Cast Iron Sewer Descaling in Bloomington: Main Line and Floor Drain
A Bloomington cast iron sewer descaled with a Picote Maxi Miller and jetted to the city, plus a backed-up floor drain branch cleared with the Mini Miller.
A Bloomington homeowner called us to descale a main sewer line. The house has the kind of sewer we see all over Hennepin County: cast iron inside and under the house, then clay tile out to the city. Cast iron scales up from the inside as it ages, and once that buildup gets heavy, cabling only buys time. Here is what the job looked like from start to finish, including a second line we didn't plan on.
Finding the cleanout and protecting the house
The front main line cleanout was tucked under a bed in a basement bedroom. That is less unusual than it sounds, because basements get finished around cleanouts all the time. Before any equipment came inside, we laid floor protection down the stairs and along the hallways, so hoses and machines never touched the floors.
What the line looked like
From the cleanout, the sewer is cast iron from about 6 feet out to 65 feet. At 65 feet, the 4-inch cast iron steps up to 6-inch clay tile, and the connection at the city main is at 82 feet. That cast iron to clay layout is one of the most common we see, and the cast iron section is where the scale builds.
Descaling, 5 feet at a time
We brought in our Picote Maxi Miller, the heavy-duty descaling machine built for 3- to 10-inch pipe. Starting at the cast iron to clay transition at 65 feet, we worked the line back toward the cleanout one 5-foot section at a time, grinding scale off the pipe wall as we went. Short sections take longer, and they leave no stretch of cast iron unworked.
Flushing the line to the city
Descaling breaks the scale loose, but the debris still has to leave the pipe. Next we used our 4,000 PSI hydro jetter with a Warthog rotating nozzle and made two passes all the way out to the city connection at 82 feet, flushing the loose sediment and scale out of the line.
Then the floor drain backed up
After jetting, we noticed the basement floor drain was backing up, with food debris around it. Its 2-inch branch line is cast iron too, and it runs about 25 to 30 feet to the main. We offered to descale it, and with the homeowner's OK we ran the Mini Miller, our smaller unit built for 2- to 4-inch lines, from a 1.5-inch side cleanout to the main. That got the floor drain flowing and descaled the cast iron in the branch.
This is why we watch every drain before we leave, not just the line we came for. A main line can be clean while a branch line is still holding the scale and debris that cause the next backup.
The result
The main sewer line and the 2-inch floor drain branch were both descaled and draining well when we left. Every descaling job ends with a camera pass, so you see clean pipe instead of taking our word for it.
Is descaling right for your line?
Descaling makes sense when the camera shows hard buildup on cast iron that a cable can't remove. Common signs:
- Slow drains that come back a few weeks after a cabling
- Repeat clogs in the same kitchen, laundry, or floor drain line
- A backup in an older home where roots aren't the cause
Most descaling jobs land between $2,000 and $3,000, depending on the length of the line, how heavy the buildup is, and how we can get to it. We camera the line first, quote a flat price before any work starts, and tell you plainly if the pipe is too far gone to descale. Learn more about cast iron pipe descaling, or book a camera inspection.
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