When you’ve got a broken sewer, you and everyone around you can tell immediately. There’s a distinctive odor around your yard, although certain patches of your yard might be extra healthy and green, thanks to some accidental fertilization, your toilets may be getting backed up more consistently, and even worse, some sewage may be pooling in your yard. Yuck! It’s time to call for sewer repair and if you have a traditional type of sewage piping, thinking about getting a trenchless sewage system. Should you need trenchless sewer repair, it’s considerably easier than repairing a traditional sewer system. You may also want to look at other reasons why your sewer broke — are your lines near trees with expansive roots, for example? You want to have to engage in sewer repair as little as possible, after all.
Tell Me About Some Preventative Measures
Perhaps the first thing you should check if you move into a new home or you’ve been living in your home for many years is how old the sewer is. Experts say that the longevity of a sewer is dependent on many different factors, but all agree that if the sewer is over 40 years of age, you’ll probably want to look into replacing it.
You’re not exempted from this even if you have a brand new home. The plumbing might still be connected to a pipe that predates the house. Don’t put it off — around a quarter of members from Angie’s List who took an online poll replaced their sewer and around 3% report that it’s on their to-do lists for the near future. If you have an older house, you should definitely bring a professional in to check out your line and do leak detection or a drain inspection. They may be able to give you some guidance on the state of the line and whether or not you’ll need repairs soon. They can also give you ballpark estimates for how much that might costs. This lets you put aside money for any repairs or replacements that will have be done in the future and you can plan ahead for that eventuality. So much better than making a snap decision when it happens! The inspection will cost you anywhere between $250-$350, but you’ll be able to head off a crisis ahead of time!
Try the Trenchless Method of Sewer Repair!
This is still a pretty new development in sewer repair, only coming on the market for residents in the last 10-15 years, although businesses have been using it for longer. If you’re wondering how it works, it’s actually pretty simple. Pipe lining is put into the original pipe and it inflates, becoming what is known as a cured-in-place pipe (CIPP for short). They’re pipes that lack any seams or joints and are a good fix for old pipes that have diameters between 4-100 inches. The resin hardens around the old pipe and it morphs into the new pipe, getting rid of cracks or other external damage.
If you’re replacing your sewer system with trenchless pipes, once the existing pipe is brought back up to the surface, the new one goes down and expands, filling the place of the old one. Although it may seem more fragile to some skeptics, the experts state that it’s equally as effective as using the trench method and are also backed by 10-50 year warranties. Video inspection is also sometimes easier with these types of systems. It’s also a great method for keeping your landscaping intact, something important to many consumers. Almost 75% of consumers actually stated that they’d be willing to shell out a little more money for sewer repair or sewer replacement if they could just keep the backyard, deck, patio, and general landscaping in one piece.
So even though this type of sewer might cost you up to 50% more than digging a trench, you’ll save the money on putting your backyard back together and will also assuredly leave your electric, gas, and water lines intact.
Look into getting your sewer inspected today, to save yourself a smelly headache (and a terrible mess) later!
