A power auger or cable snake punches a hole through the clog. Fair 2026 range is $100–$275 for a fixture and $175–$500 for a main line. It becomes a rip-off when they snake a grease line three times instead of jetting once.
Hydro jetting uses high-pressure water to scour the pipe wall. Fair range is $350–$800 for a typical home job and $600–$1,500 for a main sewer. It becomes a rip-off when they jet a first-time hair clog in a bathroom sink.
A sewer camera finds roots, breaks, bellies, and grease for $125–$500. Walk if they refuse to show you the video.
After-hours dispatch is the same work with overtime payroll, usually plus 25% to 100%. Do not pay that premium for a slow drain that could wait until morning.
Hydro jetting is the upsell that pays the shop. A cable job often lands $150–$350. A jet job often lands $500–$1,500. Both can be the right tool. Only one should be on your invoice.
Step 1 — Diagnose the recipe before you hire a chef
Ask one question: is one fixture dead, or is the whole house backing up?
One sink, one shower, one toilet: start cheap. That is usually hair, grease, soap, or paper in the branch line.
Two or more fixtures on the lowest floor gurgling or overflowing: that is the main sewer line. Do not keep plunging.
Sewage coming up a floor drain or tub: that is an emergency for containment, not an excuse to skip a price.
Wrong diagnosis is how a $175 snake becomes a $1,400 main-line hydro jet plus camera plus after-hours stack.
Step 2 — Try the 10-minute home method only if sewage is not coming up
Stop running water in that fixture. Plunge 15–20 firm strokes with a real seal. If it is a sink or tub and the stopper comes out, pull hair at the drain opening. If the clog is still there and it is one fixture, a cheap handheld snake is allowed. Do not force it past the first bend if it binds hard.
If water is standing in multiple fixtures, skip DIY. You can push the blockage farther into the main and turn a cleanable clog into a backup.
Step 3 — Memorize the 2026 fair-price card
Read this out loud before you call anyone.
Bathroom sink, tub, or shower snake: $100–$275.
Toilet unclog: $100–$275.
Kitchen grease clog: $150–$350.
Main sewer snake: $175–$500.
Residential hydro jet: $350–$800.
Main sewer hydro jet: $600–$1,400 typical, higher with roots and bad access.
Camera inspection: $125–$500.
Emergency, night, weekend, or holiday: 1.5× to 2×, sometimes 3× on a holiday main-line jet.
National average for a standard residential drain cleaning job still sits near $220–$250. If the first number you hear is $895 for a bathroom hair clog at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, that is not market. That is a hunt.
Step 4 — Call like a buyer, not like a hostage
Use this script:
“I have a single-fixture or main-line backup. I want a written flat rate for snaking first. Do not hydro-jet unless a camera shows grease, scale, or roots. What is the trip fee, what is included, and what is the after-hours multiplier if I wait until morning?”
Then collect three quotes. Same description. Same time window. Write down the trip or diagnostic fee, whether that fee is credited if you approve work, snake price versus jet price listed separately, camera price and whether you get the video, any two-hour minimum, and who pays if they crack old pipe because they jetted without a camera.
Companies that will not quote a range on the phone are planning to quote the panic on your driveway.
Step 5 — Smell the upsell before it hits the invoice
Pause or walk away if you hear “we have to jet it, snaking never works.” Snaking clears most first-time fixture clogs.
Pause if they say they can’t price it until they open the line. They can give a range.
Pause if the camera is extra and you don’t get the footage.
Pause if they want to replace the sewer line while they’re here with no video of a collapse, offset, or belly.
Pause if you see a $70–$200 trip charge plus a two-hour minimum plus materials markup plus after-hours on a slow drain that could wait until 8 a.m.
Franchise drain brands often price a basic snake at $225–$500. Independents frequently do the same work for less. Price is not proof of quality. A license, insurance, and a camera video are.
Step 6 — Choose the method like you choose heat on a stove
Use snaking when it is the first clog in that fixture, only one drain is affected, the likely junk is hair, paper, or a small object, or the pipes are old and a camera has not cleared them for high pressure.
Use hydro jetting when the same line clogs every few months, kitchen grease is the suspect, roots or heavy scale show on camera, or you are cleaning a main line and want one to three years, not three months.
Do the 12-month math they hope you skip. Three $400 snakes equal $1,200. One $700 jet that lasts two years can be the cheaper recipe. The scam is jetting a problem that only needed a cable, or snaking a grease main forever so you become a monthly customer.
Step 7 — If it is a real emergency, contain first, then buy the hour
