Why Your Drain Keeps Clogging — and the Fix That Actually Lasts

By The Acme Plumbing Team · 6/12/2026

A drain that clogs, clears, and clogs again is telling you something a plunger can't fix. The blockage keeps reforming because something further down the line is catching debris.

In older Philadelphia rowhomes, the usual culprits are hardened grease shelves or tree roots that have found a hairline crack in a clay sewer lateral. Chemical drain cleaners make it worse — skip them.

The lasting fix is hydro-jetting: a high-pressure stream that scours the pipe wall clean, followed by a camera pass so you can see the line is actually clear. Cleared the same drain more than twice this year? Have it jetted and scoped once.