Drain Cleaning in King County, WA
Sinks, Tubs, Toilets and Main Lines
Lighthouse Plumbing clears clogged and slow drains across King County from our shop in Fall City: kitchen and bathroom sinks, tubs and showers, toilets, floor drains and the main line out of the house. We cable most lines clear in one visit, hydro jet the greasy ones, and put a camera down the line when a drain keeps coming back.
Recent Drain Work
In mid-May, PJ and Josh went to a Fall City house where the kitchen and bathroom sinks had stopped draining. Both lines were old galvanized and cast iron, which hold onto buildup and grab a cable, so clearing them took several passes of the drain machine through each line. Both sinks were draining again when they left, about two hours after they arrived.
The rest of 2026 reads much the same, with the details changing by house:
- In Brier in April, Bradyn cabled a backed-up kitchen line and found it so heavy with grease that he recommended hydro jetting to clean the pipe walls rather than just punching through.
- In Issaquah in September, Beau traced a slow kitchen sink to a failed air admittance valve under the cabinet, the small one-way vent some sinks use instead of a vent through the roof. A new valve fixed the drain without a cable. Later that month Caleb pulled the tubular piping under another Issaquah sink and cleared it of rice.
- In Seattle in September, Beau found a kitchen blockage 10 to 15 feet down the line and cabled it clear; in October Caleb worked another Seattle line with a cable and then a jet.
- In Mountlake Terrace in August, Caleb restored flow in a shared kitchen and laundry line and cleared hair from an upstairs tub on the same visit.
- In Fall City in March, Bradyn cabled a clogged kitchen sink, found the galvanized drain behind it leaking, and cut out and replaced the bad section. In July he ran a camera down a garage floor drain that kept backing up and found grease.
- In Issaquah in May, Donald cleared two clogs from one kitchen line, a job told in our Issaquah drain story, and a Carnation drain call from earlier is the subject of a five-star review.
What We Clear
Kitchen sinks
Grease, soap and food build up on the pipe walls until the line closes. We cable from the trap or a cleanout, and when the line is coated rather than plugged, we jet it.
Bathroom sinks, tubs and showers
Hair and soap at the trap and the first few feet of line. Most clear with one cable run, and a pop-up or trip-lever assembly often comes out for cleaning on the way.
Toilets
A closet auger clears most toilet clogs on the first pass. When the clog is past the toilet, or the toilet itself is the problem, we say so before we go further.
Main lines and cleanouts
When more than one fixture backs up, the problem is downstream of all of them. We cable the main from a cleanout or through a pulled toilet, and camera it when it has backed up before.
Hydro jetting
High-pressure water that scours grease, sludge and roots off the pipe walls instead of boring a hole through them. We use it on greasy kitchen lines, downspout and yard drains, and mains that keep clogging.
Camera inspection
A look inside the line before and after, to find bellies, breaks, roots and offsets, and to show you what the cable can't fix. Camera work and the repairs that follow are on our sewer line services page.
Drain repairs
A line that is rusted through, bellied or broken gets repaired, not cleared again. Bradyn's Fall City galvanized section is a small example; a kitchen line under a slab is a large one.
What Decides the Price
Where the clog is
A trap or the first few feet of line is a short visit. A blockage 15 feet down a kitchen line, or a main line reached through a pulled toilet, is longer.
How we get in
A cleanout saves time; without one we work through a pulled trap, an overflow or the toilet flange.
What's in the pipe
Hair and food clear with a cable. Grease and sludge coat the walls and call for a jet. Roots and broken pipe call for a camera and a repair plan.
Pipe material and age
Old galvanized and cast iron, like the Fall City lines in May, take more passes and sometimes turn out to be the problem.
Our Process
1. Ask what backs up, and when
One fixture or several, slow or stopped, and whether it has happened before. That tells us where to start.
2. Quote before we cable
You get the price for the clearing before the machine comes in, and the price for a jet or a camera if the first pass points that way.
3. Clear the line and test it
We run water at every fixture on the line, not just the one that backed up.
4. Tell you what we found
If the cable hit roots, grease or a break, you hear it, with the camera footage when we ran one.
Frequently Asked Questions: Drain Cleaning
How much does drain cleaning cost?
On our 2026 invoices, tax included, clearing a clogged toilet with an auger ran about $330 to $520, cabling a sink, tub or shower drain about $360 to $720, and cabling a main line from a cleanout or a pulled toilet about $500 to $1,250. Hydro jetting ran about $830 to $2,200 and a camera inspection about $300 to $700.
What moves the price: how far down the clog is, whether there is a cleanout, how many fixtures share the line, and whether the first pass shows the pipe itself is failing. A repair is priced separately: a short section of drain or a new trap ran about $700 to $3,000, and one Redmond kitchen line under a slab topped $23,000.
When is hydro jetting worth it instead of a cable?
When the pipe is coated rather than plugged. A cable opens a hole through grease and sludge, and the line closes again in months; a jet scours the walls back to the pipe. Bradyn recommended it on the Brier kitchen line in April for that reason, and Caleb followed a cable with a jet on a Seattle line in October.
Jetting also suits yard and downspout drains packed with dirt and rocks, and mains that keep clogging. It costs more than a cable, which is why we cable first unless the line's history says otherwise.
Why does my kitchen drain keep clogging?
Because grease cools and sticks to the pipe walls, and every clearing since has been punching a hole through it. Old galvanized and cast iron lines, bellied sections and a failed air admittance valve under the sink keep a kitchen drain slow too, as our Fall City, Issaquah and Brier jobs this year showed.
A line that clogs on a schedule wants a camera after the next clearing, so the fix goes to the cause.
Should I pour chemical drain cleaner down a slow drain?
We'd rather you didn't. It rarely clears a real blockage, it sits in the trap where the next person to open it gets splashed, and it is hard on old metal pipe. A plunger or a hand auger is a fair first try on a sink or tub; after that, call for a cable.
Can you unclog a toilet, or will I need a new one?
Usually the auger clears it on the first pass, and most of our 2026 toilet clearings were single visits. The toilet becomes the problem when the clog is a hard object, when the flange underneath has failed, or when an older toilet keeps backing up, like the one Bradyn replaced west of Carnation in July.
Our toilet repair page covers the line between the two.
How do I know whether it's the drain or the sewer?
One slow fixture is a drain. Several fixtures backing up at once, or the lowest drain in the house backing up when another runs, is the main line or the sewer. We clear mains too, and our sewer FAQ covers what happens when the camera finds a break.
Why Homeowners Call Lighthouse for a Clogged Drain
We quote before we cable
The price for the clearing is set before the machine comes in.
We cable first, jet when it's earned
A jet is recommended when the line's condition calls for it, not by default.
We tell you what the line looks like
Grease, roots or a break: you hear what we found, and see it when the camera ran.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured
Washington Plumbing Contractor License: LIGHTP*762K2
Coverage: Fully bonded and insured
Learn how to verify our license or check directly at secure.lni.wa.gov/verify.