What is the Purpose of a Drain Cleanout?

You may have noticed this 4-inch pipe sticking out of the ground about 7 inches high with a threaded cap in your yard.   What is that thing?   This is the drain cleanout or sewer line cleanout.   Regardless of what you call it, the purpose of this cleanout remains the same.

The borescope line cleanout provides an easily accessible entry point to the main sewer line between your home and the septic tank. This sewer line access port is to provide plumbers as well as ‘do it yourselfers’ easy access to the sewer line to perform a visual inspection of the pipe or to address a clog. Even if you as the homeowner don’t ever see yourself performing this inspection on your own, it is good to know the location of this drain cleanout in the event of an emergency.

The benefit of having a sewer endoscope drain cleanout is not only the ease of accessibility but many plumbers will offer a lower cost for their sewer inspection for reducing the amount of time required to perform the inspection.

It is possible that your home doesn’t have an accessible sewer line cleanout, or it is possible that it has been buried under landscaping materials or even behind bushes. In the event that you do not have a cleanout available outside your home, the inspection may have to begin from inside. If the plumber has to cut into the pipe on the outside of the house this would be an opportune time to have a sewer line cleanout installed. In case you must gain access to the pipe again in the future this will save time and money.

A typical drain cleanout pipe is 4 inches in diameter and usually white or black in color. These pipes are constructed of plastic which eliminates several corrosion issues that metal and cast-iron pipes had in the past. You may also identify drain pipe cleanouts inside you home and with 2-inch pipe diameters as well.