Researched rankings in 38 cities across the United States and Canada. Re-checked every 90 days.

TenBestFindThe best, verified
Add Your Business

Plumbing

Drain cleaning near you

Clearing slow and blocked drains, plus camera inspection of the line.

Prepared by the TenBestFind Editorial TeamUpdated September 2026

Find drain cleaning in your area

Enter your city or postal code and we will take you to the plumbing ranking for that market.

  • Part of

    Plumbing

  • Companies offer it

    296

  • Cities covered

    8

  • Last checked

    September 2026

The work

What drain cleaning actually involves

Clearing the blockage, then finding out why it blocked

There are two ways in. A drain snake is a rotating cable that bores through the obstruction, which is quick, cheap and usually enough for a single soft blockage. Hydro jetting is high-pressure water that scours the pipe wall, which takes longer and costs more but removes the grease, scale and root hair that the cable only punched a hole through.

The difference matters most for repeat blockages. A cable clears the line today; a jet leaves the pipe closer to its original bore, which is why it lasts longer.

Drain snake

A cable bored through the blockage

  • Clears a soft blockageYes
  • Grease and scalePartly
  • Old clay or cast ironUsually safe
  • CostLower

Hydro jetting

High-pressure water against the pipe wall

  • Clears a soft blockageYes
  • Grease and scaleYes
  • Old clay or cast ironCamera first
  • CostHigher

Jetting puts real force against the pipe wall. On a line that is already cracked, or on old clay with displaced joints, that force can turn a blockage into an excavation, which is why a camera survey should come before the jet rather than after it.

Repeat blockages

A drain that blocks twice does not have a blockage, it has a cause

One blockage is bad luck. The same drain blocking again within a year is telling you something about the pipe, and clearing it a second time buys another few months rather than a solution.

The usual causes are roots at a joint, a belly where the line has sagged and holds water, a collapsed section, or a fall that was never right. None of them is fixed by clearing.

A camera survey after the line is clear costs a fraction of a repeat visit and is the only thing that tells you which of those you have. Ask for the footage, not just the verdict.

Failure points

Two things that go wrong

All plumbers research →

  1. No camera after the clear

    Ask: “Will you camera the line once it is clear, and do I get the footage?”

    The drain runs again, everyone is happy, and nobody looks at why it stopped. A survey is most useful in the hour after clearing, when the line is empty and the camera can actually see the joints, the fall and whatever is growing through the wall.

  2. Jetting a pipe that cannot take it

    Ask: “Do you know what this pipe is made of, and what pressure will you use on it?”

    Cast iron that has scaled down to half its bore, or clay with open joints, can be damaged by a jet at full pressure. The tell is a firm that offers to jet before it has seen inside the pipe, on a house old enough for either to be likely.

Before you book drain cleaning

How we rank →

Six checks, in the order they save you the most. None of them takes longer than a phone call, and the first one is the reason two quotes for the same job can be a thousand apart.

  1. In-house or subcontracted

    Ask whether the crew doing this specific work is on their payroll. Plenty of companies list a service and hand it straight to somebody else, which is not wrong, but it changes who is answerable when something goes back.

  2. The licence for the parent trade

    Look the number up with the authority that issues it rather than reading the certificate they send you. What a licence covers, and whether one is needed at all, changes by state and province.

  3. Insurance, confirmed with the insurer

    A current certificate sent to you by the insurer, not a photocopy from the company. Ask for liability and, where crews are on site, workers' compensation.

  4. What the quote leaves out

    Removal, disposal, subfloor or substrate work, permits and making good afterwards are where two quotes on the same job separate. Ask for the exclusions in writing next to the inclusions.

  5. Two warranties, not one

    The manufacturer covers the material and the company covers the workmanship. Get the second in writing, with its length, and ask whether it transfers if you sell.

  6. How a change is priced

    Agree before the deposit how anything found on the way is priced and approved. The moment to settle that is while you are still choosing between companies, not on the day somebody lifts a floorboard.

Where we cover it

Plumbers shortlists by city

Every shortlist →

A company offering drain cleaning appears in the published list for its own market. Each one names the editor who built it and the date they last checked it.

On the lists

Companies that list drain cleaning

Drawn from the profiles where this service is recorded, not from what a company advertises.

Read first

Plumbing guides

All guides →

Common questions about drain cleaning

Ask us something else →

  • Who handles drain cleaning?

    Drain cleaning is handled by plumbers. Not every company in the trade takes this work on, so each ranking lists the services a company genuinely performs rather than everything it advertises.

  • What should I ask before booking drain cleaning?

    Ask what the quote includes and excludes, who is doing the work, whether a permit is needed and who is pulling it, and what the workmanship warranty covers. Get the answers in writing before anyone starts.

  • How do I compare quotes for this?

    Put them on one sheet line by line. Differences in price almost always turn out to be differences in scope, material grade or warranty length rather than margin.

  • Is drain cleaning priced separately from the rest of the job?

    Usually it is a line inside a larger quote rather than its own invoice, which is exactly why the exclusions matter. Ask for it itemised so you can compare that line between companies instead of comparing two totals.

For plumbing

Do you offer drain cleaning?

Claim your profile so the services you actually perform are the ones recorded here, alongside your licence, hours and coverage. Neither claiming nor advertising buys a ranked position.

Find drain cleaning near you