One of the worst things that can happen to your home’s plumbing is having tree roots get in your sewer line. It causes all sorts of havoc with your plumbing system and can be inconvenient, time-consuming, and expensive to repair.
How Do Tree Roots Get in Sewer Lines?
Tree roots, in search of water, often start growing downward as they seek a water source. However, instead they usually find your sewer line. Over the years, your sewer line can become offset at the connection points and leave gaps. Depending on the installation quality of your sewer line, this can happen due to the ground shifting, earthquakes, road turbulence, or age.
If your sewer line becomes offset at the connection points and leaves gaps, it can start leaking/seeping a small amount of water. Once the root system finds this source of water, it naturally will grow towards it and start to become bigger and bigger so that it can absorb more and more of the passing water. Over time, this causes an issue as waste, toilet paper, and other things tend to get stuck on these root systems and end up causing your main sewer line to back up into your house.
What to Do If You Find Tree Roots in Your Sewer Line
Once you find out that you have tree roots in your main sewer line, usually due to a main sewer line back up, you have several options to remedy the situation. First, you can contact a local plumber and have them come out and perform a rooter service on your sewer line, which will cut the roots back to the inner diameter of the pipe and will alleviate your immediate issue of having a backed up main sewer line. Second, you can use a root killer/root treatment to kill the roots coming into the pipe and stunt the growth of future roots, so they have trouble getting into the pipe.
Although the first two solutions work great temporarily, unfortunately, they will not completely stop the growth of roots into the pipe. In fact, when you rooter them or try to kill them, they tend to grow back stronger, thicker, and much quicker. It’s kind of like when you start shaving and the hair starts to grow back thicker and darker. The third solution, however, is much more involved, but it is also a permanent solution that will solve your problem for good.
The third thing you can do is contact a local plumbing company and have them excavate up the affected area where roots are intruding on the sewer line. Once that’s done, have them repair that section of the line so there are no more gaps/offsets that would allow the roots to get into the piping system. Also, be sure to ask if they can wrap the newly repaired sewer pipe with root wrap. Root wrap is designed to repel roots, so it can help ensure that this never happens again.
Who Should I Call If I Need Help with Tree Roots in My Sewer Line?
Contact Bailey Plumbing today for all your sewer line repair and replacement needs. Bailey Plumbing is a local plumbing sewer line contractor that specializes in repair, installation, and maintenance of residential sewer lines. We are happy to help with rooter service, root treatment/killer options, or sewer line repairs that will repel roots for good!
To learn more about Bailey Plumbing and the high quality plumbing services we’ve been providing to homeowners in Morgan Hill and throughout the San Jose Bay Area for years, check out our customers’ reviews.
For more information about what to do if tree roots get in your sewer line, or to speak to our plumbing experts about your situation, give us a call at (408) 752-5195 or reach out to us online today. If you call, ask us about our specials! We offer same-day services, after-hours appointments, and 24/7 emergency repair services!