We use two methods — mechanical cabling and high-pressure hydrojetting — and we pick between them based on what a camera shows and what your pipe can safely take. Neither involves chemicals.
Cabling (Snaking)
A motorized cable with a cutter head bores through the blockage and restores flow. It is fast, gentle on pipe, and the right choice for a single fixture clog, a quick emergency clear, or an older line too fragile for high-pressure water. Cutter heads are matched to the job — retrieving heads for hair, root cutters for intrusion, blade heads for grease.
The limitation is worth understanding: cabling makes a hole through a blockage. It does not remove the layer of grease, scale, and root hairs coating the pipe wall — which is why cabled lines often re-clog within months.
Hydrojetting
Hydrojetting uses high-pressure water through specialized nozzles. Forward jets cut the blockage; rear-facing jets propel the hose and scour the pipe wall on the way back, restoring the line to its full inside diameter. This is what actually resets the clock on a line with repeat clogs, and it is the right answer for grease-loaded kitchen and restaurant lines.
Camera Inspection Comes First
On anything beyond a simple fixture clog we run a sewer camera before choosing. It shows pipe material and condition, the exact cause of the blockage, and whether there are cracks, joint separations, or a sag in the line. It also carries a locating transmitter so a problem can be marked precisely on the surface if excavation becomes necessary.
Why the Choice Matters in Albuquerque
A great deal of local housing stock built before 1980 has cast iron or clay pipe. Hydrojetting is safe and effective on sound pipe of any material, but on cast iron corroded thin or clay with separated joints, high pressure can worsen existing damage. Matching method and pressure to actual condition is the difference between clearing a line and breaking one.
What We Do Not Use
Caustic chemical drain cleaners. They damage older pipe, rarely clear a real blockage, and leave hazardous liquid in the line.
Contact B. Carlson for clogged drain service in Albuquerque.
