There are often many signs that may indicate a home has sewer issues. Here are some common signs that I always recommend homeowners to be aware of to prevent further issues and what steps they can take to prevent them or remedy them if a problem is found. A Sewer issue is not always indicative of an issue with the city sewer, there are more oftentimes of the sewer issue coming from the home.
Let’s go over the 5 most common signs of sewer issues.
What is a Main Sewer Line?
A main sewer line is the lateral tie in from the city sewer to your home or septic system. All your drains in the home are connected to this sewer line. If you picture a tree’s trunk and its branches, the branches act as your secondary drain lines such as your kitchen sink, laundry line, lavatory sink drains, etc. The trunk of the tree acts as your main sewer line. Having that understanding gives you valuable insight and awareness of any drain issues in the home that may lead to further sewer problems.
Why should I know about these signs?
A Main Sewer Line clog is not like a water leak inside the home. The best explanation is that when you have a water leak in the home you can often just shut the water off to the area where you are experiencing the leak and isolate the issue and get assistance, or if it’s a major leak shut the water off to the home. With a Sewer issue, this is not possible. A Main Sewer Line clog often results in calling your local Plumber/Drain expert to restore flow to the sewer line and the cost may range anywhere from $250-$350 to cable the drain and not fix the problem, simply temporarily restore flow to the drain.
5 Signs of Sewer Issues
Multiple Drains Clogged.
This is often one of the most common signs of a main sewer line issue. As we previously mentioned, your secondary drains are all tied to your main sewer line. If multiple drains are clogged and or backing up, it may mean that the main sewer line is experiencing a problem that needs immediate attention. However, this may not always be the case, for example, often builders have homes laid out where a kitchen drain and laundry line are tied together, and there are scenarios where if your kitchen drain clogs it may affect your laundry drain.
Sewer backup.
Similarly to the multiple drain issue. This is also often one of the most common signs of a sewer issue. A Sewer backup is not a pretty sight, it will be waste backing up into areas such as your toilets, tub, sinks. This is not only unsanitary and sometimes may even result in having to use a restoration cleaning company if severe enough.
Toilets Gurgling
Although not 100% a guarantee that when your toilet gurgles that are indicative of a sewer issue, it is a very common sign for Plumbers to help you identify that you may have a sewer issue due to this happening. The reason your toilet may gurgle is due to the negative air pressure that is building in the drain line. If there is negative air pressure (suction) it is often released back into the drain line or toilet. The negative air pressure is indicative of a block in the sewer line or a break. Be sure to call a Plumber immediately to prevent further issues.
Root intrusion
You may not be aware that there are roots penetrating your sewer system unless you have used a drain cable machine to snake out the drain and pulled back roots or most likely if your Plumber pulled back roots when snaking the drain. Roots should not be inside your sewer system, roots crave the nutrients in water and sewage and they’ll try very hard to get in anyway they can. Even through a hairline crack is all they need to penetrate your sewer system. They often can come in through the weakest points of your sewer which are the joints that connect the pipes, this is often the case when you are in an older home with a clay, cast iron, or orangeburg pipe system.
Do you have to snake the main sewer line often?
Having a plumber come out regularly whether it’s once a year or every 6 months, etc to snake the main sewer line is only prolonging the problem. Cabling a drain simply creates an opening where the blockage is to restore waste flow. The main sewer line is often big enough to have a proper waste flow to the city sewer, there should not be items getting stuck such as feminine products, foreign objects, toilet paper, etc. If they do get stuck it may be due to roots or other issues causing these items to be caught in the line.
The best way to not guess if you have sewer issues is by having a Video Sewer Inspection. At Diamond Property Inspections we can help you by providing you with showing you the inside of your sewer line and see the condition of it. If anything is found we will bring it to your attention, whether it’s good conditioning, poor, or in a failing state. Call us to schedule your Home Inspection of Sewer Inspection today.
