All drains and plumbing-connected appliances in your home empty into your sewer pipe. This pipe travels beneath your slab and then underground to the municipal sewer main. It carts all your waste and wastewater away from the building, and it has an important hand in keeping your living space clean and sanitary. Learn how sewer line issues can cause significant property damage and costly repairs.
Tree Root Intrusion
Among the most common sewer line problems is tree root intrusion. When sewer lines have cracks or loose connections, they leak nutrient-dense waste into the surrounding soils. Underground tree roots detect this moisture and grow toward it. Tree and weed roots can enter sewer pipes via openings just millimeters wide.
Once inside sewer lines, tree roots rapidly expand. Fueled by sewer lines’ contents, they grow to fill these pipes completely. The resulting blockages can send waste rushing back into the buildings as messy whole-house backups. Rapid root growth also expands the cracks in sewer pipes and increases leakage. This can potentially cause widespread soil and groundwater contamination. If left unchecked, invasive tree roots can create the need for:
- Drywall repairs
- Flooring repairs
- Baseboard repairs
- Soil and groundwater mitigation
- Mold mitigation
To avoid problems with invasive tree roots, never plant new trees less than 10 feet away from your sewer line. Use herbicides and other weed control strategies to keep weeds in check, and install root barriers in high-risk areas. You should also schedule sewer line inspection and cleaning services every 18 to 22 months.
Trapped, Slow-Degrading Waste
Some waste products can take months or longer to break down. Worse still, if these things enter your sewer line, they can snag on rough pipe interiors or tacky buildups of grease, soap scum, and hair. These include “flushable” wipes. These durable products attract fats, oils, and more “flushable” wipes to form solid blockages known as fatbergs. Keep your sewer line clean with treatments like hydro jetting, hydro steaming, or rooter service. You can also limit your risk of sewer line blockages by flushing only human waste and toilet paper.
Cracked, Offset, and Bellied Sewer Pipes
Heavy buildups of sediment, silt, and slow-degrading waste can lead to cracked, offset, or bellied sewer pipes. These problems are also associated with age-related failure and adverse soil movement. Damaged sewer pipes leach their contents into soils, attract invasive roots, and create unstable or unsanitary yard conditions. They also have a higher likelihood of causing whole-house backups. In addition to scheduling regular sewer line cleaning and inspections, be sure to replace aging sewer pipes before they fail outright.
Slab Leaks
The portion of your sewer line that travels beneath your home’s slab can develop leaks, too. You might have a slab leak if your basement floor is always wet and your indoor humidity spikes. If you don’t address them, slab leaks can compromise a home’s foundation and structural stability. They can cause problems like widespread mold infestation, loose flashing, settlement cracks, floor and subfloor damage, and more. To limit your losses, schedule slab leak detection and repairs at the first sign of problems.
Unchecked sewer line issues can cost a veritable fortune over time. For expert sewer repair services in Yuma, AZ, contact PHD Plumbing now!