Sewer Gas Smell in the House: Dry Traps to Broken Pipes
Sewer gas smell in the house? The usual causes in order of likelihood: dry traps, failed wax rings, blocked vents and cracked cast iron, plus free tests.
San Diego · San Diego County · Oceanside to Chula Vista
Sewer line repair in San Diego: a homeowner's guide
Backed-up shower, gurgling toilet, a wet patch in the yard that never dries. In San Diego the pipe under it is usually 60-year-old cast iron or clay, and the honest fix depends on what a camera shows. This guide explains what the camera shows and what each fix costs; if you want a written price, an independent local sewer contractor partner looks first, puts a price in writing and only digs where there is no better way.
CSLB-licensed sewer contractorsFree written estimates from a local contractorNo obligationCamera-first repair guides
How a request works
- Tell us what happened
What's backing up, where, and roughly when the house was built. Say so if sewage is on the floor now. - A local contractor clears and cameras the line
Cable or hydro jet to get you draining, then a camera from the cleanout to the main. Ask to watch the screen and keep the file. - You get a written price
Spot repair, lining, bursting or open-trench, each priced separately if more than one would work. Ask how long the price holds and what deposit, if any, is due. - You decide
No obligation. Spot repairs and linings usually take a day. The contractor who does the work pulls the permit and calls DigAlert (811) before any digging. - Check the finished work
Ask for the after video and the warranty in writing: its length, what voids it and whether it transfers.
Sewer services across San Diego
Repair the bad section when that's honest. Reline or burst the whole lateral when it isn't. The camera decides, not the sales pitch.
Sewer Line Repair
Backups cleared, roots cut, the line hydro jetted and cameraed, and a spot repair where one section is broken and the rest is sound.
Sewer Line Repair →Sewer Line Replacement
A new lateral from the house to the main when the old cast iron or clay is done. Open-trench where it makes sense, trenchless where it doesn't.
Sewer Line Replacement →Trenchless Sewer Repair
Pipe lining and pipe bursting through one or two small pits, so the driveway, the patio and the city sidewalk stay where they are.
Trenchless Sewer Repair →Sewer Camera Inspection
A recorded camera run from the cleanout to the main, with the break located from the surface. The basis for every honest quote, and the first thing to do before buying an old house.
Sewer Camera Inspection →Under-Slab Sewer Repair
Rusted-out cast iron under the kitchen and bath of a 1950s slab home: lined in place, tunneled to, or re-routed, with the least concrete cut.
Under-Slab Sewer Repair →Drain Cleaning
Fixture clogs and main-line clogs told apart, snaking vs hydro jetting explained, and the camera check that shows whether the clog was the whole problem.
Drain Cleaning →Why San Diego sewer lines fail the way they do
Most older San Diego houses were built between the 1920s and the mid-1960s: North Park, Normal Heights, Kensington, Clairemont, Point Loma, La Mesa, the older streets of Chula Vista and El Cajon. Inside and under those houses the drain lines are cast iron. From the foundation out to the street the lateral is usually vitrified clay in three or four foot lengths, joined with mortar or a tar-and-hemp packing that gave up decades ago.
Cast iron rusts from the inside. After 50 or 60 years the bottom of the pipe is scaled, rough and thin, and eventually a section of the floor of the pipe is simply gone. Clay doesn't rust, but every joint is a gap, and San Diego roots go looking for gaps. Ficus, eucalyptus, pepper trees and jacarandas on a lawn that gets watered twice a week and a pipe that leaks a little every day: the roots win. In a drought year they hunt harder.
The ground makes it worse. Much of the inland part of the city sits on expansive clay. It swells in the January rains and shrinks through a dry September, and the slab and the pipe under it move a fraction of an inch each cycle. A clay joint offsets, a cast iron hub cracks, and now there's a low spot where paper collects.
Sewer line repair in San Diego: the options
Sewer line repair — clearing the immediate backup, then finding out why it happened. Roots cut and the line hydro jetted clean, a camera run to see what's left, and a spot repair where one section is broken and the rest is sound. Most spot repairs are $1,500–$4,000.
Sewer line replacement — when the camera shows a lateral that's failing along its length, not in one place. Open-trench where the pipe runs under lawn or dirt; trenchless where it runs under a driveway, patio or the street.
Trenchless sewer repair — cured-in-place lining and pipe bursting through one or two small pits instead of a trench across the property. It is the most common way laterals under concrete get replaced here, because the alternative is cutting up a driveway and a city sidewalk.
Sewer camera inspection — usually $250–$500, and the only honest basis for a repair quote. Also the thing to do before you buy a house from 1958.
Under-slab sewer repair — the cast iron under the kitchen and hall bath of a 1950s Clairemont or Allied Gardens ranch. Tunneling, an overhead re-route, or lining the line in place, depending on what's broken.
Areas this guide covers
The City of San Diego from Point Loma to San Ysidro, and the inner county: National City, La Mesa, El Cajon, Santee, Poway, Carlsbad, Encinitas and Oceanside. La Mesa and Encinitas have their own pages.
For sewer line repair, Chula Vista follows the same patterns as the city to its north: 1950s–60s ranches on cast iron and clay west of I-805, mature trees along the older streets, and newer ABS-plumbed tracts to the east that fail less often. The basics of sewer line repair (San Diego, CA and the rest of the county alike) don't change at the city limit: camera first, then the cheapest fix that actually ends the problem.
Before you call anyone
Three things worth knowing. First, in the City of San Diego the property owner is generally responsible for the lateral all the way to the main, often including the part under the street — confirm for your address with the agency that bills you for sewer (in the City of San Diego, the Public Utilities Department). We wrote up who owns the sewer lateral. Second, a contractor who quotes a full replacement without showing you camera footage is guessing, or worse. Third, sewer lateral work in California is licensed construction work. Ask for the contractor's CSLB license number and check its status and classification with the CSLB license lookup at the CSLB site before you sign. We only use sewer contractors licensed by the California Contractors State License Board — ask for their CSLB number.
If sewage is coming up in a tub or out of the yard cleanout, say so in the estimate request; see sewer emergencies for what to do while you wait.
Latest sewer line guides for San Diego homeowners
Sewer Line Repair for a Rental Property: A Landlord Guide
Sewer line repair for a rental property: the first two hours of a tenant backup, what to fix now versus later, shared duplex laterals, tax and insurance.
What Sewer Pipe Lining and Bursting Cost in San Diego
Sewer pipe lining cost in San Diego: per-foot rates for CIPP lining and pipe bursting, the pits, the connection at the main, and why bids differ.
Do Root Foams and Copper Sulfate Kill Tree Roots in Sewer Lines?
Kill tree roots in a sewer line with copper sulfate or foam? An honest look at what San Diego root products do, what they don't, and what the utility says.
Fall Sewer Checklist for San Diego Homes Before the Rains Come
A fall sewer checklist for San Diego homes before the November-to-March rains: cleanouts, roots, low drains, yard drainage and what to camera now.
Root Season: Why San Diego Sewer Clogs Peak in Summer and Fall
Sewer root clogs in San Diego cluster from July to October. The irrigation and drought calendar behind the peak, and when to jet or line a lateral first.
Questions plumbers get asked
How much does sewer line repair cost in San Diego?
A spot repair on one broken section is typically $1,500–$4,000. A full lateral replacement runs $4,000–$15,000 open-trench and $6,000–$20,000 trenchless, more if the line runs a long way under the street. A camera inspection is usually $250–$500 and is where every honest quote starts. The cost page has the tables.
Do I need a camera inspection before a repair?
For anything beyond clearing a clog, yes. The camera shows whether you have one broken joint or 70 feet of scaled cast iron, how deep the pipe is, and where it goes. Without it a contractor is quoting from experience and guesswork, and you can't compare two quotes because neither one is based on the same information.
Is trenchless sewer repair possible on my house?
Usually. Lining needs a pipe that's still roughly round and continuous; pipe bursting needs a straight-enough run and room for two pits. The cases where it doesn't work are a fully collapsed section, a badly bellied line, or a pipe with too many tight turns. The camera tells you which, and a good contractor will say so if open-trench is the better job.
Who is responsible for the sewer lateral in San Diego?
In the City of San Diego the property owner is generally responsible from the house to the connection at the main, often including the section under the sidewalk and street — confirm for your address with the agency that bills you for sewer (in the City of San Diego, the Public Utilities Department). Other cities and districts in the county may draw the line elsewhere, so ask yours. Our lateral ownership guide goes through it.
Can tree roots really break a sewer pipe?
Yes, and in San Diego they do it constantly. Roots enter at a clay joint or a crack in cast iron, grow until they fill the pipe, and as they thicken they lever the joint apart. Cutting the roots buys six to eighteen months. Sealing the joint out with a liner, or replacing the pipe, ends it. See tree roots in sewer lines.
What license does a San Diego sewer contractor need?
Sewer lateral work in California is licensed construction work. Ask for the contractor's CSLB license number and check its status and classification with the CSLB license lookup at cslb.ca.gov before you sign. We only use sewer contractors licensed by the California Contractors State License Board — ask for their CSLB number.
Need sewer line work in San Diego?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.