Drain and sewer line repair

A drain that backs up twice a year is telling you something. So is a toilet that gurgles when the washing machine empties, or a floor drain that smells in August. Most of these trace back to the sewer lateral, the private pipe running from your house out under the front lawn to the City's connection at the property line.

Know where the line of responsibility sits. The City of Ottawa maintains the sewer service from the sewer main to the property line, and the property owner is responsible for the section from the property line to the house (City of Ottawa, homeowner responsibilities). That boundary decides who pays. It is worth calling the City before you authorize digging, because if the fault is on their side the work is theirs. The same page also warns that repairs to private service lines may not be covered by basic homeowner insurance.

Step one: clear it, then look at it. A blocked line is usually augered or hydro-jetted first to restore flow. That is relief, not diagnosis. The diagnostic step is a camera survey run down the cleared line, which shows what caused the blockage and where. Ask for the video and the footage marker where the fault sits, because that recording is what you will use to compare quotes.

Step two: understand what the camera found. Roots entering at a joint are the most common finding in older Ottawa neighbourhoods with mature street trees. Grease and scale build-up narrows a line gradually. A belly, where the pipe has sagged into a dip, collects solids and recurs no matter how often it is cleared. A crack, an offset joint or a fully collapsed section is a structural failure. Older houses may still have clay tile or, in some post-war stock, fibre conduit that deforms with age.

Step three: choose between cleaning, lining and replacement. Roots and grease in a structurally sound pipe can be cut out and the line jetted, which may buy years. A cracked or root-infiltrated pipe that still holds its shape can often be relined: a resin-saturated liner is drawn through and cured in place, forming a new pipe inside the old one, with no trench across the lawn. A collapsed line, a severe belly or a bad offset generally needs open-cut replacement, because a liner follows the shape of what it is lining.

Step four: if you are digging. A locate request to Ontario One Call is legally required, free, and should go in at least five business days before excavation (Ontario One Call, homeowners). The trench runs from the house toward the property line, often through the driveway or front garden, and reinstatement of hardscaping is a real cost that belongs on the quote. Connecting to a City sewer needs the City's authorization under its sewer connection rules.

Step five: leave yourself a way to look. Whatever the repair, ask for an accessible cleanout near the house and, where sensible, a second one near the property line. A cleanout turns a future investigation into an hour's work instead of a guess.

How long it takes. Clearing a blockage is one to three hours. A camera survey is an hour. Lining is typically one to two days including cure time. Open-cut replacement of a lateral is usually two to five days, plus the locate week and any driveway reinstatement afterwards.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative ranges, in line with this site's price guide. Clearing a blocked line by cable or hydro-jet commonly runs $200 to $600, more for an after-hours call. A camera inspection on its own is generally $250 to $450 and is frequently credited against the repair that follows. Lining and open-cut replacement vary so widely with length, depth and what sits above the pipe that a number without a camera survey behind it is not worth much. Any contractor quoting replacement without having looked inside the pipe should be asked why.

What makes an Ottawa house different. Mature street trees are the defining factor in the older neighbourhoods. Silver maples and elms through Westboro, Hintonburg, the Glebe and Alta Vista send roots straight to the moisture and nutrients leaking from an old clay joint, and those neighbourhoods also have the oldest laterals. Frost is the second factor: Ottawa's deep frost penetration means laterals are buried deep, which raises excavation costs and makes winter open-cut work slow and expensive. The spring melt is when marginal lines finally block, because the ground is saturated and infiltration adds to the flow they are already struggling with.

Who should do the work. Plumber is a compulsory trade in Ontario, so drain and sewer work on your private line needs someone holding a current Certificate of Qualification, verifiable on the Skilled Trades Ontario public register. Drain-clearing services that are not plumbing contractors can clear a blockage, but connections, repairs and alterations to the drainage system are regulated plumbing work, and work affecting the City connection also needs the City's involvement.

What to ask before you hire. Will you camera the line and give me the footage. Where exactly is the fault, in metres from the cleanout, and is it on my side of the property line. Have you contacted the City to check whether their section is at fault. Can this be lined instead of dug. What does the quote include for reinstating the driveway or lawn. Who books the locates. Is a cleanout included. What is the warranty, and does it cover roots returning.