Commercial Drain Service in Houston, TX

What does Houston require of grease trap owners?

The Houston Health Department treats you as a special waste generator if you own or manage a restaurant, car wash, lube station, laundromat, dry cleaner, an apartment complex with ten or more washers per section, or any site with an interceptor. Those sites carry three duties, listed on the Department's special waste generators page:

• Hold a generator permit, renewed once a year
• Have every interceptor fully evacuated at least every 90 days, unless a waiver is approved
• Keep manifests and records on site

The Department says violations of Chapter 47, Article XI can bring a Notice of Violation or a citation for each offense, with fines from $250 to $2,000 per violation. It also says proposed changes would lower the oil and grease limit from 400 mg/L to 200 mg/L over a two-year phase-in, so check the current figure on that page.

Which records will a City investigator ask to see?

Have these ready, because the Department says inspections are routine or complaint-driven and unannounced:

• Your original FOG permit
• Yellow and white manifest copies for the past five years
• Biological pretreatment invoices, if you use it
• Your Notice of Waiver, if you have one
• Prior inspection reports

Check the work before you sign. The Department tells generators to confirm the trap and sample well are clean and empty, make sure the manifest shows the correct trap capacity, then sign the generator portion. The returned copy should come back within 15 days of pump-out. Investigators also check the dumpster, rendering oil bin and surrounding area, and may sample the well.

What commercial drain service in Houston covers

Drain service keeps the pipe open, and a permitted hauler empties the interceptor. Those are separate jobs, and your manifest only records the second one. A commercial visit from us can include:

• Grease line cleaning from fixture to interceptor and beyond
• Floor drain service in kitchens, wash bays and laundry rooms
• Commercial sewer cleaning from the building to the street cleanout
• Sewer camera inspection on repeat clogs
• A plain account of what was cleared and what we found

Work stops at the street cleanout, because public pipe belongs to Houston Public Works. The Department's interceptor list also names lint traps, grit traps and oil/water separators, so a laundromat or car wash can have the same slow line with a different cause.

Houston Public Works says 70% of the city's sewer overflows come from clogs of fats, oils and grease poured down the drain, plus wipes, which is why repeat grease clogs get attention from the City as well as from your staff. It also says restaurants and commercial kitchens are inspected at least once a year.

How often should scheduled drain cleaning happen?

Set scheduled drain cleaning by how fast the line loads up, then adjust it from what the camera shows. A fryer-heavy kitchen builds grease faster than a coffee shop, and EPA's sewer fact sheet reports trap cleaning anywhere from twice a month to every six months depending on the load. A reasonable starting point is line cleaning at every second interceptor pump-out, then shorten or stretch the gap.

Book it for a slow window. Our hours run 7 AM to 8 PM Sunday through Thursday and 7 AM to 6 PM Friday, and a visit should fall before a busy service.

What gets checked during restaurant drain cleaning?

Restaurant drain cleaning goes in order, so the clog is found before anything is forced through it:

1. Ask what backs up, when, and what the last pump-out showed.
2. Find the cleanouts and check flow at the interceptor.
3. Run a camera where the cause is unclear.
4. Clear the line with a cable or hydro jetting.
5. Run water through each fixture to confirm flow.
6. Go over the findings with you, in plain terms.

What happens if the line is broken or sewage comes up?

A broken pipe stops being a cleaning job. If the camera shows a collapse, a belly or roots through a joint, you get the findings and a clear, upfront quote for sewer line repair before any digging.

Sewage in a food establishment has its own rule. The Health Department's emergency form says you must cease all operations and request an inspection before resuming. Reach Consumer Health Services at (832) 393-5100 or CHS@houstontx.gov.

Which agency handles what?

Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners rules cover line work, while grease rules sit with the Houston Health Department at 832-393-5740. Food establishments apply for that permit at 8000 North Stadium Drive, and non-food sites at 7427 Park Place Blvd. A pipe replacement can also need a permit, so ask the Houston Permitting Center first, and ask any contractor for a license number. Under the Occupations Code, the responsible master plumber answers for work under that license. Haulers hold a separate City permit, which the waiver form asks for. Car washes and lube stations answer to the same generator rules as kitchens.

Who pays for drain work in a leased building?

Your lease decides. Tenants often carry the line from their own fixtures, and landlords carry shared lines, but wording varies. The Health Department looks to the owner or manager of the site for the permit and records, so settle who books the pump-outs and who holds the manifests.

We quote once we have seen the line, because these factors move the price:

• Length: one kitchen branch, or the whole line out to the cleanout
• Access: an outdoor cleanout, or a line inside a working kitchen
• Buildup: a soft stoppage, or years of hardened grease
• Method: a cable alone, or a camera and jetting
• Timing: when the work has to fall around service

Timing can change the plan as much as the pipe does. A kitchen that can stop for the job is a simpler visit than one that has to stay open, because jetting needs the line idle and the area clear. A scheduled cleaning lets us see the cleanouts first, which takes guesswork out of the quote. Pump-outs are billed by your hauler and sit outside any drain quote, so budget for both. Any pipe repair the camera turns up is quoted on its own.

Why PipeElectric for grease line and floor drain service?

A drain that stays clear depends on knowing why it clogged:

• Plain explanations show up in reviews, so your manager hears the cause in simple terms.
• Clean work shows up too, which matters on a kitchen floor.
• A clear, upfront quote comes first, so the owner can sign off.
• Google shows 5.0 stars from 18 reviews.
• On-time arrival comes up in reviews, which counts when a shift depends on the drain.
• Fair pricing comes up as well, so an owner can weigh a scheduled visit against the last stoppage.

We are closed Saturday, so a kitchen that wants a clear line for its busiest night should book by Friday.

Besides Houston itself, this service reaches Pasadena, Galena Park, South Houston and Stafford. For other work on your building, see our commercial plumbing services.