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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.