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How to price drain cleaning (snake vs. hydro jet, access, camera and emergency)

A kitchen sink clog reached from a cleanout and a main-line backup that needs hydro jetting from a roof vent are not the same ticket. A single "drain cleaning" price hides that. Here's a structure that separates them: cable clearing per drain, hydro jetting per line, a shared access multiplier, camera and after-hours as flat add-ons, and minimums—all built from your own jobs.

About the numbers here: every figure in the examples is hypothetical and only shows the method. They are not market rates. Check your local market and your own costs.

Why snake and hydro are separate lines

Cable (snake/auger) clearing is usually a fixture or branch-line job. Hydro jetting is a different machine, different setup and different risk profile, often on a main line. Put them as two services in multi mode so customers can pick one or both, each with its own rate and minimum. Exterior trench drains are a different calculator—see the French drain template.

Step 1: Log your next 10 clears

For each job, note the method (snake vs. hydro), which drain or line, access point (cleanout / fixture vs. roof vent / dug), whether you ran a camera after, dispatch window (normal hours vs. after-hours), and tech minutes on site. Keep parts and jetter wear in a separate column.

Hypothetical log for illustration.
Job	Method	Access	Tech minutes	Notes
A	Snake	Cleanout	40	Kitchen branch
B	Snake	Roof vent	55	Same clog type, slower setup
C	Hydro	Cleanout	90	Main line grease
D	Hydro	Difficult	120	Plus camera 25 min
E	Snake	Cleanout	35	Tub, easy pull

In this made-up log, easy snake jobs run about 35–45 minutes; roof-vent access adds setup; hydro is a longer visit even with good access.

Step 2: Turn pace into per-drain and per-line ranges

Build two bases from your log. Divide your hourly target (see the general method) by your fast and slow pace for each method, then add consumables (cable tips, jetter fuel, PPE).

Hypothetical example. Hourly target $110. Snake easy pace ~1.5–1.7 drains/hour → about $65–$75 labor, plus $10–$15 wear → roughly $75–$95 per drain before access (widen to match your real invoices). Hydro at ~0.7–0.9 lines/hour → about $120–$155 labor plus machine wear → a higher per-line band. The template samples are placeholders—replace them.

Step 3: Access multiplies both lines

Roof vents and dug access slow every clear, not just one size of clog. A shared select multiplier (cleanout/fixture nearby ×1, roof vent / difficult ×1.3 or whatever your log says) scoped to both snake and hydro keeps the method honest. Compare averages: if cleanout snakes averaged 40 minutes and roof-vent snakes 55, the factor is 55 ÷ 40 ≈ 1.4—use your numbers.

Step 4: Camera inspection as a flat add-on

A post-clear camera pass is valuable and does not scale with how many drains you snaked. Price it as a flat add-on from its own timed minutes plus a small equipment allowance.

Hypothetical example. 25 minutes of camera work × $110/h ≈ $46, plus a $20 equipment allowance → a rounded $65–$125 add-on depending on how thorough your report is. The template's sample is one point in that kind of range.

Step 5: After-hours / emergency as a flat add

Night and weekend dispatch costs you sleep and route disruption more than it changes cable physics. A flat emergency add is clearer than burying it in the per-drain rate. Keep it optional so daytime customers see the normal range.

Step 6: Minimum tickets per line

Each service line can carry its own minimum so a quick single-drain snake still covers the truck roll, and a hydro visit covers jetter mobilization. Set each from shortest realistic visit for that method × hourly target.

Step 7: Check it against reality

Run three past invoices through the calculator. If ranges cover what you earned after wear and disposal, publish. If easy jobs look too cheap, raise the minimum or the low rate—not a vague "market average." Appliance-side drain issues that are really a dishwasher or disposal problem may belong on the appliance repair template instead.

The result, as a customer sees it

This is the drain cleaning template with sample numbers (not the hypothetical ones above). Open it in the builder to enter your snake and hydro rates, access factor, camera and emergency add-ons and minimums.