5 Signs of a Broken Sewer Line
Do you know the signs of a broken sewer line? There are many main sewer line problems. Your sewer line is an essential part of your home. It has the … [Read More]
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Each spring in Ottawa, we welcome the warmer weather and breathe a sigh of relief as our lawns green up, the tulips emerge, and buds appear on the trees. But these very things are also a sign that an invisible, underground troublemaker has returned. Tree roots can wreak havoc on our sewer and plumbing systems and leave us with an expensive mess to deal with. If you’re experiencing some sort of sewer issue or think you need sewer root removal in Ottawa, reach out to Out of This World’s Ottawa drain and sewer experts today!
Learn more about the problems roots so often cause and how to prevent damage from happening in the first place by reading below.
Book Online Book OnlineThe short answer is: yes. People don’t realize what you see above is also happening below.
In the springtime, roots start to regrow in order to support the growth we see up top. They immediately spread out underground, looking for sources of water. If there happens to be a break or a crack in a pipe, the roots head straight towards it to get access to what they crave: moisture and nutrients. And once they get there, they set up shop and continue to grow.
The roots create gaps and infiltrate the system as they get bigger, happily catching whatever is draining away. This causes blockages that lead to major problems in main water supply lines, sewer lines and drainage pipes.
The best way I can describe it is your pipe is like a great big drinking straw, and it can take a lot of water. If you’ve got a blockage or restriction on one end, it eventually fills up—especially on a heavy water use day. When it does fill up, you’ll see water on your floor around the lowest opening. If left alone long enough, it’ll empty and slowly drain away. If you catch it at this point, you have another two weeks or so before you encounter a much bigger problem: a smelly mess that everyone dreads—plumbing failure, flooding and the need for major renovations.
The best way to identify the extent of the problem is to have a professional determine exactly what is going on. A professional would use something like RootX Tree Root remover to fix that issue.
When you need experts to do a sewer root removal in Ottawa, the skilled plumbers at Out of This World would love to help you out. We’ll get to your house as soon as we can and develop a sewer cleaning plan that is unique to you and your house. Before long, you’ll have the clean sewer you need in order to live well in Ottawa!
Well, tree roots can certainly be strong enough to break pipes (just as they easily buckle cement sidewalks), but other factors are usually involved.
Take the age and the type of pipe, for example. In our older Ottawa neighbourhoods that are 70-plus years old, we find clay pipes. They were installed in three-to-five foot lengths, and their connections simply snap due to wear and tear. Cement-based pipes also tend to break at the joints. Occasionally, we run into a pipe material called Orangeburg, which is essentially a tar paper-based drain line. Instead of breaking, it collapses or gets crushed. Plastic-based PVC pipes are much stronger, but even these newer pipes can fail; we see it all the time.
Regardless of the pipe material, the single biggest problem leading to breakage and root damage is poor installation. Even though there are codes and rules stating how it’s supposed to be done, it doesn’t always work out that way in practice. If the system isn’t installed properly or given enough support, the pipes will degrade. Then, when subsidence or heavy landscaping occurs, ground tension shifts and the pipes crack or break.
If all this is happening belowground, how do I know tree roots have entered my plumbing system?
Here in Ottawa, you’re not going to find many obvious clues in your yard. In our area, plumbing pipes are buried deep underground because the majority of homes here have basements. The water and sewer lines sit anywhere from six to 12 or 13 feet below the surface.
Instead, you’ll see clues inside your home. (But, to be honest, the signs are getting harder to recognize as people finish their basements and move laundry stations to upper floors.) Maybe you’ve noticed water collecting around the floor drain or a shower in the basement? Or, are you confused by the fact that boxes in the cellar are wet or damaged? Among others, those are some signs to look out for.
