Signs Your Home's Sewer Drain Needs Cleaned And The Options For Cleaning It

Sewer cleaning is usually done when the pipe shows signs of clog development rather than on a routine basis. It's important that you don't ignore those signs, especially with a sewer drain, or the pipe might block completely and create a plumbing emergency. Here are signs a sewer drain is heading for trouble and needs to be cleaned out before it clogs off and sewage backs up in your home.

Signs Of A Clogging Sewer Drain

A sewer clog often builds up gradually due to the accumulation of grease, food, hair, and paper that goes down the drains. All the drains and toilets in your home empty into the sewer drain so it has to deal with a lot of different materials that can stick together and tangle up into clogs. Another problem in sewer drains is roots that fill up the drain over time. As the roots get thicker, your drains are slower to empty until the sewer clogs off completely.

Signs your sewer drain is growing a clog or filling with roots include drains that don't empty as fast as they used to. To determine if the sewer drain is the problem, check multiple drains in your house. A sewer drain problem usually affects more than just one drain. If only the drain in your bathtub is affected, then the problem could be a hair clog in the bathtub drain instead.

Once the clog gets big enough, you may notice sewage spilling out of the cleanout in your yard. There may be sewer odors in the drains, and using one drain could cause problems in another. For instance, when you flush the toilet, water might back up into the shower. It's best to avoid serious problems like these by having your drains cleaned out when they first show signs of being slow to empty.

Methods For Cleaning A Sewer Drain

Your plumber can clean out a sewer drain even if it's clogged with tree roots. Drain cleaning tools include a hydro jet that cleans with water and a snake that cuts clogs with rotating blades. Your plumber will decide on the right method for your sewer pipe based on the condition of the pipe, so a video inspection might be done first. Once the main sewer pipe is cleaned out, all the drains in your home should empty much faster again unless they have their own individual clogs.

Cleaning out a sewer pipe when it first shows signs of trouble is much less expensive than waiting until the pipe clogs off and backs up into your house. Cleaning up sewage or water damage can be costly and the sewage exposes your family to germs if it spills onto the floor or in the yard. Contact a company, like Two Men And A Snake, for more help.

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