Your home’s plumbing system brings clean, fresh water into the home and then discharges the used water through a sewer line. However, when a sewer pipe breaks, this flow comes to an abrupt halt. Early detection can help deal with a broken sewer line, but prevention is the best way to keep your drains clear, clean, and flowing.
It can be difficult to tell the difference between a clogged drain and a broken sewer pipe. Symptoms of a broken pipe and clogged drain include a foul smell from one or more drains and water backing up in sinks, toilets, and tubs. If you have more than one drain, you may have a broken sewer pipe.
There are a few telltale signs of a broken sewer pipe. If you:
- Sewer gas smell
- Experience a sudden drop in water pressure
- Notice wet patches in and around your home
- Have persistent constipation and slow drains
Then you might have a burst pipe in your house. If you have a duct damage, it can have many causes. The most common is that you had a clogged pipe that never cleared, which can result in the pipe bursting. However, a sewer inspection can help determine if environmental factors (like a tree root growing into your pipes) or old, rusty pipes are the cause of a cracked sewer pipe.
If you have a broken sewer pipe, there are a few things you should do to fix the problem.
Try to Clean the Drain
A sewer line can become clogged for a variety of reasons, but the common culprits are large swabs of toilet paper, kitchen grease, hair, and soap scum. This sticky build-up can sometimes be removed with a plumbing wrench or a snake, even if the clog affects more than one drain in your home or business. In some cases, small clogs can be easily removed with minimal effort. If your efforts to clear a drain fail, it’s best to call a professional right away. Continued and improper use of a plumbing hose or drain chemicals could actually worsen the damage to your pipe.
Find the Pipe Lines
Knowing the location of your sewer line can help you deal with clogged or broken sewer lines in your home or business. If you have access to the crawl space under your home or basement, the sewer pipe is easy to spot. In homes built on slab foundations, finding the pipe can be a bit more difficult. Identifying the location of your home or business’s sewer pipe is an essential first step in assessing the problem (and helping a professional plumber know where to look).
One clue to a broken hose is a damp, smelly, bug-infested area of your yard; Drains that cannot be cleaned with a plunger or snake is another. A professional with the right equipment can examine your sewer line with a closed TV and determine the exact location and extent of the break. With this information, they will know if you need to repair a section of piping or if a complete replacement is required.
Assess the Damage
With the help of a professional plumber, you can properly assess the damage to your sewer line. In addition to stashed clogs, there are a number of ways sewer lines can tear or burst.
Older whistles found in Sacramento homes and businesses may be made of cast iron, Orangeburg, or clay. Over time, they become brittle and unable to withstand the pressure of excess waste (or the chemicals and overly aggressive use of a pipe bit that many DIY use to clear their drains).
Planting trees and shrubs too close to your sewer can also eventually damage your sewer pipe if roots become lodged. Family members who put too much paper down the toilet are also big culprits for broken pipes. Improper flushing can cause a sewer pipe to burst.
Repair or Replace Broken Sewer Pipes
If a pipe breaks, you may only be able to repair the section that is causing the problem. If you have a home with older plumbing, it may be wise to repair the entire line from your home or business to the Virginia sewer system. New technologies in plumbing can repair or replace most sewer lines in a day.
Trenchless sewer line replacement is less invasive than older methods and replaces your pipes with resin-soaked pipes that cure in place, forming a pipe that has a 50-year life expectancy. This sewer replacement method is used to repair short sections of sewer lines in households, businesses and municipalities.
Virginia Sewer Line Repair
A broken sewer line can cause health problems, damage to your home or business, and a lot of frustration. Professional help can quickly assess and fix your problem. If you have a broken sewer pipe or other plumbing issue, contact Wisler Plumbing & Air for an assessment of your home, business, or community plumbing system. Our team specializes in sewer line repairs in Roanoke and Salem, VA the surrounding area.