Broken Sewer Line? What You And Your Plumber Can Do | Bloomington, IL

As you know, a clogged or broken sewer line will halt the function of your plumbing system. Without a sewer line repair, your home can suffer from sewage backup. A skilled plumber from Covenant Plumbing of Bloomington, IL, can evaluate your sewer line to determine if the problem is a clog or a broken pipe. If you’re experiencing a backup of your drains in your home, you could be experiencing a serious sewer line problem. Here are some things you can do:

What Is Your Sewer Line?

Your home connects to the municipal sewer via a line that runs from it to your home. All the wastewater that leaves your home travels through the sewer line to the main sewer. As the property owner, you are responsible for the line that runs from your home, across your property (underground), to the city sewer. If you have sewage backing up into your home or multiple drains seem slow or clogged, you should suspect a sewer line problem.

Try to Unclog the Drain

When you contact your plumber with a suspected sewer line issue, the first thing they’ll try to do is to unclog the drain. Sewer drain clogs are not uncommon. As with other drains in your home, they can become stopped up with food debris, grease, toilet paper, or other objects that get lodged in the pipe.

Typically, your plumbing service will arrive with a router or mechanical router that will push any lodged items through the line, clearing the pipe for use. Most of these clogs can be removed with a plumber‘s snake. Once the clog is clear, your plumbing system should function properly again.

What About Tree Roots?

A common problem that leads to clogged sewer lines is tree root infiltration. As underground pipes age and begin to suffer cracks and corrosion, tree roots–ever in search of water–can enter the pipe where they will continue to grow. The seams of sewer pipes tend to be the most vulnerable parts of the pipes to tree root infiltration. As the roots continue growing, they will begin to block the sewer line. You may or may not notice that your drains are beginning to run a bit more slowly.

As the roots continue to grow, they can clog the drain, stopping water, toilet paper, and anything else washed down your drains from making their way to the main city sewer. As the clog worsens, the sewage material can back up into your house. Until your plumber can clear the line, your plumbing system will be unusable.

The Clog Won’t Clear

Sometimes your plumber cannot clear the clog. That often indicates that part of the line has collapsed. An experienced plumbing professional can usually tell because their snake will appear to hit a wall. Some plumbing services may run an inline camera through the line to determine the exact nature of the problem and where it’s occurring. When the problem is a broken pipe and not a clog, you’ll need to fix the pipe or replace it.

Evaluate the Damage

Your Bloomington, IL, plumbing professional will investigate the pipe to determine the nature of the damage. Tree roots can cause the pipe to collapse, but so, too, can large clogs. Burrowing pests underground can even cause damage to your sewer line. After assessing the full scope of the damage to your pipes, your plumber can recommend the ideal fix.

Repair or Replace Your Sewer Line

If the damage to your pipe is minimal, your plumbing service might recommend a pipelining repair. To perform this repair, the plumbing professional will insert pipelining into the line. This lining is coated with epoxy. It will act as a liner within the pipe and seal to the pipe. Once the epoxy dries and cures, sealing the crack, the inflated portion of the liner can be removed. This fix should allow your plumbing system to work optimally again.

On the other hand, some sewer line problems are quite severe. In these situations, sections of pipe may need to be replaced, especially if the pipes are old and suffering from corrosion. Talk to your plumber about the trenchless repair. In this case, the repairs can be made through the line again. The old pipe is destroyed while a new pipe is inserted with a trenchless method.

Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to deal with extensive pipe damage is to dig up the property and perform a traditional sewer line replacement. A crew will dig up the old pipes and replace them with new ones. Although this is a costly and invasive method, it will solve the problem. After that, you shouldn’t have sewer line issues because of aging or corrosive pipes. If you sell your home, you can actually market the fact that the entire sewer line has been replaced. That’s definitely a job that new home buyers will be happy to avoid.

Covenant Plumbing serves Bloomington, IL, with a full range of plumbing services, including sewer line repairs and replacements. We can send an experienced plumbing professional to your home to assess your sewer line problem. If drain cleaning doesn’t solve the issue, we can recommend a solution that will. It’s important to contend with sewer line problems as soon as possible so you’re not left with a mess owing to backed-up drains.

Covenant Plumbing can also provide you with professional leak detection, pipe repair, drain cleaning, and other plumbing services. We are a licensed and insured company. Our plumbers stand by the quality of our workmanship and we always rely on quality parts and fixtures. If you have a plumbing problem such as a leak or drain clog, contact us to schedule a service call. Our prices are affordable and our plumbers are experienced and friendly.

Photo By Vladimir Gjorgiev at Shutterstock