Hills, a river and houses from every decade
Auburn Hills became a city in 1983, when Pontiac Township merged with the village of Auburn Heights. About 24,400 people lived here at the 2020 census. It’s also a business city: Stellantis has its North American headquarters here, more than 50 automotive companies have facilities here, and it’s home to Great Lakes Crossing Outlets.
The old village grew up where Auburn Road, Squirrel Road and the Clinton River meet, and three city parks sit along the river there. The U.S. Geological Survey keeps a stream gauge on the river in the city. From the river, the ground climbs more than 150 feet to the Great Lakes Crossing area. On a sloped lot, the uphill wall takes most of the water.
What Auburn Hills housing looks like
Census-based estimates say about 29% of Auburn Hills homes were built after 2000, about 44% between 1970 and 1999, about 21% between 1940 and 1969 and about 6% before 1940. About half the homes are rented, and more than a third of all units are in large apartment complexes, with townhomes and condos on top of that.
- Homes built before 1970, about a quarter of the total. Many basements from that era are concrete block or older masonry, which tends to let water in at the mortar joints and along the floor. A house that still has its original sewer line is relying on pipe more than half a century old.
- Homes built from 1970 on. Where a basement has poured concrete walls and footing drains that run to a sump, a leak usually starts at a crack, a tie-rod hole or a window well, and the part that wears out first is the sump pump.
Sump pumps do a lot of the work here
Searches for sump pump repair and installation in Auburn Hills outnumber searches for basement waterproofing, and that makes sense. In a house that drains its footing tile to a sump, the pump works every wet week of the year, and when it quits in a storm the basement floods from the inside.
What we do with an Auburn Hills sump:
- Replace a worn pump before it fails. Swapping a pump on a standard system runs about $600.
- Put in a new system where there’s no sump or the pit is cracked. A standard sump system with basin, pump and discharge runs about $2,500 to $3,000. In Troy, we replaced an old setup that had no basin with a new automatic sump basin and pump.
- Add a backup pump, battery or water-powered, for the storms that knock out the power. Contact us for accurate pricing on backups; we have to see the setup first.
- Fix where the water goes. On a sloped lot, a discharge that empties uphill of the house or right next to it sends the same water back to the footing. Next door in Rochester Hills, we added 30 feet of interior drain, replaced an old sump pump motor and re-piped the discharge so the water could flow out properly.
- Add a second pit where groundwater is heavy and one pump can’t keep up. We’ve installed a second sump basin and pump for exactly that problem.
More on sump pump replacement and installation and on sump pumps in Oakland County, and see our cost guide for what moves the price. Our waterproofing warranty doesn’t cover the sump pit or the pump.
Sewer backups: the city’s main, your line
The city’s Department of Public Works has a written sewer back-up policy, and it’s worth knowing before you need it. The city maintains the sewer mains and manholes in public rights-of-way and city easements. The property owner maintains the sewer lateral, the line from the house to the main. If you get a backup, call the DPW first. City crews check the main downstream, and the lateral too if there’s a cleanout at the edge of the right-of-way. They won’t clear a stoppage on private property, and the city only pays a private plumber when it directed the call for a city problem.
The same policy suggests talking to a licensed plumber about a backwater prevention device if your house has had a backup, sits in a low area or is lower than the street. Installing and maintaining it is the owner’s job and expense. The city also points out that many insurance policies exclude sewer backups, and it suggests checking yours and adding the coverage.
Auburn Hills has about 120 miles of city sanitary sewer mains, and the city is in the service area of the county’s Clinton-Oakland Sewage Disposal System, which serves 13 cities, villages and townships. In 2026 the county proposed a $53.6 million project to rehabilitate about 4.4 miles of 48- to 54-inch sanitary sewer in that system, plus a pump station, to prevent sewer breaks and overflows.
On your side of the property line:
- We clear main sewer lines with hydro-jetting. The Electric Eel only goes into small fixture drains like sinks and tubs.
- A camera inspection shows what’s wrong and where, so we repair or replace only what needs it. A sewer camera inspection is a diagnostic visit ($200 minimum).
- A backwater valve on the main line closes when the sewer pushes back.
- A basement bathroom or laundry that sits below the sewer line needs an ejector pump.
For jetting, sewer repairs and backwater valves, contact us for accurate pricing. We have to inspect the job before we can give you a price. If a backup has already soaked the basement, our flood restoration crew handles water removal and drying.
Storm water and sloped yards
Auburn Hills has been open about its storm sewers. In a 2026 request for state money to improve two existing regional detention basins, one in the West Entrance Drive right-of-way and one next to the Community Center, the city said its storm system is aging and that, without dedicated funding, it has only been able to do routine maintenance, emergency repairs and minor improvements. It pointed to a growing threat of flood damage and more frequent impassable roads in heavy rain, and it plans the basin work for 2027. A 2025 federal funding request for the city covered replacing failing or undersized storm sewers and repairing manholes and catch basins.
None of that changes what happens on your own lot. On hilly ground, the cheapest fixes come first: downspouts that run well away from the house, soil that slopes away from the foundation, and a drain that catches water on the uphill side before it reaches the wall. We build French drains and dry wells for that. They aren’t covered by the waterproofing warranty, and we’ll say so in the quote.
When water still gets in, interior drain tile to a sump runs about $2,000 to $35,000, crack injection about $500 to $2,500 per crack, and exterior waterproofing from the outside about $3,000 to $60,000. That work carries our 25-year transferable limited warranty on our workmanship (not the sump pit or pump).
The same water that soaks the uphill wall can also push on it. A horizontal crack or a wall that bows inward needs reinforcement, not just a seal. Carbon fiber strips, about $1,500 to $2,500, suit a wall that has only started to move; steel I-beam braces, about $1,500 to $4,000, hold a wall that has moved further. More on foundation repair for bowing walls. Wall reinforcement isn’t covered by the waterproofing warranty; any warranty on it is the one written in its own contract or invoice.
Condos, apartments and commercial buildings
Auburn Hills has a lot of apartment complexes, condos and business buildings, and we do commercial work as well as houses. For associations and building owners, that can mean clearing and scoping sewer lines, adding catch basins and dry wells where water pools, replacing water service lines and waterproofing foundations from the outside. We’ll quote whoever is responsible for the wall or the line, so check your association documents before you call.
Two commercial jobs show the range. At a Livonia plaza, we hydro-jetted the sewer line and scoped it with a camera the same day. In Oak Park, we tapped a live water main on Coolidge Highway and ran a new copper service into the building without shutting the main down.
Permits and getting here
Plumbing permits in Auburn Hills come from the Community Development Department, which takes applications online through BS&A. Plumbing work gets a rough and a final inspection. Water and sewer permits are handled through the DPW’s forms and Community Development. For sewer work, we call MISS DIG and pull the permit.
We’re 20 to 25 minutes from Auburn Hills in Shelby Township, straight across M-59. Estimates are free, emergency calls are answered 24/7, we typically reply within 2 hours, and financing is available through Enhancify. Auburn Hills is part of our Oakland County service area. Nearby, see Rochester Hills, Bloomfield Township, Rochester, Troy and Waterford Township.
