Plumber in Fraser, MI: We Are Not Driving In, We Are Already Here
Drain Detectives is a family owned, licensed, bonded, and insured plumbing company, and Fraser is not a service area on a map for us. It is where the shop is. Every truck starts and ends its day here. Drain cleaning, sewer repair, basement water and drainage work, sump pumps, water heaters, water lines, and fixture repair for Fraser homes and businesses, answered 24 hours a day.
- Based in Fraser
- Licensed, bonded, insured
- Residential & commercial
- Camera diagnostics
- 24/7 emergency response
Emergency in Fraser? You are as close to our trucks as anybody gets. Stop using water if a line is backing up, then call.
(586) 296-0036 (248) 645-2448What Is Your Fraser Property Doing?
| What you are seeing | Where to start |
|---|---|
| A clogged drain at one sink, tub, or toilet | Drain cleaning |
| Several drains slow, toilets gurgling | Camera inspection |
| Water at the basement floor drain | Emergency plumbing |
| Basement damp or wet after heavy rain | Sump pump or waterproofing |
| Sump pump running constantly or not at all | Sump pump service |
| The same clog keeps coming back | Hydro jetting |
| No hot water or a leaking tank | Water heaters |
| Low pressure through the whole house | Water lines |
Basement Water and Drainage
More Fraser calls come down to water where it should not be than to anything else. Macomb County clay drains slowly, the water table comes up fast in spring, and frozen ground in March cannot absorb meltwater at all. Here is how the pieces fit together, because they are genuinely different systems and people spend money on the wrong one.
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Sump pump installation and replacement
A basement sump pump is the part that moves collected groundwater back out. Most last seven to ten years, and the storm that produces the most water is the storm that takes out the power, which is why a backup system is a system rather than an upgrade.
Sump pumps -
Interior basement drainage
Drain tile around the footing collects water before it reaches the floor and routes it to the pit. When that silts up over decades, water that should have been intercepted finds the floor instead, and a bigger pump does not fix it.
Waterproofing -
Foundation and wall seepage
Water through a wall crack or at the wall-floor joint is a different problem from groundwater in the pit. A pump can only remove what reaches it. This one needs the entry point addressed.
Basement waterproofing -
Sewage at the floor drain
If the water is dirty and smells, it is not groundwater and no pump will help. That is the sanitary line, and it needs clearing and then a camera to find out why it happened.
Sewer repair
Not sure which of these you have? The fastest tell is the water itself. Clean and odourless during heavy rain points at groundwater and the sump system. Dirty with a smell, especially alongside slow drains elsewhere, points at the sewer. Describe it to us and we will tell you which conversation you are in.
Everything We Do, From a Shop in Your City
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Drain Cleaning
Clogged sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, laundry lines, floor drains, and main lines, cleared with professional cable equipment.
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Sump Pumps
Sump pump installation, sump pump replacement, repair, battery backup systems, and discharge line work. One of our most common Fraser jobs.
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Basement Waterproofing
Interior and exterior solutions for seepage, wall cracks, and drainage problems a sump pump alone cannot solve.
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Sewer Cleaning and Repair
Backups, root intrusion, offset joints, and collapsed laterals. Camera diagnosis before anything gets quoted.
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Camera Inspection
Video down the line with locating. Also pre-purchase sewer scopes for anyone buying in Fraser.
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Hydro Jetting
High pressure cleaning for grease, sludge, scale, and root hair, when the same clog keeps returning.
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Water Heaters
Tank and tankless, gas and electric. Repair, replacement, and permitted installation through the City of Fraser.
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Water Lines
Service line and interior supply repair for leaks, low pressure, and corroded galvanized runs.
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Excavating
Trenching, underground line replacement, backfill, and restoration when the fix has to happen outside.
What Being Based in Fraser Actually Changes
Plenty of companies list Fraser on a service area page. Searching for plumbers in Fraser turns up a lot of them, and most are driving in from somewhere else. Four things are different when the shop is in the city.
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Response time is not a promise, it is geography
Fraser is where our trucks already are. We still will not quote you an exact arrival time before knowing your situation, but you are closer to us than any other city we serve.
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We know this city's pipe
Fraser is small, and after enough years working here you stop guessing about what is under a given street. We have been inside a great many of these laterals.
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We know the permit process here
Requirements are set by the city, not the county. Fraser is the one we deal with most often, so there is nothing to look up.
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Our reputation is our neighbours
A bad job in Fraser follows us to the hardware store. That is a more reliable quality mechanism than any corporate policy.
What Fraser Homes Are Built With
- A postwar city. Fraser grew from a small community to most of its current size between the 1950s and the 1970s. That means the majority of homes here came out of one building window, and they age together.
- The Orangeburg window. That same window is when Orangeburg pipe was still being installed, a bituminized fiber material that flattens into an oval and collapses rather than cracking. It cannot be cleaned back into service. If your Fraser home is from that era and the sewer keeps backing up, this is worth ruling out on camera.
- Clay tile laterals and mature trees. Older laterals were laid in short jointed sections, and seventy year old street trees have had a long time to find those joints. Backups that arrive at the same point every year are usually roots, not bad luck.
- Cast iron and galvanized. Drain stacks scale inward for decades until the working diameter is a fraction of what was installed, and galvanized supply lines corrode inward and strangle pressure.
- Heavy clay soil. It drains slowly, holds water against foundations, and is the reason basement water is the most common call we take in this city.
Plumbing Permits in the City of Fraser
Michigan sets permit requirements at the municipal level, so Fraser handles this through its own building department and not identically to Clinton Township or Roseville next door.
Water heater replacement, water service line replacement, and most sewer repairs are typically permitted work. Fixture repairs usually are not. The inspection exists so somebody independent verifies gas, venting, and pressure relief before anything is buried or closed up.
This is the city we pull permits in most often. We confirm the current requirement for your address as part of scheduling, and the inspection is part of the job rather than something you chase afterwards.
Across Fraser and Right Next Door
Fraser is compact, so we cover all of it. Areas and corridors we are on constantly:
- Groesbeck Highway corridor. Commercial, industrial, and the residential streets either side.
- Utica Road. Mixed residential and commercial through the middle of the city.
- 14 Mile and 15 Mile. Established residential subdivisions, and where a lot of the older laterals are.
- Garfield and Hayes. Residential either side, plus multi-tenant properties.
- Downtown Fraser and the surrounding streets. Older housing stock and small commercial.
- The industrial and light manufacturing areas. Including our own block on Malyn.
Just over the line in Clinton Township, Roseville, Sterling Heights, or Warren? Those are minutes away too. See all areas we serve.
Drain Detectives
18260 Malyn Blvd, Fraser, MI 48026
Macomb County: (586) 296-0036
Oakland County: (248) 645-2448
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays
Licensed, bonded, and insured
Other Areas We Serve
Plumbing in Fraser: FAQ
Are you actually located in Fraser?
Yes. Our shop is at 18260 Malyn Blvd, Fraser, MI 48026. It is where the trucks are kept and where the day starts, not a mailing address or a call routing number. Fraser is the closest city to us that exists.
Why does my Fraser basement take water in spring?
Macomb County clay drains slowly and frozen ground cannot absorb meltwater, so the water table rises quickly in March and April. If the water is clean with no smell, that is groundwater and points at the sump system or the drain tile feeding it. If it is dirty with a sewage smell, that is the sanitary line and a completely different fix.
My sump pump runs constantly. Is that normal?
Not usually, and it wears the motor out fast. Common causes are a stuck float, a failed check valve letting discharged water fall back into the pit, discharge routed too close to the foundation so the same water keeps returning, or a pump undersized for the groundwater volume. Worth diagnosing rather than waiting for it to burn out. See sump pump service.
My Fraser house is from the 1960s. Should I worry about the sewer line?
Worth checking. Homes built between the late 1940s and early 1970s may have an Orangeburg lateral, a fiber pipe that deforms and collapses rather than cracking, and it cannot be cleaned back into service. A lot of Fraser housing sits in exactly that window. A camera inspection settles it in one visit.
Do I need a permit for plumbing work in Fraser?
For some jobs, yes. Water heater replacement, water service line replacement, and most sewer repairs are typically permitted work through the City of Fraser. Fixture repairs usually are not. This is the city we pull permits in most often, so there is nothing to look up on your end.
Do you charge for estimates?
We charge a service call fee to come out, diagnose the problem, and quote it, and that fee is applied to the work if you go ahead. You approve the price before anything starts. We do not offer free estimates, because a free estimate on a buried line is a guess rather than a diagnosis.
How fast can you get here?
Faster than to anywhere else we serve, because Fraser is where we start from. We still will not give you an exact time before knowing what is happening, since that depends on call volume and what is already in progress, but you have the shortest drive of any city on our list.
Do you work on Fraser businesses as well as homes?
Yes. Commercial, industrial, and multi-tenant properties across the city, including the Groesbeck corridor and the industrial areas. Scheduled maintenance on grease lines and shared stacks costs considerably less than emergency response. See commercial plumbing.
Call the Plumber Down the Road
Tell us what you are seeing and roughly where in Fraser you are. Most of the time we can tell you what you are dealing with before we get there, and we are not coming far.
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24 Hour Emergency Plumbing Service Call (586) 296-0036 or (248) 645-2448
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