Hydro Jetting vs Snaking Knowing the Key Differences

Being plumbers for over 30 years, we have seen our fair share of old cast iron, root-infested pipes, clogged pipes with grease, old brittle pipes, and pipes with simple soft clogs. 

One of the most frequent questions we get is… “Twins, what’s better for my pipes, Snaking Or Hydro-jetting ?”

Let’s start with the facts about both:

• Snaking utilizes a cable with an electric motor to push & pull back the cable, you attach blades at the end 
• Hydro Jetting makes use of a high-pressure water jet designed to blast through stubborn clogs, hardened debris, and even tree roots and sometimes very effective on cast iron build-up.

This electric auger, invented by Samuel Blanc in 1933, includes rotating blades that cut through tree roots lodged within sewer pipes. Since then, there have been many other types of snakes or Roto-Rooter cables invented and used by professional plumbers today. 

Do you know the difference between a top snake, a mini-rooter, a toilet auger, and a large drain snake for mainline sewers?  If you’re not a plumber, the answer is probably “no”. 

Each of these Drain cleaning tools is designed for a specific application & clog. 

Some are operated by an electric motor, while others use manual power. Use the wrong one on your drains or pipes, and it can make your plumbing problem worse.

One of the BIGGEST issues is using the large drain cable, you have a mainline that is overflowing and you don’t know what the clog is, you insert the snake cable down clean out, and when you retrieve it, it coils up, potentially causing injuries or it gets stuck in the line. 

When trying to address your drain issue, it’s very important to understand what type of clog you have, then that will dictate what type of equipment will be used. 

Here’s when NOT to use a snake: 

1- A sewer line that has massive grease compaction 

2- A drain line that has a break with root infestation 

3- The main Drain line that has to be cleared from a rooftop

4- A drain line that has an epoxy liner from past repairs. 

5- A drain line that is made of cast iron and has A LOT of build-ups. 

When It’s Acceptable to Use a Drain Cable : 

1- Soft stoppage, toilet paper clog, hair & food. 

This Was Invented in the 1800s. In the United States, mining companies used hydraulically pressurized water cannons to blast away dirt and minerals. A little less than a century later, water jet cutting made its way into the plumbing industry where it’s since been used by plumbers from all over the world. 

Hydro jetting, very similar to the snake, comes in different sizes for different applications. They have the big hose with large nozzles or mini hose with small hydro-jet cutting nozzles, again depending on the type of clog & size of the drain line. 

When NOT to Hydro Jet On Your Pipes:

1- When you have a drain line that is clogged with no cleanout 

2- When you have a simple soft clog stoppage 

3- When you have a MASSIVE build up inside an old cast iron pipe & fittings 

4- When the cleanout is stubbed inside a crawl space, you’ll flood, causing secondary damages

This is one of the biggest concerns and we get this question a lot from clients.

If any drain cleaning equipment, fractures OR breaks the pipe, it has nothing to do with the equipment, it has everything to do with the actual pipe itself, this means that the pipe has ended its lifespan and will need replacement. 

Hydro jetting costs can vary, depending on the type of cleaning, the location, accessible cleanout, or difficult accessibility. 

Also, dependinging on how compacted the line is, with roots, grease, etc, etc. is it only one small section OR a 10-foot section. 

The investment can be as high as $1,200.00 or as low as $250.00 with a camera scope.

Twin Facts: Did you know Roto-Rooter’s hydro jetting can cost on average $500.00 to $900.00.  Want a better quote? Call the Twins for your hydro jetting project as your next local plumber. 

Here are the top 6 questions to ask a local Los Angeles drain cleaning company before you hire them.

1. Choose a company that has great reviews, that specializes in Drain Cleaning. 
2. Choose a company that will be fully transparent with providing you before & After videos. 
3. Choose a company that will provide you a written warranty on cleaning.
4. Choose a company that will be honest with pricing, and provide you a worst-case scenario.
5. Choose a company that will clean up after themselves, as the job can get messy. 
6. Choose a company that has all the equipment to solve your drain issue. 

We believe descaling is the ultimate in cleaning cast iron pipes.  

“Speed cut” from EPL solutions has one of the BEST descaling equipment in the industry. 

It removes the buildup & restores the interior pipe diameter in minutes. 

Typically the nozzle will have a front-firing forward nozzle spray, just make sure you push it into the main. 

Here’s a cheap nozzle called the “Drain tornado” that works well on your water hose, depending on your clog. 

This could work on kitchen lines if you have an outside clean-out. 

The average time to perform hydro jetting is about 60 minutes. 

If you have a lot of cleaning, you can expect about 90 minutes.

Most plumbers are not fans of Drain openers, they may work temporarily, but if you continue to have to apply more every several days, then all you’re doing is creating a small hole in the massive compaction. 

They are not healthy for your Drains & Drain chemicals to eat away at our drain cables. 

Here’s a Drain cleaner test we did, even our Twin Plumbers Drain opener was put to the test.

In the drain cleaning world, you do have to be careful, as most drain technicians are paid by commission.  It’s fair to ask before you hire that local drain cleaning company to come out if their workers are paid by commission or they are just hourly employees. 

So when it comes to Hydro-jetting versus Snaking, understanding the type of clog you have will depend on the service you’ll need. 

Descaling an old cast iron pipe with a product like “Speed cut “ is truly the way to go when it comes to cleaning an old cast iron line. 

Hydr- jetting & snaking is great for softer type stoppages. 

We hope this post was helpful, as always, thank you for visiting our site today.