Sewer line tools
Free, no signup, nothing sent anywhere. Each tool publishes its assumptions.
The tools
Which one to start with
If something is wrong right now — slow drains, a smell, water at a floor drain — start with the clog-or-broken checker. It tells you whether you have a sewer line problem at all, and who to call first. Most people who use it discover the cause is cheaper than they feared.
If a camera has already found damage and you have a quote, use the cost calculator. It prices the job line by line and checks whether the method quoted can actually fix what was found — the mistake that costs more than any overcharge.
If a letter from your water company is offering a sewer line protection plan, use the plan calculator before you sign. It shows how often your line would have to fail for the fee to pay off, and compares it with the insurance add-on most people don't know they can buy.
How these differ from a contractor's calculator
Most sewer cost calculators online belong to companies that sell the repair, and they ask for a phone number before showing a number. These don't ask for anything, aren't attached to a contractor, and will tell you when the answer is to refill a trap, clear the line, or skip the plan.
The arithmetic is published rather than hidden — every per-foot range, restoration figure and weighting is on the methodology page, imported from the same code the tools run, so the page can't drift from the tool.
What to have in hand before you start
Each tool works with rough answers, but a few facts make the result far more useful. None of them require a contractor — most are on paperwork you already have.
- For the clog-or-broken checker: which drains are affected, when it happens, and whether you have looked outside over the line and asked a neighbor.
- For the cost calculator: the length of pipe being repaired and the distance to each defect from the camera report, roughly how deep the line is, what sits on top of it, and the total and method from any quote.
- For the protection plan calculator: the monthly fee, the benefit limit and any deductible from the plan letter, and your homeowners declarations page, to see whether you already have service line coverage.