Hayes Plumbing fixes the pipes that carry wastewater out of Ajax homes: the stack and branch drains in the basement, the main drain under the floor and the sewer connection running under the yard to the street. That is what drain repair in Ajax means for us, whether the house is in Pickering Village, Downtown Ajax, Applecroft, Nottingham, Riverside or Westney Heights. Our licensed plumbers work out of our Oshawa shop at 448 Ritson Rd. South. If a drain keeps blocking, smells of sewage or backs up at the floor drain, call (905) 576-3043; a live operator picks up around the clock.
Signs an Ajax drain line is broken, not just blocked
A clog sits inside the pipe, while damage is part of the pipe. Cleaning removes the first and only buys time with the second. These signs point to a damaged line:
- The same drain blocks again within weeks of being cleared.
- The toilet gurgles or the tub bubbles when another fixture drains.
- More than one fixture drains slowly at the same time, or water rises at the basement floor drain.
- A sewage smell lingers in the basement even while the drains seem to work.
- The drain snake pulls out roots, or a strip of lawn over the sewer line stays soggy or unusually green.
What the camera shows in Ajax drain lines
The camera is a small waterproof lens on a flexible cable. We push it into the line through a cleanout or an open drain and watch the image on a screen. It shows cracks, offset joints that catch paper and debris, sagging sections where water and solids settle, corrosion and tree roots, and it tells us how far each problem is from the access point. If the line is full, we clear it first, because standing debris blocks the camera's view and path. You watch alongside us and hear what the pipe needs: a cleaning, a repair to one section or a new run.
Pipe material and age matter. Ajax grew out of the Second World War munitions plant community and the planned subdivisions that followed, and the Pickering Village heritage area along Old Kingston Road is older still, so some homes may still have original cast iron or clay drain pipe. Cast iron rusts from the inside, and clay joints are an easy way in for roots. Newer plastic lines can crack or pull apart at a joint. The camera, not the age of the house, decides the repair.
Who repairs which part of the sewer connection in Ajax
Ajax and Pickering share about 734 kilometres of Region-owned sanitary sewer, and everything it carries ends up at the Duffin Creek plant in Pickering for treatment. Rainwater stays out of it, since Ajax keeps its stormwater system separate from the sanitary sewers, and storm sewers on local streets are the Town's to maintain.
For the pipe linking your house to the main, the Region's repair responsibility covers the stretch from the property line to a point one metre short of your foundation. That last metre, and every drain inside the house, is yours to repair, and putting back lawns, gardens or driveways is not something the Region does on private land. Because the camera measures where the break is, it settles which side of the boundary the damage falls on. If the break is on the Region's section, phone 311 (or 905-668-7711) to report it.
Repair options, permits and cost in Ajax
When the damage is confined to one spot, we replace that length of pipe. Where the camera finds cracks, sags or a collapse at several points along the line, replacing the whole run usually makes more sense. Excavation and restoration are part of the written scope, so you know before work starts what will be dug up and put back. With the main drain open near the foundation, it can also be an efficient time to talk about adding a backwater valve.
Ajax building permits are applied for online or by emailing buildingpermits@ajax.ca. The Town expects the issued permit card to be displayed on site in plain view, and the inspections your job needs are printed on it. Inspections can be booked through the Town's inspection line (905-619-2529), giving at least a day's notice. Ask the Town whether your particular repair calls for a permit.
Our 2026 Oshawa plumbing cost guide puts a spot repair on a drain line between $500 and $1,500, and a whole-line replacement between $3,000 and $10,000; depth, access and pipe material decide where a job lands. Nothing starts until you have agreed to that price in writing. If the pipe that needs work is the water service bringing drinking water into the house, that is a separate service, described on our water line repair and replacement page.