleanout or pulls the trap, runs a cable machine sized for the pipe through the full length of the line, and runs water to confirm full flow. If the cable hits something solid, the clog keeps coming back, or more than one fixture is involved, we recommend a camera inspection so you can see what’s actually in the pipe before anyone talks about drain repair. Hydro-jetting and main line work are quoted separately, always up front.

When It’s More Than a Clog

Three things tell us a clog is really a pipe problem: it comes back within weeks of being cleared, it affects more than one fixture at once, or it comes with a sewage smell in the yard or basement. In Kokomo that usually means tree roots in a clay sewer lateral, a belly where the pipe has settled, or cast iron under the slab that’s rusted half shut. Those don’t get better with repeated cabling. The camera shows exactly what and where, and you get repair and replacement numbers side by side with no pressure either way.

Keep It From Coming Back

Grease goes in a can, not the sink. Hair catchers in every tub and shower. Nothing but toilet paper down the toilet. Run hot water for 30 seconds after using the kitchen sink. If drains all over the house run slow, hard-water scale is probably narrowing the pipes, and a water softener slows that down for good.

Serving Kokomo, Howard County and Tipton County

From the Rank Parkway office we cover all of Kokomo and Greentown, Russiaville, Sharpsville, Tipton, Windfall, Hemlock, Oakford, Kempton and the rural roads in between. See all plumbing services in Kokomo.

Clogged Drain FAQs for Kokomo Homeowners

Why does my tub drain slow but the sink is fine?

The clog is in the tub’s own trap or branch line, usually hair and soap. If the toilet gurgles when the tub drains, it’s further down where the two lines meet. Either way it’s a standard $59 clearing.

Can a clogged drain be an emergency?

If water or sewage is coming up into the house and won’t stop, yes. Stop using water and call; after-hours emergency service is available across Howard and Tipton counties. A slow drain that still drains can wait for a regular appointment.

Why do my drains smell?

Usually bacteria on the buildup inside the pipe, or a dry trap in a floor drain or guest bathroom that hasn’t been used. Pour a quart of water into an unused floor drain once a month. If the smell is sewage and it’s coming from more than one drain, call.

Is a garbage disposal clog the same thing?

Not quite. If the disposal hums but won’t spin, it’s jammed, not clogged, and there’s a reset button on the bottom. If it spins and the sink still won’t drain, the clog is past the disposal in the line, and that’s a drain clearing.