Most drain companies won’t put a price on their website. The usual reason given is that “every job is different”. That’s true, but only up to a point. A kitchen sink clog in a 1960s Bird Rock cottage and one in a 2010 Torrey Pines condo are more alike than different, and so is the work to clear them.
So here are our real 2026 prices for drain cleaning in La Jolla, what each one includes, and the handful of things that move a job from the bottom of its range to the top. The full price list is above this article and broken down by service further down the page.
The short version
- One clogged fixture (a sink, shower, tub, toilet or floor drain): $180 to $275.
- Main sewer line cleared from an outside cleanout: $275 to $450.
- Main line with tree roots or heavy grease (root cutting plus hydro jetting): $450 to $850.
- Camera inspection added to a cleaning visit: $150 to $225.
- Nights, weekends and holidays add $95 to $150 to any of the above.
Booking through our website takes $49 off, and every drain we clear is covered by our 90-Day Clog-Free Guarantee.
What you’re actually paying for
A drain cleaning price covers three things: getting to you, finding the blockage, and removing it in a way that lasts. The first is roughly the same on every job. The other two are where prices differ.
Single-fixture clogs: $180 to $275
This is the most common call we take. One drain is slow or stopped, and everything else in the house is fine. The clog is in the trap under the fixture or in the first few feet of branch line behind it.
For a bathroom sink, shower or tub, the work is usually pulling the stopper or strainer, clearing the trap, and cabling the branch if needed. Those jobs sit at the low end. A kitchen sink usually costs a little more because grease in the branch line takes longer to cut through. A toilet cleared with a closet auger falls in the same range. If the blockage is past the auger’s reach and the toilet has to come off the floor, that’s $295 to $395, including a new wax ring.
If you have a second slow drain, clearing it on the same visit adds $75 rather than a second call-out.
Our clogged drain repair page breaks this down fixture by fixture.
Main line cleaning: $275 to $450
When several drains are slow at once, or water comes up in the shower when the toilet flushes, the blockage is in the main sewer line. That’s the pipe that carries everything from the house to the city sewer.
Clearing it means running a heavier cable from the exterior cleanout, usually a capped pipe near the foundation, out to the blockage. A straightforward clog in an accessible line is the low end of the range. A longer line, or a clog well out towards the street, is the high end.
If the house has no exterior cleanout, we have to go in through a pulled toilet or a roof vent. That adds labour, and the job becomes $395 to $550. Many older homes in The Village and Windansea were built without an outside cleanout, and adding one makes every future clearing cheaper.
Root cutting and hydro jetting: $450 to $850
Tree roots and heavy grease are the two things a basic cable can open but can’t really clean. A cable punches a hole through the middle and leaves the rest stuck to the pipe wall, so the line closes up again within months.
For roots, we cut the mass back with a cutting head sized to the pipe, then hydro jet the line to flush out the debris and the fine growth a cutter can’t reach. For grease, jetting alone usually does it. Either way, it costs more than cabling because it takes longer and the equipment is heavier. It also lasts much longer, which is the point.
Commercial kitchen lines, such as restaurants along Prospect Street, run $550 to $950 because of the volume of grease and the length of line between the kitchen, the interceptor and the main.
Camera inspection: $150 to $225 as an add-on
Once a line has been cleared, running a camera through it costs $150 to $225 because the line is already open. A standalone residential inspection is $275 to $395, and a pre-purchase inspection with a written report is $325 to $450.
We don’t put a camera down every drain. A first-time sink clog doesn’t need one. We recommend it when a line has blocked before, when we’re about to jet an older pipe, or when the cable brings back something that suggests the pipe itself is the problem, such as roots, rust flakes or clay fragments.
The six things that move your price
Every range above has a bottom and a top. Here’s what decides where your job lands.
- Where the clog is. A trap clog under one sink is ten minutes of work. A blockage 60 feet down the main line needs heavier equipment and more time.
- How we reach the line. An outside cleanout is quick. No cleanout means pulling a toilet or going up on the roof.
- What’s causing it. Hair and soap cable out easily. Grease, scale and roots need cutting or jetting.
- Pipe material and age. A lot of La Jolla housing dates from the 1950s to the 1970s, which means cast iron and clay. On those pipes we often need a camera before jetting to make sure the pipe can take the pressure.
- Time of day. Nights, weekends and holidays add $95 to $150. If your problem can wait until morning, waiting saves money. Our dispatcher will tell you honestly whether it can.
- Building type. A restaurant, condo stack or multi-tenant building has more pipe, more access points and usually more grease than a single-family home.
When the price isn’t a cleaning price
Sometimes the camera shows that the pipe itself has failed. It might be a cracked section, a joint that has pulled apart, or a belly where the line has sagged and holds water. Cleaning that line again will buy a few months at most.
At that point the conversation changes from cleaning to repair, and repair is quoted in writing from the footage. It might be a trenchless spot repair, a full reline or a pipe-bursting replacement. We don’t put a single number on repairs on our website because the price depends on the length, depth and route of your specific line. What we do commit to is showing you the footage before you decide, and putting the quote in writing. See our main line drain cleaning page for how the repair options compare.
How to avoid overpaying for drain cleaning
The drain cleaning business has a few well-known traps. Watch for these, whoever you call.
- The very low advertised price. A “$49 drain cleaning” coupon from a call centre almost always becomes a much bigger bill once the technician is in your house. Ask what the advertised price actually includes.
- Pricing by the foot of cable. Some companies charge per foot. That sounds fair until a main-line job runs 100 feet. Ask for a job price.
- No footage, big quote. If someone tells you that you need a new sewer line, ask to see the camera footage. If they won’t show it, get a second opinion.
- Work before approval. You should know the price before any work starts. If what’s found on site changes the job, the technician should stop and re-quote, not add it to the invoice.
How to pay less
- Book online. It takes $49 off your visit.
- Call during business hours if the problem can wait. After-hours rates are fair for real emergencies, but there’s no reason to pay them for a slow bathroom sink.
- Bundle fixtures. A second drain on the same visit is $75, not another call-out.
- Fix the cause. If the same line blocks every year, a single jetting visit or a repair usually costs less than three more cable jobs.
- Prevent the next one. Use hair catchers in showers, keep grease out of the kitchen sink, and only flush toilet paper.
What our guarantee covers
Every drain we clear comes with our 90-Day Clog-Free Guarantee. If a drain we cleared blocks again within 90 days under normal use, we come back and clear it again at no charge. It doesn’t cover new foreign objects in the line, or a structural defect our camera found that you chose not to repair. That’s fair to both of us, and it’s why we tell you about those defects up front.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to unclog a drain in La Jolla?
$180 to $275 for one sink, shower, tub or toilet. $275 to $450 for a main line from an outside cleanout. Add $95 to $150 for nights, weekends and holidays, and take $49 off if you book online.
Is hydro jetting worth the extra cost?
For a line that keeps clogging with grease, scale, sand or roots, usually yes. It cleans the pipe wall rather than opening a path through the clog, so it lasts much longer. For a one-off clog, a cable is better value. Our guide What Is Hydro Jetting and When Do You Actually Need It goes through the decision.
Do you charge for a quote?
No. You get the price on the phone or on site before any work starts.
Why are La Jolla prices different from what I see online?
National “average cost” figures mix rural and urban markets, and they rarely say what’s included. Our prices are for La Jolla, and they include the work to clear the line properly and check it before we leave.
Need a price for your drain? Call (858) 363-8328 any time, or book online for $49 off.