Sewer Backup Service in Austin, TX

Sewage coming up through your drains? Here is what to do right now, and the Central Texas team that has been fixing the cause since 1972.

A sewer backup is the plumbing emergency nobody forgets: wastewater rising in the tub, bubbling up a floor drain, or spilling from the lowest toilet in the house. It is unsanitary, it is stressful, and it will not stop on its own, because the water in your pipes has nowhere else to go. Whatever you were doing, the backup is your sewer line telling you the main path out of your house is blocked or broken.

Lantz Home Services clears and repairs sewer backups across Austin and the Highland Lakes with priority scheduling, camera-verified diagnosis, and upfront pricing. We do not just clear the blockage and drive away. We show you what caused it, on camera, so you can fix the problem instead of renting a few weeks of relief.

Call (512) 710-1032 now. Active backups go to the front of the line.

If Sewage Is Backing Up Right Now: Do These 5 Things

1. Stop using water everywhere in the house. Every flush, shower, and laundry cycle sends more water toward the blockage and out of your lowest drain. This is the single most important step.
2. Keep people and pets away from affected areas. Sewage carries bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Do not let anyone walk through it and track it through the house.
3. Do not pour chemical drain cleaner into any drain. It will not clear a main-line blockage, and it turns the standing water into a chemical hazard for you and for the technician who works on the line.
4. If you have one, check your cleanout. An outdoor sewer cleanout with standing water at the cap confirms the blockage is in the main line, useful information to share when you call.
5. Call (512) 710-1032. Tell us it is an active backup. We prioritize these calls, and we will tell you anything else to do or avoid before we arrive. [CONFIRM: after-hours availability language; current published hours are Mon-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 10am-4pm.]

Why Sewage Backs Up Into Your Home

Every drain in your house feeds one main sewer line. When that line is blocked, broken, or overwhelmed, wastewater takes the only exit it can find: the lowest openings in your home. That is why backups appear in tubs, showers, and floor drains first, and why running an upstairs sink can send water up a downstairs drain.

Understanding which of these is behind your backup is exactly what the camera inspection determines:

A Blockage in Your Main Line

The most common cause. Grease, wipes, paper products, and debris build up until the line closes off. Backups from blockages usually build gradually: slow drains and gurgling for days or weeks, then the overflow.

Tree Root Intrusion

Thirsty Central Texas natives like live oaks and cedar elms find tiny gaps at pipe joints and grow into dense mats that catch everything flowing past. Root backups are the classic repeat offender: cleared with cabling, back again in months, until the entry points are sealed for good.

A Broken, Bellied, or Collapsed Pipe

Cracked pipe walls, sagging bellies that trap waste, and partial collapses all narrow the line until it cannot carry the flow. These backups keep returning no matter how often the line is cleared, because the pipe itself is the problem. See our Sewer Line Repair page for how we fix them, often with trenchless methods that spare the yard.

Heavy Rain and Storm Surcharge

If your backups arrive with big storms, rainwater is getting into the sewer system, either through cracks in your own line or by overwhelming the public main. In Flash Flood Alley, this pattern is common, and it almost always means a breach worth finding before it grows.

A Problem in the City Main

Sometimes the blockage is downstream of your property line, in the public main. Our camera inspection determines which side of the line the problem is on, and if it is the utility's responsibility, we document it so you can get the city or your MUD to act, instead of paying for a repair that is not yours to make.

A Failed Pump

Homes below the grade of the sewer main, common around Lake Travis and Lake LBJ, rely on grinder pumps or ejector pumps to move wastewater uphill. When the pump fails, backups follow. We service and replace these systems throughout the Highland Lakes.

Warning Signs a Backup Is Coming

Most sewer backups announce themselves before they arrive. Call us when you notice these, and the fix is a service call instead of a cleanup:

• Multiple slow drains at once. One slow drain is a clog. Every bathroom draining slowly is a main-line problem building.
• Gurgling toilets and drains. Air trapped by a partial blockage escapes through the nearest fixture. A toilet that bubbles when the washer drains is a warning worth heeding.
• Water appearing where it should not. Running the sink backs water up in the tub; flushing raises the shower drain. Wastewater is already looking for alternate exits.
• Sewage odor indoors or in the yard. A sound line is airtight. Persistent smell means escaping air or escaping wastewater.
• A history of backups. If this has happened before, the cause was never fixed. Repeat backups are a pipe problem, not bad luck.

How We Fix a Sewer Backup, Start to Finish

1. Priority response. Active backups move to the front of the schedule. We tell you what to do, and what not to do, before we arrive.
2. Restore flow first. Using the right tool for the blockage, powered cabling or hydro jetting, we get wastewater moving out of your house again.
3. Camera inspection to find the cause. Clearing the line without finding the cause is how backups become a subscription. We inspect the full line on camera and show you exactly what happened, whether that is grease, roots, a belly, a break, or a problem past your property line.
4. Straight talk about the fix. You see the footage, you hear every option, and you receive written, upfront pricing. Sometimes the honest answer is a thorough cleaning and better habits. Sometimes it is a repair or replacement. Either way, the recommendation follows the evidence.
5. Fix the cause. From jetting away years of grease to sealing out roots with a trenchless liner to repairing a broken section, we handle it with our own crews and verify the result on camera.
6. Help you prevent the next one. Cleanout access, backwater protection, membership maintenance, and honest advice about what your line needs going forward.

A Word About Cleanup and Safety

Sewage is a biohazard. Bacteria, viruses, and parasites in wastewater can contaminate flooring, drywall, and belongings, and the affected area needs proper cleaning and drying once the plumbing is fixed. Our job is to stop the source and make sure it does not happen again; for significant contamination, we recommend professional remediation, and the camera footage and documentation we provide supports both your remediation team and any insurance claim. [CONFIRM: whether Lantz has a remediation partner to reference, and whether any cleanup services are offered in-house.]

Two insurance notes worth knowing before you need them: standard homeowners policies often exclude sewer backups unless you carry a specific water backup endorsement, and that endorsement is usually inexpensive to add. We document every backup call thoroughly so your claim, if you make one, has the evidence it needs.

Stop the Next Backup Before It Starts

The best sewer backup is the one that never reaches your floor. Depending on what your line needs, prevention can include:

• Regular professional drain cleaning. Periodic drain cleaning and jetting keeps grease and buildup from ever closing the line.
• Sealing out roots for good. A trenchless liner is jointless, closing every root entry point at once and ending the cabling cycle.
• A backwater valve. This one-way valve lets wastewater leave your home but blocks it from coming back, protection worth discussing if your area's mains surcharge during storms. [CONFIRM: backwater valve installation offered; if so, consider a dedicated page later.]
• Accessible cleanouts. If your home lacks a proper cleanout, installing one makes every future service call faster and cheaper. See Sewer Line Cleanouts.
• Pump maintenance. For grinder and ejector pump homes, regular checks catch failing floats and worn impellers before they fail on a holiday weekend.
• Membership maintenance. Ultimate Home Care Plan members get priority scheduling and regular plumbing checkups that catch the warning signs while they are still warnings. [CONFIRM: plan benefits relevant to drains.]

And the free advice that prevents more backups than any product: nothing but toilet paper and wastewater goes down the line. No wipes, no matter what the package says. No grease down the kitchen sink. Your sewer line will thank you for decades.

What a Sewer Backup Call Costs

Clearing a backup and diagnosing its cause is priced upfront, in writing, before we start, like every Lantz service. What the full fix costs depends entirely on the cause: a grease blockage jetted clear is a routine service call, root sealing or a sectional repair is a mid-size project, and a collapsed line is a bigger conversation that we will have with you honestly, with camera footage on the screen and financing available with approved credit. What we will never do is quote a major repair without showing you the evidence that makes it necessary.

Sewer Backup Service Throughout Austin and the Highland Lakes

From our home base in Lago Vista and our Austin office, Lantz responds to sewer backups across Central Texas, including:

Austin, Bee Cave, Burnet, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Granite Shoals, Horseshoe Bay, Jonestown, Kingsland, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Leander, Liberty Hill, Manor, Marble Falls, Pflugerville, Point Venture, Round Rock, Spicewood, and Sunrise Beach Village. 

We have answered these calls since 1972. We know the pre-1980 cast iron neighborhoods where backups run in streaks, the storm patterns that surcharge lines across Flash Flood Alley, and the lakefront systems that depend on a grinder pump doing its job. If you do not see your community listed, call anyway.

Why Homeowners Choose Lantz Home Services

• Local since 1972. More than 50 years answering Central Texas sewer emergencies. We are not a franchise and we are not new here.
• We fix causes, not just symptoms. Every backup call includes a camera inspection, because clearing the line without finding the cause just schedules the next backup.
• Upfront pricing, even in an emergency. Written pricing before work begins. Stress is not a reason to be surprised by a bill.
• Licensed and background-checked. Plumbing License #M-40190, with trained, courteous technicians in every truck.
• Every tool for every cause. Cabling, jetting, camera diagnostics, trenchless repair, excavation, and pump service under one roof, so the fix matches the cause.

Related Sewer and Drain Services

• Drain Clog Removal
• Drain Cleaning
• Hydro Jetting
• Sewer Camera Inspection
• Sewer Line Repair
• Sewer Line Replacement
• Grinder Pumps
• Emergency Plumbing