Backing up right now? Call the right crew.
Stop running water in the house. If you have a City-installed two-way cleanout, the City’s crew will check the main and the section from that cleanout to the main: call Richardson’s 24/7 Response Center at 972-744-4111. If the stoppage is between the cleanout and your house, or you don’t have a City cleanout, the City isn’t obligated to clear it. That’s when to call us at (682) 284-0966.
Richardson had about 1,300 residents in 1950 and 48,582 by 1970. Census data shows about 44% of the city’s homes were built before 1980. So many Richardson sewer laterals have been carrying waste to the City’s main for 45 to 70 years.
For a single slow sink or tub, a drain cleaning is usually enough. For everything else we do here, see plumbing services in Richardson.
Richardson’s housing and its sewer laterals
The Census (American Community Survey 2020–2024) counts about 48,000 homes in Richardson. The median dates from 1986, but about 44% were built before 1980, mostly in the 1960s and 70s. That’s a much older mix than Plano or Frisco. Unless a lateral has been replaced, it’s as old as the house.
Richardson sewer laterals by era
The first additions
About 7% of homes, including the first postwar neighborhoods such as Richardson Heights. These laterals are around 70 years old. If one backs up repeatedly, get it on camera before agreeing to another clearing.
Remarkable Richardson
Roughly 37% of homes. These laterals are 45 to 65 years old, often under mature shade trees. Roots at the joints and low spots where the line has settled are what we expect to find.
The Telecom Corridor years
About 25% of homes. Newer than the core of the city, but 25 to 45 years old now. Grease, wipes and joint problems cause most of the backups we see in these homes.
Infill and townhomes
About 31% of homes, including townhomes and infill lots. Shared or tight lots can make it harder to find the cleanout, so we locate the line before anyone digs.
Richardson’s rule: the City’s main, your lateral, and the two-way cleanout
Richardson puts its rule in writing. A City Council resolution says the customer or property owner maintains the house lateral between the main and the building. The City maintains the main.
- The two-way cleanout program. With the owner’s authorization and a fee paid in advance, Richardson’s Water Utilities Department can install a two-way cleanout at or near the property line. The City describes this as an interim program.
- After a City cleanout is in, City staff maintain the section between that cleanout and the main at no cost to the owner. The section from the cleanout to the house stays the owner’s.
- On a stoppage call, the City checks the main and clears any stoppage there. If it installed your cleanout, it also checks the cleanout-to-main section and will try to clear a stoppage between the cleanout and the house, but it isn’t obligated to.
- The City won’t work on private property to relieve a stoppage that’s on private property. Without a cleanout or other opening, City staff can’t clear it.
- Ask about installing one: Richardson Customer Service, 972-744-4120.
Signs the problem is the main line, not one drain
- The lowest fixture backs up first, usually a tub or shower, often when a toilet is flushed or the washer drains.
- Several fixtures are slow or gurgling at the same time.
- Sewage comes up at the yard cleanout or a floor drain.
- The same backup returns a few weeks or months after a clearing.
- A sewer smell in the yard along the line’s path.
How a Richardson sewer repair works
Check whose section it is
If you have a City two-way cleanout, we look there first so you aren’t paying for a City-side problem.
Clear and camera
We clear the line from your cleanout and record it with a sewer camera, then locate any problem from the surface.
Price in writing
You see the video and get upfront written pricing before any work starts.
Permit and inspection
Repairs and replacements are permitted and inspected through the City of Richardson.
Richardson permits for sewer work
How the City of Richardson handles it
- Permits: Richardson issues plumbing permits online, and most require a licensed contractor to get the permit and do the work.
- Registration: no current City registration, no permit. The contractor has to be registered with Richardson first.
- Code: plumbing work is inspected to the 2021 International Codes, which Richardson has adopted.
- Inspections run in scheduled daily windows, with results posted online. Building Inspection: 972-744-4180.
- Digging: call the Response Center, 972-744-4111, to have City water and sewer mains located. Other utilities are marked through Texas 811.
As Richardson requires, Staggs Plumbing is registered with the City of Richardson, and we pull the permit ourselves.
Old laterals in shrink-swell clay
Richardson is on the Blackland Prairie, the band of dark, highly expansive clay that runs south from north of Dallas. The USDA describes Houston Black, the classic soil of the region, as clay that shrinks and swells markedly as its moisture changes. Joints in a 50- or 60-year-old lateral have been through decades of that, which is why roots and sags are so common in older Richardson lines.
What we find in Richardson sewer lines
| Problem | Usual fix | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Roots in joints of an older lateral | Clear, camera, then repair the joint or replace the run | Mature trees and older pipe go together in much of Richardson |
| Stoppage between the City cleanout and the house | Clear from your side and camera the line | This section is the owner’s, even with a City cleanout |
| No cleanout at all | Add a cleanout when we repair the line, or ask the City about its two-way cleanout program | Without an opening, nobody can clear the line from outside |
| Sagging or broken section | Spot repair under permit | Waste collects in the low spot and backs up again |
| Grease and wipes | Clear and flush | Common in every era of home |
Sewer backup in Richardson? Start here.
In this order:
- Stop using water in the house: no flushing, laundry or showers.
- Look for a City-installed two-way cleanout near the property line. If you have one, call the Response Center at 972-744-4111 to have the City check its section.
- Neighbors backing up too? That points to the main. Call 972-744-4111.
- Keep people and pets away from sewage and don’t use chemical drain cleaner on a backed-up line.
- Call us at (682) 284-0966 for the house side. We clear it, camera it and give you upfront written pricing before any work starts.
Richardson neighborhoods we serve
We work on sewer lines across Richardson’s 75080, 75081, 75082 and 75083 ZIP codes: Richardson Heights and the other postwar neighborhoods near old downtown, the Telecom Corridor along Central Expressway, the areas around UT Dallas and Breckinridge Park, and the Collin County side of the city.
Our Plano headquarters is just north of Richardson.
Richardson sewer line questions
Is the City of Richardson responsible for my sewer line?
The City maintains the main sewer line. A City Council resolution makes the property owner responsible for the house lateral between the main and the building. If the City has installed a two-way cleanout, the City maintains from that cleanout to the main, and the owner is responsible from the cleanout to the house.
What is a two-way cleanout in Richardson?
It’s a cleanout the City’s Water Utilities Department installs at or near the property line, with the owner’s authorization and a fee paid in advance. Once it’s in, the City maintains the line from the cleanout to the main at no cost. Call Customer Service at 972-744-4120 to ask about one.
Who do I call first when my sewer backs up in Richardson?
If you have a City-installed two-way cleanout, or neighbors are backing up too, call the City’s 24/7 Response Center at 972-744-4111. If the stoppage is on your side of the cleanout, or you don’t have a City cleanout, call a licensed plumber.
Do I need a permit for sewer line repair in Richardson?
Repairs and replacements of sewer pipe are plumbing work that needs a City of Richardson permit, and most permits require a licensed contractor whose City registration is current.
How do you price sewer work?
We give you upfront written pricing before any work starts, after you’ve seen the camera video. Financing is available.
