Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Upper Darby Township, PA

Advanced Drains and Underground Solutions serves homeowners and property managers throughout Upper Darby Township with drain cleaning, sewer camera inspection, hydro jetting, trenchless sewer repair, and lateral replacement. Upper Darby is one of the most densely populated townships in Pennsylvania, and its underground infrastructure reflects the building period that created most of that density — the 1910s through the 1940s, with additional construction through the 1950s.

Upper Darby’s Housing Stock and What It Means for Sewer Service

The vast majority of Upper Darby’s residential development predates 1950, and most of the township’s rowhomes, twins, and detached houses from that era have original cast-iron drain systems and clay sewer laterals that have been in continuous use for 75 to 110 years. Cast iron in this era was installed as horizontal branch lines under floors, as vertical stacks inside walls, and as the building drain in the basement. Clay tile laterals connect the house to the public sewer main, typically running under the front yard and connecting at or near the property line.

A clay tile lateral from the 1920s has had a century of exposure to root systems, soil movement, and the slow weathering of its mortar joints. Some of these laterals are in serviceable condition; others have significant root intrusion, joint offset, or sections that have settled below grade and created a belly where waste accumulates. The condition varies property by property. Camera inspection is the only reliable way to assess it.

Homes built in the late 1940s through the 1950s in Upper Darby may have Orangeburg pipe — a tar-saturated fiber product that was installed as a cheaper alternative to clay and cast iron during the postwar building period. Orangeburg was never designed for the service life it has been in, and most of it in Upper Darby is now deforming or collapsed. If your home was built in that period and your lateral has never been replaced or inspected, camera inspection is warranted.

Row Homes, Twins, and Shared Sewer Laterals

Upper Darby’s density comes from its attached housing forms: long rows of brick rowhomes, twins, and semi-detached houses where multiple units sit side by side and often share underground infrastructure. A shared lateral — sometimes called a party lateral — is a single pipe that receives sewage from two or more adjacent properties before connecting to the public main. Shared laterals are common throughout Upper Darby’s rowhome blocks.

A shared lateral failure affects all the properties connected to it. Responsibility for repair of the shared section typically falls on the owners of the properties it serves, though the specific arrangement depends on township ordinance and recorded easements for the properties. Before any lateral repair in an Upper Darby rowhome or twin, we run a camera inspection to map the lateral and identify whether the problem is in the private section (serving only your property), the shared section (serving multiple properties), or at the municipal connection. That map determines the repair scope and who is involved.

Drain Cleaning in Upper Darby

Kitchen drain cleaning is the most frequent service call we receive in Upper Darby’s older neighborhoods. Cast-iron branch lines that are 80 to 100 years old have corroded interior surfaces that trap grease, food solids, and soap. The accumulated material reduces the pipe bore gradually until drainage slows noticeably and eventually stops. Hydro jetting clears these lines by scouring the full interior length with high-pressure water, removing buildup along the entire run rather than just cutting through the blockage point.

Bathroom drain lines in pre-war Upper Darby homes often include galvanized steel drain arms connecting fixtures to the cast-iron stack. Galvanized steel corrodes from the inside out; the interior bore becomes restricted over time, and hair and soap accumulation accelerates the problem. We clear these with cable equipment and assess the pipe condition at the service call.

Main lateral backups — sewage backing up at the lowest-floor fixtures or the basement floor drain — are treated as diagnostic calls as well as service calls. We clear the line and camera-inspect to determine what caused the backup, because a main lateral backup in an Upper Darby home with Orangeburg or clay pipe almost always has an underlying pipe condition that will cause a recurrence if not addressed.

Trenchless Sewer Repair in Upper Darby

Upper Darby’s constrained lot sizes and attached housing forms make trenchless repair methods particularly practical. A full-length lateral excavation through a rowhome property often means working in a narrow side yard or digging through the front yard close to the public sidewalk, with limited space and a more involved permit process for work at or near the right-of-way. CIPP lining and pipe bursting both require only small access excavations at each end of the repair run rather than a trench along the full lateral length.

CIPP lining is appropriate when the pipe wall is intact enough to support a liner — root intrusion and joint gaps, but no collapse or severe deformation. Pipe bursting is used for Orangeburg runs that have deformed beyond what a liner can address. We assess which method fits based on the camera inspection findings for each specific property.

Frequently Asked Questions

My house is in a row of twelve attached homes — can I repair my section of the lateral without affecting my neighbors?

If the camera shows the problem is entirely within your private section of the lateral — the portion serving only your property — you can proceed with that repair independently. If the problem is in the shared section downstream of your connection, the adjacent owners need to be involved. We provide a clear lateral map so you understand exactly where your repair responsibility begins and ends before any work is proposed.

How much does drain cleaning cost in Upper Darby?

Service call pricing depends on what is needed: cable clearing, hydro jetting, camera inspection, or a combination. We provide pricing at the time of the service call based on the specific line and situation. We do not charge diagnostic fees that we then roll into the repair quote — you pay for what we do, not for showing up.

Does Upper Darby require permits for sewer lateral work?

Upper Darby Township requires permits for sewer lateral repairs, and work near or under public roads requires additional coordination. We handle permit applications as part of any lateral repair project. For work requiring road cuts under PennDOT-maintained roads, we coordinate with the appropriate authority as part of the permit process.

Contact Us

For drain cleaning, sewer camera inspection, or trenchless repair in Upper Darby Township, call Advanced Drains at 1-855-DONT-DIG. We are local to Delaware County and dispatch for all service calls throughout the township.