//Quick answer
- Recurring clogs are a pipe problem, not a bad-luck problem.
- Grease and roots need jetting; bellies and breaks need a repair.
- A camera inspection turns the guess into a picture.
01Definition
What are the four causes of a recurring clog?
Grease and soap scum coating the inside of a kitchen line until the open diameter is a fraction of the pipe. Roots that entered through a joint and regrow after every cutting. A belly, a sag in the line where water and solids settle. And a broken or offset fitting that catches everything passing by. Each looks different on camera and each has a different fix.
Why does snaking not solve them?
A cable makes a hole through the blockage. It does not remove grease from the wall, does not close the joint the roots came through, does not lift a sag, and does not repair a fitting. Flow comes back, the cause stays, and the calendar runs again.
02When it applies
When is it grease?
Kitchen lines, slow drains that improve briefly with hot water, and a camera picture of a pipe with a thick coating and a small opening in the middle. Hydro jetting scours the coating off the full diameter, which is why a jetted kitchen line stays clear far longer than a snaked one.
When is it roots?
Main lines and yard lines near trees, clogs that return on a roughly regular interval, and fine hair-like roots or a dense mass on camera. Roots are cut with a cutting head or a root nozzle. Whether the joint they came through needs a repair is a separate call the camera helps make.
When is it a belly or a broken fitting?
A belly shows as a stretch where the camera goes underwater and comes back out. A broken or offset fitting shows as a step in the pipe or a gap. Neither can be cleaned away; the section has to be corrected, and the camera locator marks exactly where.
03What goes wrong
What does paying for the same snaking every six months cost?
More than the fix, usually, and it hides the real condition of the pipe until something collapses. The honest answer after a second or third stoppage is a camera inspection and a decision, not another cable.
04Proof
- Parwiz Siaghani, Google, September 14, 2026: "Had roots in our toilet. Logan diagnosed the issue right away and scheduled a repair appointment in a very speedy manner."
- A camera goes down the line before anyone quotes a drain or sewer repair, and the camera inspection is included with the $99 drain snaking.
- Six plumbers averaging more than 9 years in the trade each, plus a General Manager with 25+ years.
- No trip charge, a 1-hour response time, and 24/7 emergency service.
05Action
Find out why it keeps happening
Done-Rite puts a camera down the line so you see the cause on screen before any repair is quoted. Drain snaking starts at $99 with the camera included; hydro jetting is $650 to $850 per line.
//Keep going
//Terms used in this guide
Where this applies
Done-Rite runs these calls across Orange County from its shop in Anaheim, CA, with no trip charge in any city it serves.
Common questions
Often, yes. A cutting head or root nozzle clears the growth. Whether the entry point needs a repair depends on what the camera shows at that joint.
No. Jetting empties the sag, but the pipe is still low and the next flow settles there again. A belly is corrected by replacing that section.
