What are the signs of a bad sewer line leading into your home? The sewer line, or “mainline,” is the last destination for sewage exiting your home. It’s the pipe with the largest diameter, and every smaller drain exits into it, so it must remain clean and operable to have a chance at good plumbing.
What does it look like when you have a severe clog or other serious problems with your home’s sewer line?
Most Obvious Signs of a Bad Sewer Line
Call Bob Hamilton for mainline repair if you notice any of these telltale signs:
- All of your drains are going way too slow.
- You smell a foul odor, which might be sewer gas.
- You’ve had a lot of recent clogs throughout your home (not isolated to a particular location).
- Your lawn inexplicably seems extraordinarily wet or smells terrible. This could come from a cracked sewer line.
- Mold is accumulating in several locations on the walls, floors, and ceilings.
- One or more of your toilets are gurgling.
- The foundation and walls are cracking.
- There’s been an uptick of rodents and roaches around your yard. Sometimes, these aggravating pests cause a problem if they manage to scratch or claw their way into pipes.
Distinguishing Mainline from Drain Lines
As we said, the mainline is the largest pipe that connects your home with the larger community sewer structure. There are also several drain lines throughout your home that handle sewage waste in a similar, localized fashion. This would include shower drains, sink drains, and toilet drains.
When these lines get clogged, everything else in your home may function just fine. Mainline trouble, on the other hand, could halt everything.
Why does this distinction matter? Because although they fulfill essentially the same purpose, processing sewage, we have to approach cleaning and repair differently. Since the mainline pipe is large enough, we can send a camera inside to detect problems. However, this is impossible with smaller drain pipes, which require us to diagnose and fix the problem from inside the home.
Fortunately, smaller clogged drains are usually easier to fix, even for homeowners sometimes. At either rate, for the tough drainage issues or broken pipes, you’re better off calling an experienced plumber, like Bob Hamilton, for help. If you’d like to learn a little more about different pipes, check out this brief post on distinguishing the mainline from drain lines.
Sewer Line Maintenance is NOT a DIY Job
You don’t have to take our word for it when we say that sewer line maintenance is not a DIY task. All you have to do is search through videos on YouTube to find many hijinks and horror stories involving homeowners that try to fix major plumbing problems themselves. You could get hurt, cause a flood, destroy part of your property, and have to spend a fortune on much more extensive plumbing repair.
Therefore, your best move, as usual, is to let us help you with difficult clogs, broken /corroded pipes, or anything else in or around mainline pipes.
Call Bob Hamilton When You Encounter These Signs of a Bad Sewer Line
Bob Hamilton’s plumbing team has the best reputation for residential repair work in the Kansas City metro area. Our website is full of positive testimonials from customers praising our efficient and thorough workmanship.
If you need help with a plumbing emergency, a routine inspection, minor repairs, or anything else, we’re at your service. We don’t try to sell you tons of stuff you don’t need, our service techs arrive on time, and we don’t leave until we resolve the problem. This is so important for major plumbing problems like a clogged sewer line.
Contact Bob Hamilton for reliable repair service whenever you notice these critical signs of a bad sewer line.