Drain Cleaning in Riverview, NB

Riverview's sewer by-law talks about lateral sewers, backwater valves and who pays when the Town is called out. It is worth knowing before a drain backs up, whether you live in Bridgedale or out in Cross Creek. Call +1 (506) 306-2963.

Lateral sewers and who gets the bill

In Riverview the pipe from your house to the sewer main is called the lateral sewer. By-law 400-25-02, s. 34.1 says the owner may be billed when the Municipality is called to clear or repair a lateral sewer to the property (Riverview by-law 400-25-02).

Section 34.2 covers the other direction. If an owner hired a plumber to clear a lateral sewer and the blockage was proven not owner-caused and on municipal property, the Director may authorize reimbursement of all or part of the invoice, not including damages, or refer the matter to Council (same by-law). Keep the invoice, and ask us to tell you where the blockage sat.

Backwater valves in newer Riverview buildings

Section 35.3 says the owner of any new residential, commercial, industrial or institutional building shall install and maintain a CSA approved backwater valve in the lateral sewer (same by-law). The rule is written for new buildings. By the end of July 2024 it had granted 115 building permits worth over $52 million, and 281 new housing units received permits in the first two quarters of 2024, 206 of them multi-unit (Acadia News).

A backwater valve only works if it is free of debris and not stuck. If you are not sure whether your lateral has one, call and we will look for it and tell you what we see. If you are buying or renting a newer place, it is a fair question to ask.

Drains in a multi-unit building

Most of the new housing in the permit figures above is multi-unit. A blockage in a townhouse, a condo or a rental building can sit in your own branch or in a shared line, and that decides who arranges and pays for the work. We find out which it is before we start clearing.

If more than one unit is backing up at once, tell the property manager and tell us when you call. Several fixtures slowing down together points to the shared line and changes what the plumber brings.

What it costs in Riverview

Drain cleaning starts from $150. The price follows which drain is blocked, how far in the blockage sits and how easy the cleanout is to reach. You get the price before work starts.

Give us the street and nearest cross street, or a landmark such as Mill Creek Nature Park (1000towns.ca), and tell us whether it is one drain or the whole house. Our drain cleaning service page compares the options in full, and the plumber in Riverview page lists the rest of what we do here. In Dieppe the by-law wording and the billing rules differ, which is why we also have a Dieppe drain cleaning page.

Signs the problem is the lateral, not the fixture

One slow sink is usually a local clog. A floor drain in the lowest part of the house that backs up when the washing machine runs, or several fixtures slowing at the same time, points further down the line, toward the lateral.

Before we clear anything we ask when it started, which fixtures are affected and whether neighbours on the street are seeing the same thing. If the whole street is backing up, the problem may be in the sewer main, which is a call to the Town and not a job for your pipe. If only your house is affected, we start at your cleanout and work along the line.