Since your sewer main is hidden deep below the ground sometimes up to ten feet or more, your sewer line is probably one of those you never think about until it causes a problem. All things you flush or put down your toilet, drain, or shower eventually pass your property through that sewer line. And whenever it clogs, the outcome is one of the homeowner’s most detrimental disasters and the messiest to handle. Backups not only look disgusting but smell unpleasant and as a result of microbial contamination, can affect the health of your family.
Expectations of Home Owners
Most homeowners will experience a backup, clog, or sewer blockage at some point in their home. The foul smell alone is an indication of an issue, and the damage caused requires you to bring in the professionals to remove the pipes and clean up the mess. Sewage carries harmful bacteria and is surely a health hazard if not taken care of correctly. This is not the time for DIY, but a job for a professional plumbing technician that has the skills along with the experience to deal with even the most detrimental drain problems.
How Did The Clog Occur?
Finding out what caused the clog in your home can be a significant difference in the final cost of repair or replacing. It can be caused by mineral deposits, foreign objects from the house, tree roots, or debris. Generally, when a plumber examines your pipeline, they will find a mix of a couple of things, and although every clog is different, several solutions can take care of just about every situation. Knowing how the clog formed can make the real difference between a several thousand dollar replacements and a several hundred dollar clean-up or fixes. Moreover, if you know your city or town’s obligations, you may wind up spending nothing at all.
Did you know your local plumber technician can examine your sewer with CCTV drain cameras to ascertain whether a clog is your responsibility or the city? Professional plumbers can check your sewer line with video cameras and will know if any clog formed is your obligation. They can then help you work with your city to clear the clog and get the pipe running freely.
DIY ? A Big NO-NO!
Your first instinct would be to remove the clog on your own, but using a plunger to remove a stubborn clog can only go so far. And, when it is severe, adding in the contents of a drain cleaner can be extremely dangerous to your health and your home. If the drain cleaning chemical is strong enough to dissolve hair and grease, it can burn your skin as well as damage finishes on kitchen cabinets and surfaces. Some researchers even believe you can burn your respiratory tract simply by inhaling store-purchased chemical drain cleaners.
What Are The Causes?
- Fats and Oils
Flushing oils and fats like kitchen grease down your drain can accumulate continually building deposits, similar to cholesterol buildups in human arteries. With time, these become clogs and reduce the functional diameter of the pipe until nothing can pass through to the drain. Professional plumbing technicians employ a technique known as sewer jetting that uses warm water under extremely high pressure to clear out the mess.
- Foreign Objects
To trigger a clog, the object doesn’t have to be big. Even the smallest things, such as a child’s doll or a paper towel can form a base for accumulating oils and fats in the sewer drain. Even sand may get trapped within the sewer line of your home and can form a clog.
- Tree Roots
Thanks to the easy availability of water and nourishment for plants and trees, your sewer line is an attraction for tree roots. When there is a crack or hole in your sewer line, they will penetrate through the entire section of the pipe. Tree roots are one of the main causes of clogged sewer drains and they pose a serious threat of damaging your sewer line.
Experts of the Trade
Plumbing professionals have special tools that most house owners don’t have access to. They use them to unclog clogged up drains. Severely clogged drains can be solved with a range of powerful rooters varying in size from compact vacuums to sewer-rooters to water jetting devices attached to trucks.
Calling in the professionals to deal with clogged drain issues is the only guaranteed way to save costs by getting an exact diagnosis and efficient solutions for lasting results. The plumber you contact should be qualified, highly-skilled, and familiar with their specialised area and quickly be capable of identifying issues and applying the solutions into practice to get everything running smoothly.
J.O. Plumbing is a licensed and insured business providing residential and commercial plumbing services throughout Melbourne. For information on drain and sewer cleaning systems and repair, installation, and remodelling services, visit https://joplumbing.com.au/
