What Causes Sewer Line Damage?
Most sewer line repairs will have their root cause in blockage of the lines themselves. In older homes especially, older pipes made of clay or porous materials can be eaten away by the chemicals within drain cleaners and cause the pipes to break down.
The roots grow into the pipes and ball up, completely blocking the pipe. At other times, the cause of sewer line problems may be that the ground itself has shifted around the pipes and have bent them at an angle that does not promote drainage and the water begins to collect within the pipes and potentially leak out into the foundation.
When You Notice Signs of Problems, what to Do
The first thing that any homeowner should do when problems with drains or seepage occurs is to not run immediately for the drain cleaner but instead call on the professionals to come out and inspect the pipes for cleaning and repair. A plumber can quickly determine where the problem is and take measures to get it repaired, usually within the same day. When they are installed in a home, sewer pipes usually have clean out plugs that can be immediately checked for clogs, without having to dig up the ground around a home.
If it is determined that pipes will have to be replaced due to a faulty septic system, it may entail more digging and reconstruction that could have been prevented if it had been better maintained in the past.
Types of Repairs
On the brighter side, having it all in one place will make it easier to perform the repairs, in spite of all the mess made by the digging. This may take a few days but it will be worth it in the long run, especially if you arrange to have regular maintenance done on it in the future, on a regular basis to prevent more problems.
In older homes especially, older pipes made of clay or porous materials can be eaten away by the chemicals within drain cleaners and cause the pipes to break down.
It may be a more intensive repair situation than normal when it comes to sewer line repairs involving septic tanks. Most septic tanks are buried in backyards, so the yard may have to be dug up from the point where the pipe enters the home, to where it connects with the septic tank.
For minor repairs to pipes, as is the case for a pipe that has cracked due to shifting or pressure, a plumber can make the repair quickly by simply recoating the interior of the pipe with epoxy, as long as the crack is not beyond repair. Replacement of short lengths of pipes can be done efficiently by expert plumbers and should not take more than a day to complete. For simple clogs and blockage, power rodders could be used to remove the foreign material blocking the pipe.
For minor repairs to pipes, as is the case for a pipe that has cracked due to shifting or pressure, a plumber can make the repair quickly by simply recoating the interior of the pipe with epoxy, as long as the crack is not beyond repair.
The roots grow into the pipes and ball up, completely blocking the pipe. At other times, the cause of sewer line problems may be that the ground itself has shifted around the pipes and have bent them at an angle that does not promote drainage and the water begins to collect within the pipes and potentially leak out into the foundation.
