The Signs That Your Ottawa Home's Sewer Drain Is Clogged

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Studies have shown that the average person flushes the toilet about five times every day.

That might not seem like much. But if you have several people living in your home, it can add up over time. A family of four will flush the toilets in their house well over 7,000 times over the course of just one year.

Every single time someone in your house flushes a toilet, your home's sewer drain is forced to spring into action. It has to take all of the waste and wastewater flushed down the toilet and carry it away from your home so that it's able to make its way to the sewer.

It's designed to do this without you even noticing. But every now and then, sewer problems can lead to issues with your sewer drain. Main drain clogs, in particular, have become problematic for many homeowners in the Ottawa area.

To avoid a serious sewer problem, you should keep a close eye out for a main sewer line clog at all times. Here are some of the warning signs showing that you might have a clogged sewer line.

The Toilets in Your Home Don't Seem to Be Flushing Properly

When you flush the toilet, you expect everything inside of it to go down the drain. If it doesn't, that means that there is something wrong with either your toilet or another component of your plumbing system.

More often than not, you can fix this problem yourself by using a plunger to clear whatever is preventing your toilet from flushing. You may have tried to flush too much toilet paper down your toilet at once and caused a clog.

But there is also a chance that you could have a more serious problem on your hands when a toilet in your home fails to flush properly almost all the time. Toilets are connected to your home's sewer drain, which means you could be experiencing sewer problems if they won't flush right.

You'll want to call on an experienced plumber to come out to your Ottawa home to inspect your toilet and to help you clear a clogged drain if one exists. It'll get your toilet back in good working order in most cases and prevent a bigger sewer line problem down the line.

There Is Sewage Backing Up Into Your Home

When you first have a main sewer line clog that's taking a toll on your plumbing system, it might not be all that easy to tell. The only indication that there is an issue might be the fact that something seems off with one of your home's toilets.

But if you allow a clogged sewer line to linger for longer than it should, it won't be too long before you have more serious problems. For example, it's not out of the ordinary for sewage to back up into toilets and other drains throughout a home when a sewer drain is clogged.

If you ever see sewage backing up into any part of your home's plumbing system, you should stop using your toilets, sinks, and other plumbing fixtures right away. Otherwise, you're going to continue to send sewage spilling into your home.

You should also get in touch with a residential plumber right away so that they can visit your home and assess the damage that has been done to your plumbing system. They can pinpoint the source of your plumbing problem and make the necessary repairs to stop sewage from backing up into your house.

Your Toilets Make Strange Sounds When You're Using Other Plumbing Fixtures

Have you noticed that some of the toilets in your home make gurgling sounds even when they're not being used? You shouldn't ignore these sounds as they're signs that your toilets are trying to tell you something.

What are your toilets trying to say? Many times, these gurgling sounds are an indication that you have trapped air located somewhere in your plumbing system. They'll often be at their loudest when you're using plumbing fixtures in your home other than your toilets.

It's very easy for Ottawa homeowners to dismiss these gurgling sounds without giving them a second thought. But they could very well be letting you know that something bad is going to happen if you don't address the issue at hand.

It's a good idea to reach out to a plumbing company that can provide you with a definitive plumbing diagnosis. They can tinker around with your plumbing system to see why your toilets are making strange sounds and effectively quiet down your toilets.

You Have Multiple Drains Throughout Your Home That Are Draining Slowly

If you have a single slow-moving drain somewhere in your home, it's probably not something that you're going to have to worry about too much. Kitchen and bathroom drains tend to get filled with everything from food particles to hair, which can cause them to drain slower than usual.

There are a bunch of different things that you can do to knock out a single slow-moving drain. From using a plunger to concocting a homemade drain cleaner, you can take steps to get a drain draining like usual again.

But if you have multiple drains throughout your home that are draining slowly or, worse, that aren't draining at all, you're not going to be able to get away with using a plunger or homemade drain cleaner on them. This is a possible sign of a bigger problem that will need to be dealt with.

Since your sewer drain is what collects wastewater from all your drains and removes it from your home, multiple slow-moving drains could be an indication you have a main sewer line clog. You'll need to schedule sewer line repairs right away to clear the clog so that it isn't able to wreak havoc on your home anymore.

You Notice Issues With Your Plumbing System When You Run the Washing Machine

When you suspect that there might be a problem with your home's sewer drain, you should inspect more than just your toilets and sinks. Those won't be the only plumbing fixtures that will experience issues in the event of a clogged sewer line.

You're also going to find that doing something as simple as running your washing machine will prove to be a problem when your sewer line isn't able to do its job. Most washing machines use anywhere from 15 to 45 gallons of water when washing a single load of clothes, which results in them dumping a large amount of wastewater into your plumbing system at once when they're done.

If your sewer drain is clogged, all of that water isn't going to have anywhere to go once it enters your system. So it'll sometimes back up into your toilets, sinks, showers, and more.

You should monitor your washing machine closely if you ever have any reason to believe that you might have a main sewer line clog. It might be able to tell you everything you need to know about whether or not you need to be worried about your sewer line.

You should also steer clear of running your washing machine when you're not home if there's even a tiny chance that your sewer drain could be clogged. It'll help you avoid coming home to a huge mess if your washing machine causes wastewater to back up into your house when you're not around.

There Are Sewer Odours Invading the Inside of Your Home

Does the inside of your house smell like a sewer right now? This could be yet another sign that you have a sewer drain that's not draining waste and wastewater in the way that it's supposed to.

There are, of course, some other things that can cause sewer odours to build up in your home. You may be subjected to these awful smells if you have:

Biofilm accumulation in your shower drains
Dry P-traps underneath your kitchen or bathroom sinks
Blocked vent pipes attached to your toilets

But the smells could also be coming from deep in your plumbing system due to a blocked sewer line. And they're not going to go anywhere until you have the right plumbing repairs done by a licensed plumber.

You should not, under any circumstances, continue to live in a home if you can detect the slightest sewer odours inside of it. Outside of the fact that these smells will make it unpleasant to live in your home, they can also cause a long list of health complications.

At best, sewer odours can cause things like headaches, nausea, and weakness. At worst, they can lead to loss of consciousness and even death by suffocation.

There are also very high levels of methane in sewer gases. Methane is very flammable and can increase the chances of a fire breaking out in your home at any moment.

Very Dark Green Patches of Grass Have Started to Pop Up in Your Lawn

As you've no doubt noticed by now, you're going to spot most of the signs of a clogged sewer line in the interior of your home. You'll know you have an issue with your sewer drain when you're experiencing problems with your toilets, sinks, and even washing machine.

But when main drain clogs get to be really bad, they can cause sewer lines to crack and break. And when this happens, you'll start to see signs of a clogged sewer line on the exterior of your home as well.

One of the first things you might notice is that certain parts of your lawn will suddenly look very green and lush. You'll scratch your head and wonder why in the world some areas of your lawn look so much better than all the other areas.

This will often be because waste and wastewater are leaking out of your home's sewer line and overloading your lawn with more nutrients than it's used to getting. It'll make some of your lawn look great, but it won't make you happy in the end.

If your sewer problems reach this point, you're going to have no choice but to hire a professional plumber to come to your home immediately. They'll be able to send a camera down into your sewer line to see what's going on with it.

Your Lawn Is Flooded Even Though It Hasn't Rained in Days

If you've hit this point, you've probably ignored most of the other signs that we've mentioned here. You've allowed a sewer drain problem to get to be so bad that your sewer line has opened up and is now allowing waste and wastewater to spill out everywhere every time you turn a sink on or flush a toilet.

To be clear: This isn't always a homeowner's fault. There are some instances in which a sewer line will fail unexpectedly and flood a yard without warning.

But in most cases, you'll be warned over and over again about an issue with a sewer drain before it reaches this stage. It'll be up to you to heed the warnings and do something about the problem you're facing.

Whatever the case, you should call on a local Ottawa plumber for assistance ASAP if your sewer line ever breaks and floods your yard. You'll often need to enlist the help of a company that can provide you with emergency services right away.

What to Do If You Suspect You Have a Clogged Sewer Drain

Since you don't look out your window every day and see your sewer drain working hard, it's easy to lose sight of its importance. But your sewer line plays a huge role in the overall well-being of your home.

If you ever spot any of the signs listed here, you might have a clogged sewer line that needs to be fixed. You should get in contact with a plumbing company you trust to deal with it for you.

We would be more than happy to help you with all of your sewer problems in Ottawa. We can make sure your sewer drain doesn't get clogged and cause any of the issues we've talked about here.