If your home is connected to a sewer system, it enables you to do the dishes, wash your hands, take a shower, or even just flush the toilet. Intact sewer and water lines are essential to a clean and comfortable home.
The thought of a sewer line repair cost can make your stomach drop. Not only the cost, but a broken sewer line that’s leaking or malfunctioning can become a serious health hazard and can also significantly damage your property. Let’s learn more about what causes sewer lines to break and how they are repaired or replaced. Read on!
Causes of Sewer Line Damage
Clogged pipes and normal wear and tear are not the only culprits to cause damage to your sewer line. There is unfortunately, so much more to watch out for. Let’s review.
Tree Roots
Tree roots are one of the top causes of sewer line repairs. A tree’s roots follow sources of water as they grow and like python snakes they attach to their prey. The roots grow and wrap themselves around the pipe until eventually intruding or breaking the lining of the pipe.
There is good news for this repair situation, it is possible to just repair the lining of the sewer line without the hassle of replacing the whole pipe. Your trained licensed plumber can inspect your line and make the determination.
Blockage
Just like general plumbing, a blockage can be the cause of a sewer line fix or replacement. Items such as grease, baby wipes, and other things that you may be putting down your drain are a serious problem for your sewer line. This could lead to huge blockages and money overhaul jobs like a sewer line replacement. Here is a brief list, but not all-inclusive:
Extreme Temperatures
However, extreme heat temperatures can cause pipes to rupture as well, not as likely, but extreme heat can burst pipes, too.
Extreme temperatures such as cold weather, frozen pipes can burst because of the expanding ice.
Corroded Pipes
Although pipes made of steel and cast iron are galvanized to prevent rusting, these pipes are at a high risk of corroding. All things wear down overtime due to natural causes, and the same can happen to sewer lines.
If corrosion is left untreated, it can leave the pipe susceptible to leaks and cracks. The line can break and collapse underground. This causes you to experience back-ups and other headaches that come along with it.
Signs of Sewer Line Damage
It’s important for a homeowner to know the signs of a damaged sewer system so that immediate action can happen at the first sign of a problem. Leading the homeowner to spring into action and contact an experienced service technician. Let’s review some of the signs you should be aware of.
Raw Sewer Gas Odor
This is an unpleasant smell to endure. Drains should not be emitting any foul odors. This is an easy symptom to notice of a sewer line problem. If it is only one drain acting up, you could be experiencing some leftovers in that drain that just need to be cleaned out. If you are smelling this foul smell throughout your house from all the drains. Call a professional to come and inspect.
Draining Difficulties
Are bathtubs and sinks draining slowly? Is your toilet making strange gurgling sounds? While some blockages are caused by a pipe leading directly from a faucet or shower, you can detect a blockage in the main sewage line if multiple draining areas in your home are clogging.
Indention in the Ground
Be careful walking on or around that indentation! Unexpected dips or water pools in your lawn are not normal. If your yard looks like it has an indention and is somewhat damp that was not there before, this could be a sign that a sewer line (or main water line) is leaking water and waste.
Cracks in the Walls and Foundation
Sitting water can cause serious concerns for your home. Too much saturation in the soil around your home can cause the soil to move, costing you the structural base of your home.
How is a sewer line fixed?
If a sewer line problem isn’t addressed quickly, it can turn into a much larger problem that will require total replacement.
Licensed plumbers use specific technology to diagnose clogged drains and sewer pipe breaks. After determining that you do in fact have a sewer break, a licensed plumber will assess the tools and total manpower needed to address the issue.
Replacing just the points where the line was broken is a common practice versus replacing the whole sewer line from house to street.
Using new technology, a licensed plumber can fix sewer pipes with trenchless machines. A trenchless pipe is a method where the sewer line is fixed without having to dig a big hole in your lawn. Basically, a big sleeve is replacing and acting as a new lining for the sewer line.
How to Protect Your Sewer Lines
Although not all sewer line damage is preventable, there are steps you can take to care for your sewage system.
Yearly Sewer Line Inspections
Hire a professional licensed plumber to conduct an inspection at least once a year. This will confirm your sewage system is in good working condition.
Remove Trees that are Damaging the Sewer Line
A tree root invasion in your sewer line is usually caused from an existing crack or leak in the pipe. We recommend removing the tree from the area after repairing or replacing the pipe to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again in the future.
Avoid Disposing Improper Items Down Your Drains
Remember our graphic earlier in the article? Only dispose of human waste and toilet paper in the sewer lines; any other materials in the system can cause blockages!
Our Team in Rockwall, TX Is Here for You
Most sewer pipe failures are a major inconvenience and require emergency services. You don’t want to expose your family to dangerous sewage! Our licensed and experienced plumbers are available to assist you to diagnose and repair your emergency sewer issues, in fact, any of your plumbing concerns.
We do what we can to get the job done as efficiently as possible. We respect our clients’ time, so we are always punctual. Once we arrive at your home, we perform a thorough inspection of your sewer line issues and offer a straightforward explanation of the solutions, as well as the price. We make sure that you understand the process of our work and any possible disturbances before the job begins. We always demonstrate the highest respect for your home by leaving it as clean as when we arrived. Give us a call, and let’s talk about how we can help!
