Cleaning a Sewer Main Line
Aging cast iron, and clay pipes can all become susceptible to root intrusion, crushing, breaks, separations, and rusting. If you have experience a drain line being clogged in the past, your main sewer line can become clogged as well. If your main sewer line is clogged it can cause sewer backups in your home.
If only a single fixture such as a toilet, sink, and tub seem to be draining slow or clogged, it may just be a issue with that drain. However, if every flush creates a sewer backup in your home, you most likely have a blockage in your main sewer line.
Sewer Main Line Cleaning Video
Common of Home Sewer Backups
Sewer blockage due to tree roots
Trees and shrubs seeking moisture can make their way into sewer line cracks and cause damage to the sewer pipe. Tree roots tend to enter at failed pipe joints and cause blockages. Roots will start off small but will continue to grow. If you are routinely having to have your sewer main line cleaned there may be a more serious problem with your sewer line. In this case we recommend performing a sewer camera video inspection to determine the cause.
Broken or collapsed sewer line
Most older home sewer pipe lines were built with cast iron and clay piping. These materials can crack and break down over time. Tree roots can also cause these materials to break and collapse.
Pouring grease down your drain line
Pouring grease down your sink will end up in your drain and sewer pipes. The fats in grease get broken down into fatty acids and glycerol. These fatty acids bind to calcium found in sewer pipes to create a soap compound. This causes the grease fat compound to stick to the ceiling of the sewer pipes, creating a stalactite type structures. In turn this build up can cause clogs in the sewer line and backups.
Don't use your toilet as a trash can
Flushing diapers, napkins, facial tissues, and other waste down your toilet causes clogs and backups in your drain or sewer line.
Don't use your garbage disposal as a trash can
Garbage disposals were built to grind up food scraps and not garbage. Plastic, rubber bands, cigarette butts, plant trimmings, eggshells, and other items belong in the trash can. All these items can cause your drain or sewer to backup.
Diagnose Your Sewer Line Issue
The best way to determine the cause of your home sewer backup is to have Rooter Alert Plumbing perform a sewer video camera inspection of your sewer line and visually show you what exactly is causing your sewer issues. We can then offer a cost effective solution to fix your sewer issue permanently.