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Sewer Systems: Repair or Replace?

Drain

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There are two types of sewer systems: septic systems, which are used in rural homes, and municipal systems for homes in the city. We don’t repair or replace septic systems—the health department has to get involved and it can be a very major process. (Sometimes the pipe going to the septic tank needs to be repaired or replaced.) If you use the city sewer, the pipe coming from your home to the city tap is your responsibility, so it’s not as much of an undertaking as replacing the whole septic system. It’s a good idea to have someone look at the sewer system with a camera. After all, you don’t have to dig up everything to see what kind of shape it’s in and what might be causing the problem. This is also how we can determine what kind of pipe it uses, which is a very important thing to know. You don’t want to repair a clay or Orangeburg pipe because it will probably fail right beside the area that was repaired. Depending on the type of pipe, it might be a better idea to replace the entire thing or just a section. Even if it’s a PVC pipe or a pipe made of a relatively new type of material, it still might be a good idea to replace it entirely. If it failed in one place and it was put in by the same team, more than likely they used the same kind of practices throughout the entire system. A premature failure means that another section will likely fail later down the road. It’s extremely frustrating for a homeowner to have to dig up their yard multiple times. Disturbing the grass and landscaping over and over is definitely not much fun. You can save yourself the frustration by going for a replacement. Most people minimize the severity of a sewer backup in terms of damage or the burden it places on a home. I can’t stress this enough: a sewer backing up into your home is not anything that you ever want to deal with. It tends to happen when you have guests in your home because that’s when the sewer system is being worked the most. (A backup isn’t very likely to happen when you’re just using a small amount of water by yourself.) It can be extremely embarrassing to have a backup when family is visiting. Sewage is highly disease and bacteria ridden water, and when it backs up into the home it creates an unsanitary situation that you would not want to have to deal with. The best time to take care of it is as soon as you become aware of the situation. It’s definitely something you don’t want to play around with. If you think you have a sewer issue, contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382. We can do a camera inspection of the sewer line and find out its condition.      

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Garbage disposal aren’t really what they sound like they are. In reality, garbage disposals are supposed to catch the few items that might be left on your plates or pans. If you try to use a garbage disposal like a trash can, it’s simply not going to work very well.

The first problem happens if you try to put a lot of items down the disposal at once. It’s problematic because the garbage disposal simply can’t handle it—it’ll get bound up and either trip the reset button or completely stop up the drain. Even if the disposal does take the items, they’ll wash down the line and eventually cause a clog. To prevent this from happening, only use the disposal for remnants on plates or pans as you’re washing the dishes.

Next, stay away from large volumes of potato peels. They aren’t very fluffy and don’t grind up easily. Sometimes people peel a whole bag of potatoes in the sink and push the peels down the disposal expecting it to get chewed up. If you don’t have a very large garbage disposal, it won’t be able to handle the volume and texture of those peels.

Celery is another thing you should keep away from the disposal. It’s very stringy and strong, so if you try to put too much down the garbage disposal, the strings will wrap around the grinding blades and bind them up to the point that you’ll ave to take it loose and completely clean it out.

Another familiar food item that shouldn’t go down the garbage disposal is rice. Rice is capable of swelling, so it can be trouble if it’s put down the drain when it hasn’t swelled completely. When water hits it, it’ll swell and stop up the disposal or the drain itself.

Eggshells are another big no-no. They will get caught in the drain. They’re very thin and they don’t wash down.

Last is large volumes of grease. When people dump grease down the garbage disposal without running much water, it’ll sit and harden, eventually stopping up the drain.

The horsepower of your garbage disposal is also something important to consider. If you use the disposal a lot, you may want to make sure you get a 1 horsepower unit instead of a 1/2 horsepower unit.

The best thing to do is put a stopper on the drain and fill the sink with several inches of water before adding any solids. Then take the plug out and turn the garbage disposal on. All that water will help to wash the debris down as it gets ground up.

If you keep these common items away from your garbage disposal, it’s going to be in much better shape over the long run. Remember, use your garbage disposal as it’s meant to be used. It’s not a trash can. If you have any questions about keeping your garbage disposal working properly, or if you have any problems and want us to check it out, just contact us online, look us up on Facebook, or give us a call at (540) 483-9382.

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