Answered by Serba Corbic, licenced lumber, worked on drain issues for years.

Drain pipes are designed to take your wastewater away from your house and into the large municipal sewer pipes. Over time a homeowner may have to deal with a plugged drain pipe. In the majority of houses built before 1980, the material used to construct drain pipes was clay. As the drain pipe ages and deteriorates, blockages will prevent the wastewater from leaving your house. Clay sewer pipes will crack over time. Drain pipes may separate at joints and if you have trees nearby, roots will penetrate the cracked pipe and start growing inside. Tree roots, separations and pipe breaks will inevitably block the wastewater from exiting and in the majority of cases, dirty water and debris will come up through the floor drain. This is the lowest drain point in your house, so this the first place wastewater will come up. When you use your laundry machine, a lot of water is expelled down the drain. Wastewater will fill the pipe and overflow from your floor drain.

While many homeowners will call a plumber to deal with the blockage, some choose to tackle the issue themselves. Many tool rental stores, such as Home Depot, will rent drain machines (snaking machines) which you can use to clear the blockage inside the pipe. If you choose to do it yourself, make sure that you rent a drain machine with a long enough cable to reach the problem area. The blocked area could be anywhere from you house to the street, so make sure you estimate the correct length. It’s better to rent a machine with a longer cable than come up short.

The majority of homeowners will call a plumber to come and deal with the problem. A licensed plumber is a professional who deals with drainage issues daily. They will have the necessary tools to clear the blockage in your drain pipe. Many will also carry a camera which they can insert into the drain pipe to inspect what exactly caused your drain to block. It is beneficial to homeowners to be present when the plumber is working and ask questions to understand how the drains work in their home, what caused the issue and how it should be resolved. If the plumber has a problem with you being present and observing, then they are probably not the professional they claim to be. A licensed plumber will have no problem in explaining what they are doing and educating a homeowner on the drainage system of their house.

It is strongly advised to have the plumber perform a camera inspection of your drain after a blockage has been cleared. Depending on what was the problem was that caused the blockage in your drain pipe, the plumber will recommend that you either inspect the drain pipe and clean it with a drain machine regularly or in case the pipe is cracked or broken, to replace the drain pipe. With the camera, plumber will be able to see how much of the pipe needs to be replaced and provide you with a quote.