A sewer line that blocks every year does not have a cleaning problem. It has a damage problem, and cleaning is buying time on it. If you have had the same line cabled three springs running, or you are watching a soft green patch appear along the route of your lateral, the pipe is telling you something that another cleaning will not fix.
At Reimer, we repair sewer lines for homeowners across Buffalo and Erie County, combining camera diagnostics, professional cleaning and our own excavation crews, with teams working in Rochester, Hamburg, Cheektowaga, Albany, Syracuse and communities throughout Upstate New York. Because the diagnosis, the repair and the digging all sit with us, nothing gets subcontracted and nobody passes the problem along.
This region gives sewer lines a hard life. Frost drives below forty inches, mature street trees sit directly over century old clay laterals, and heavy spring melt loads the mains. What fails here fails for local reasons, and we have been fixing it since 1921. Here is what you get when you call us about a sewer line problem:
- Precise diagnosis before any repair is quoted.
- Locating so the dig is targeted, not exploratory.
- Permits, utility mark-out and restoration handled by us.
- Backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Book an Appointment
WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED
Maintenance Plans
Since 1921, our team of Western NY’s top notch service specialists have been serving the area and caring for thousands of customers. At Reimer, we do everything in our power to ensure that your home comfort system works efficiently and effectively every time you turn it on.
- Multi-Point System Inspection
- Calibrate System for Efficiency
- Ensure Proper Airflow
- Maintain System Warranties
- Reduces Unexpected Breakdowns
- Evaluate Filtration & Indoor Air Quality
- Routine Maintenance Leads to Reduced Utility Bills and Extends the Life of your System(s)
What Damages Sewer Lines in Buffalo and Erie County?
Four failures account for most of the repair work here, and the camera tells us which one you have before anyone picks up a shovel:
- Root intrusion that has cracked a joint open, common where clay tile runs under the mature maples along Buffalo’s parkways and Rochester’s older streets
- Broken or offset pipe, where freeze and thaw movement has pulled a joint apart
- Corroded cast iron that has lost wall thickness and is shedding scale into the flow
- Bellied or sagging sections, where soil has washed out beneath the pipe and waste now sits in a low spot instead of draining
Orangeburg deserves its own mention. This tar impregnated fibre pipe went into a great many postwar builds across Cheektowaga, Tonawanda and Hamburg, and it fails by deforming into an oval and closing off. Orangeburg is not repaired in sections. Once it starts to collapse, the run gets replaced.
What Are the Signs a Sewer Line Needs Repair?
A blockage is an event. Damage is a pattern. Several fixtures draining slowly at once, gurgling toilets, sewage odours indoors or in the yard, and wastewater rising through a basement floor drain all point at the main line. What points specifically at damage is repetition.
A line that runs well for a few months after every cleaning, roots that return on the same schedule each year, or a soft, wet or unusually green strip of lawn following the route of the lateral: those are structural symptoms. If raw sewage is entering the house right now, stop using water and call our emergency plumbers instead of waiting for a scheduled appointment.
We diagnose a sewer line before recommending excavation. Our team reviews where the symptoms show and what previous service was done, find an accessible cleanout, clear the line if it is blocked, then camera it. A locator in the camera head marks the position and depth of the defect on the ground above it, so the excavation opens one hole in the right place rather than a trench across the yard.
You see the footage and the mark on the ground before you approve anything. If a sewer line cleaning will genuinely hold for another few years, we will say so.
Our Sewer Line Repair Process
Every sewer repair we carry out follows the same sequence, so you know what is happening at each stage and what it is costing before we commit to it.
- Diagnosis. We clear the line if it is blocked, then camera it end to end to find the fault and confirm what has actually failed rather than what the symptoms suggest.
- Locating and marking. The locator in the camera head marks the position and depth of the defect on the ground above it, so the excavation opens one hole in the right place instead of a trench across the yard.
- Quote and options. You see the footage and the mark before you approve anything. We explain whether it calls for a spot repair or a full replacement, what each involves, and what the restoration includes.
- Permits and mark-out. We pull the municipal permit, arrange the separate opening permit where the work reaches a sidewalk or roadway, and book the utility mark-out before anything is dug.
- Excavation and repair. Our own crews open the ground, replace the failed section, and reconnect the line with the correct fall so it drains properly rather than simply flowing.
- Testing and backfill. We run water through the line to confirm flow before the ground goes back, then backfill and restore the surface to what was agreed in the quote.
The decision point sits at stage three. A single cracked section in otherwise sound pipe is a spot repair, and most of what we find falls there. Material that has failed along its length, a run with several failed sections, a fundamentally wrong slope or a collapse means replacing the line rather than patching it. Either way, you are looking at the same footage we are when that call gets made.
What to Expect During a Sewer Repair in Buffalo, NY
Once the defect is located, we plan access around depth, other buried utilities, landscaping, driveways and sidewalks. Utility mark-out is arranged before any digging, and several Erie County municipalities require both a work permit and a separate street or sidewalk opening permit. We handle those.
The section is exposed, replaced, reconnected with correct fall and tested for flow before backfill. You will be told upfront what restoration includes, because backfill and a lawn returned to grade is not the same as new sod or a replaced concrete apron, and that distinction is where most sewer repair disputes start.
Winter work is possible here and it is harder. Frozen ground slows excavation and surface restoration cannot be completed properly until the thaw, so a February repair sometimes means a spring return visit to finish the ground.
Who Pays for Sewer Line Repair in Erie County?
In most Erie County and Monroe County municipalities, the homeowner owns the lateral from the house to the connection at the public main, which means the repair is your bill even where the pipe runs under the sidewalk or the street. The municipality owns the main itself.
Two things are worth checking before you pay. Many insurers sell a service line endorsement covering buried water and sewer lines, and it is often a small addition homeowners forget they have. Some water and sewer providers also offer service line protection plans. Rules and coverage vary, so confirm with your own municipality and insurer.
Sewer Line Repair Across Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany
We repair sewer lines throughout Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, West Seneca, Orchard Park, Tonawanda, Grand Island, Williamsville and Niagara Falls, and across Rochester and the Finger Lakes, Syracuse and Central New York, and Albany and the Capital Region.
We repair sewer lines throughout Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Hamburg, West Seneca, Orchard Park, Tonawanda, Grand Island, Williamsville and Niagara Falls. Our plumbers also cover Rochester, the Finger Lakes, Syracuse, Albany and the Capital Region.
Sewer repair is one of the few plumbing jobs where the paperwork can hold things up longer than the digging. Permit requirements differ from one municipality to the next across Erie County, and where the work reaches the sidewalk or the roadway, there is usually a separate opening permit with its own restoration conditions attached. We deal with those, and with the utility mark-out that has to happen before anything is excavated.
Because we have our own excavation professionals, the diagnosis, the repair and the digging all sit with one company. Nothing gets subcontracted out, so there is no gap between the plumber who found the fault and the crew who opens the ground, and no one passing the problem between them.
We have branches in Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Rochester, Clifton Park and Brewerton, so the plumber who assesses your line works out of a location near you. Our call centre is available 24/7, and we offer Day or Night service when a sewer line fails outside normal hours.
Why Homeowners Trust Reimer for Sewer Line Repair
We have been repairing Western New York sewer lines since 1921, and Buffalo News readers voted us Best of 716 for plumbing in 2025. More than 13,764 Google reviews stand behind that, and on jobs this size what people remember is that we proved the problem before we quoted it.
- More than 100 years of local experience with clay, cast iron and Orangeburg laterals
- Camera evidence and locating before a single shovel goes in the ground
- Our own excavation crews, so nothing is subcontracted
- Permits, mark-out and restoration coordinated by us
- Upfront pricing approved before work starts
- A 100% satisfaction guarantee on every repair
Schedule a Sewer Line Repair with Reimer Today
Sewer line problems only get more expensive the longer they run, and a line that keeps backing up is telling you something a cleaning alone will not fix. We diagnose it properly with a sewer camera inspection, show you exactly what is happening inside the pipe, and carry out the repair with our own crews from the inspection through to the backfill.
Call Reimer to schedule your sewer line assessment in Buffalo, Erie County or anywhere across our Upstate New York service area, or book online and we will confirm your arrival window. If sewage is backing up into your home right now, tell us when you call and we will treat it as an emergency.
Over
100YEARS OF
EXPERIENCE
Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing Repair in Buffalo, New York.
For decades, local homeowners have trusted the team at Reimer Home Services with all their home service needs. We’re your HVAC company in Buffalo. We’re your plumbers here in Western New York. Above all else, we’re here for you and your home.
You can count on our team to be there when you need us. In fact, we’re available Day or Night. Your home’s problems can’t wait, and neither should you. Call us and let us know how our plumbers and techs can help.
We’re your local home services team…
Our Sewer Line Cleaning Packages
Basic Cleaning From Outside
We’ll clean sewer from outside trap using K-1500 power cleaner. We’ll reseal any caps or covers, and then use a camera to inspect the sewer line.
Basic Cleaning From Inside
We’ll clean the sewer from inside of home using K-1500 power cleaner. We use all necessary drop clothes and shoe covers, and reseal any caps or covers. We also use a camera to inspect the sewer.
Extreme Clog
Clean sewer from inside of home using K-1500 power cleaner with root-cutting tips.
We’ll use drop cloths to protect your home, and reseal any caps or covers. Includes a sewer camera inspection.
Add-On: Power Jetting
Complete power jetting of main sewer line with 4000 PSI of water pressure to remove any sediment, roots, or debris not accessible with sewer cleaning machine. Leaves your sewer line completely clear.
Add-On: 2-Year Warranty
Expand our warranty up to two years with this add-on to your sewer line cleaning package.
Our sewer line cleaning warranties.
Our Basic Cleaning From Outside package comes with a 30-day warranty.
Our Basic Cleaning From Inside package comes with a 60-day warranty.
Our Extreme Clog package comes with a 90-day warranty
All of our Buffalo sewer line repair and cleaning warranties exclude any clogs caused by the negligence of the homeowner.
Your satisfaction is guaranteed.
We believe in our work and the positive impact we have on local homes. It’s why our sewer line cleaning here in Buffalo, NY comes backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you’re not completely satisfied with our services, let us know. We’ll work with you to make the situation right.
Buffalo’s best plumbing team.
We’re proud to have Buffalo’s top plumbers working under our roof. Call us for Day or Night service, and we’ll send one of these friendly experts out to your home to handle any plumbing issue you’re facing.
- Our plumbers handle all projects.
- All our plumbers are certified.
- Our team is background-checked.
Upfront, honest pricing.
Our company offers fair and honest estimates, and then stands by them. We’ll always tell you what your plumbing repair should cost before getting started, and get your approval before we do.
We’re here for local homeowners.
Proud to serve Buffalo and Upstate New York.
From Niagara Falls to Orchard Park and all points in between, we’re Upstate New York’s local heating, cooling, and plumbing pros. No matter where you live in the Buffalo area, you can count on Reimer to be there for your home with our fast, Day or Night sewer line cleaning service.
Click the link below to see all the communities we serve, and to contact us for service.
Factory Authorized Trane System Dealer
Reimer is proud to be a Factory Authorized Trane System Dealer and offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. We are so confident that you will be comfortable – not only with your Trane System heating and cooling products but with us as a Factory Authorized Trane System Dealer – that we back it up with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. This guarantee applies If, you are dissatisfied with your Trane System equipment within one year, for any reason.
