Grease Trap Installation in Houston, TX
Houston Quality Hood Cleaning installs and replaces grease traps for Houston restaurants, cafeterias and commercial kitchens. That includes compact under-sink units for a single prep sink and in-ground interceptors that serve a whole kitchen. Every trap is sized to the fixtures that drain into it under Houston's adopted plumbing code, permitted through the city and inspected before it goes into service. You get a written quote after we see the site.
Houston Quality Hood Cleaning provides grease trap installation in Houston, TX and surrounding Houston, TX cities, including Katy, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Bellaire, Humble, Spring and Cypress.
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Why Houston Kitchens Call Us About Their Traps
Grease Trap Installation Services
New Restaurant Build-Outs
In a new build, the trap's location, size and truck access get decided on paper. Bring us in while the plumbing plan is still a drawing, not after the slab is poured.
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Second-Generation Spaces
Taking over a former restaurant? The trap that came with it may be too small for your menu, or worn out. We check its size and condition before you sign the lease.
Replacing a Failed Trap
Cracked tanks, rusted-through steel units and baffles that can't be repaired mean replacement. Houston's Health Department notes that mechanical traps typically last about five years and gravity traps about ten.
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Under-Sink Units
Hydromechanical units fit under or beside a sink, in tight kitchens and coffee shops. See under-sink grease traps.
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In-Ground Gravity Interceptors
Large concrete or polyethylene tanks buried outside serve high-volume kitchens. See gravity grease interceptors.
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Remodels and Relocations
Adding a dish machine or moving the dish pit changes what drains to the trap. Moving or resizing a trap needs a new permit.
Does Your Kitchen Need a Grease Trap?
In Houston, a food establishment that produces fats, oils and grease needs a grease trap or interceptor, plus a FOG permit from the Houston Health Department that's renewed every year and posted where the public can see it. As a rule of thumb, if your kitchen washes greasy pans, runs a fryer or a flat-top, or has a dish machine, plan on a trap.
What drains to it matters as much as whether you have one. Three-compartment sinks, pre-rinse sinks, dish machines, mop sinks and floor drains in the cooking area typically connect to the trap. Restroom fixtures never do. Your plumbing plan and the city's plan reviewer decide the final list.
How a Grease Trap Gets Sized
Houston adopted the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code with local amendments (Ordinance 2023-907, effective January 1, 2024). Sizing follows that code, not guesswork:
Under-sink hydromechanical units are rated by flow, in gallons per minute. They're matched to the sinks draining into them, and they need a flow-control fitting so water doesn't rush through faster than the unit can separate grease.
Gravity interceptors are sized by volume, in gallons, based on the drainage fixture units connected to them.
We count your actual fixtures and plan for the menu you'll run. A trap that's too small fills fast and needs more frequent pumping. One that's far too large costs more to install and pump.
Permits and Inspections
Installing, replacing or relocating a grease trap in Houston takes a plumbing permit through the Houston Permitting Center (Houston Public Works). The steps:
1. Plan: fixture count, trap type and size, location, venting and truck access.
2. Permit: pulled by the licensed plumber of record.
3. Install: set the trap, make the connections, install the flow control or sample well as required.
4. Inspection: a city plumbing inspector checks the work before it's covered or put into use.
5. FOG permit: the Health Department permit is separate. Make sure it's in place before you open.
Placement Is a Pumping Decision
Where the trap goes decides how easy it'll be to service for as long as you own it:
Outdoor interceptors need a spot a vacuum truck can reach, with lids that can take the weight if they're in a drive aisle.
Indoor units need clear space above them to lift the lid and remove the baffles. A unit boxed in behind a sink is one nobody cleans.
Keep it away from food prep wherever the code and the layout allow. Opening a trap is messy.
Plan the sample well. Inspectors may sample there, and it should be reachable.
What Happens on Installation Day
Before We Arrive
We confirm the permit, the trap's delivery and the shutdown window with you. Clear the area around the work zone, and tell staff which sinks will be out of service.
The Work
For an under-sink unit, the old trap comes out, the new one is set level, and the inlet, outlet, vent and flow-control fitting are connected. For an outdoor interceptor, the excavation is opened, the tank is set on a prepared base, the lines are connected and the hole is backfilled around it.
Before We Leave
The trap is filled with water so it works from the first use, the lids are sealed, and the area is cleaned up. We walk your manager through where the trap is, how to open it safely, and what the inspector will look for.
What Grease Trap Installation Costs
Installation is quoted after a site visit, because the price swings widely with the trap type and size, how much concrete or flooring has to be cut, the length of the new drain lines, and the permit and inspection fees. A small under-sink unit in an open plumbing wall is a very different job from a buried interceptor in a parking lot. You'll get an itemized written quote before any work starts.
Grease Trap Installation FAQs
Yes. New, replaced and relocated traps need a plumbing permit and a city inspection. Your FOG permit from the Health Department is a separate requirement.
No. Plumbing work in Texas has to be done by or under a licensed plumber, and the permit is pulled by the plumber of record.
It depends on your fixtures, your volume and your space. Small kitchens with a few sinks may be served by an under-sink unit. Busy kitchens with a dish machine usually need an in-ground interceptor. The code and the plan reviewer have the last word.
An under-sink unit can often be set in a day once permitted. An in-ground interceptor involves excavation and concrete work and takes longer. Permit review and inspection scheduling add time on top of the work, so start early.
For an under-sink swap, often only for part of a day. For an outdoor interceptor, much of the work happens outside, with a shorter shutdown to make the final connection. We plan the timing around your service.
Inside Houston city limits, at least every 90 days, and sooner if grease and solids reach 25% of the trap's depth. Busy kitchens often need 30 or 60 days. We'll set the first pump-out date when we finish.
Planning a Kitchen? Get the Trap Right the First Time
Send us your fixture list or plumbing plan, or tell us about the space. We'll size the trap, plan the permit and give you a written quote.