Pumped last month, already backing up
Either the trap was skimmed rather than fully cleaned, or the blockage is in the line before it. Ask what came out and how much: a real pump-out empties the vessel.
Plumbing & DrainsPriced as an emergency callout16,069 businesses licensed for it
Grease trap cleaning and pumping
Every commercial kitchen that discharges grease has an interceptor, and every local sewer authority has an opinion about how often it is cleaned and what records you keep. Work covers pumping and cleaning under-sink and in-ground interceptors, clearing the line between the kitchen and the trap, repairing baffles and lids, and producing the manifest that proves the waste went where it should. A trap that has not been serviced is the most common cause of a kitchen line backing up.
Enter your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with their phone numbers.
- Free to searchno account, nothing to submit
- Public registersevery listing names its source
- License numberswhere the state publishes one
- Directyou call the business yourself
- Our estimate
- $200-$1,900
- Time on site
- 1-4 hrs
- Fault patterns covered
- 2
- Licensed for this trade itself
- 16,069
What grease trap cleaning and pumping costs
Most of these jobs land near $480. The full spread runs $200 to $1,900, and the gap between those two ends is diagnosis against replacement rather than one business being dearer than another.
What moves it: how much of the job is parts, whether the fault is found in the first hour or the third, access to the equipment, and the hour of the day you call. We never speak to the businesses listed here, so there is no rate card behind any of this. It is our own band for the category, and there is no regional index: the figure does not change with your metro.
| How soon you need it | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled visitBooked in advance, no urgency multiplier applied | $480 | $200 to $1,900 |
| Same dayOur band multiplied by 1.12 | $540 | $225 to $2,130 |
| Emergency calloutOur band multiplied by 1.35 | $650 | $270 to $2,565 |
Our estimate from national cost bands, not a quote from any business. Every row is the same band with the urgency multiplier the site applies everywhere else, so this table can never contradict the headline number. Ask for a written price before the work starts.
Who is licensed to do this work
In California the classification that squarely covers this is C-36 plumbing, and the register says who holds it. Every listing on this site shows the classification, the license number and the date we read it, with a link back to the register entry so you can check it against the state rather than against us.
Overlapping classifications exist and are labeled as overlapping rather than as a match: C-42 sanitation system and C-55 water conditioning. A general building contractor may hold the job and subcontract the trade, which is a real answer and a different one, so the card says which of the two you are looking at.
One thing worth being plain about: CSLB classifications do not distinguish commercial work from residential. There is no separate commercial license to hold and no register field that would prove one. That is why this page describes the equipment rather than the contractor, and why nothing here says a business has been checked out. We read a public record on a stated date. That is the whole claim.
If it is down right now
Everything below is about our mechanism. We hold no hours for any business on this site, have never contacted one, and cannot tell you who is awake, so none of this is a promise that somebody answers.
- Enter the ZIP of your premises. We measure from that ZIP to the address each business filed with its licensing authority and keep everything inside 25 miles.
- The order is distance, nearest first. Nobody buys a position in it and there is nothing here to sell.
- If fewer than three businesses clear the filters, the ring steps out toward 75 miles and the page tells you it widened. The distances you then see are the real ones.
- Each listing carries the phone number the register publishes. You call it yourself. We have no phone line, take no fee and pass nothing on.
- Our band for an emergency callout is the category band multiplied by 1.35. That multiplier is ours and describes our estimate, not a rate anybody has quoted.
Before you pay for a callout
Two minutes of checks that sometimes end the problem
We would rather you did not need a callout at all. These are the checks that end the most calls for this fault.
Try a quick fix first
Some issues resolve without a truck roll. Two minutes now can save the callout.
- 1
Find your last manifest before you call. Your service interval is usually set by the local sewer authority, and the manifest is what an inspector asks for first.
- 2
If the kitchen line is backing up and the trap is overdue, deal with the trap first. Clearing the line into a full interceptor buys you a day at most.
- 3
Check the lid and the frame. In-ground traps in a parking area get driven over, and a cracked lid is a smell problem and a safety one at the same time.
- 4
Know where the trap actually is. In a leased unit it is sometimes shared with the neighbor, which changes who is responsible for it.
What the visit actually includes
- Full pump-out of the interceptor including solids
- Wall, baffle and inlet cleaning rather than skimming the top
- Inspection of baffles, tees and the lid seal
- Line check between the kitchen fixtures and the trap
- Waste manifest for your compliance file
Diagnosis
How grease trap faults usually present
Written from how these faults actually present on a working premises, not from a manual.
Smell in the dining room whenever it rains
A failed lid seal or a dry trap on a nearby floor drain. Both are cheap and both get blamed on the interceptor.
Listed for this trade
Businesses listed for grease trap
Read from public license registers, so there is no ranking here and no distance: this page has no location to measure from. Enter your ZIP to sort by who is nearest to your site.
By location
Grease trap cleaning and pumping near you
Local pages show which businesses are listed for that metro, how far out they sit, and the local conditions that drive demand.
Counted from the businesses we have imported for each metro center inside a 25 mile radius, and counting only those whose own license classification names this trade. General contractors licensed widely enough to take it on and subcontract it are excluded here, and still appear in a search. A metro reads “none yet” until we load a register that covers this trade there.
All coverage areasQuestions owners ask
Grease trap FAQs
Short, specific answers. If yours is not here, ask the business you call before you agree to the visit.
How often does a grease trap need pumping?
Your local sewer authority sets it, and the rule of thumb they generally apply is before grease and solids reach a quarter of the vessel depth. High-volume fryer kitchens hit that far faster than the standard interval.
Can I clean it myself?
A small under-sink trap, sometimes. An in-ground interceptor is a confined space with a regulated waste stream, and the manifest that proves lawful disposal is the part you cannot produce yourself.
What licenses are involved?
The plumbing side, the line and the fittings, is C-36 work in California. The pumping and disposal side is a waste hauling permit rather than a contractor license, so check both when you are choosing.
Related work
Often booked in the same visit
Batching jobs into one mobilization is the cheapest way to buy this kind of work.
Water heaterNo hot water, lukewarm supply, leaking tanks, pilot faults and tankless error codes.from $220Commercial drainSlow and backed-up sinks, floor drains, toilets and the line under the kitchen.from $180Water leakBurst pipes, ceiling drips, running meters and leaks you can hear but not see.from $240RestroomRunning toilets, blocked pans, failed flush valves, taps, urinals and sink wastes.from $170
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Ready when you are
Need grease trap sorted?
Search your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with the license numbers and phone numbers we hold, then call them yourself.
- Cost to search
- Free
- Account needed
- None
- Who you call
- The business