The Tell-Tale Signs You Need Sewer Line Replacement For Your Regina Home
Of all the major home repair projects you'll face, plumbing problems can cause the most sleepless nights. It may not only be the pipes making noise that keep you awake, but it could also be about what’s going on deep under your home—in the pipes.
As you may know, at some point you'll need a sewer line replacement but you may not be exactly sure when and what the tell-tale signs are for your home. We have you covered.
No need to lose sleep over your plumbing system and all the potential what-ifs. Whether your home in Regina is new or old, it doesn’t matter. Your home will give you a heads up when something is amiss in the pipes, you just need to know how to listen.
Read on to learn how to listen to your home and learn a few signs that you should pay attention to when it comes to your Regina home’s sewer line.
How to Find the Sewer Line in Regina Homes
Before we can inspect a sewer line, we first need to know how to find it! Often called the mainline by plumbers, the main sewer, or drain line moves all the waste from your sinks, tubs, and toilets out of your home. It’s called the main line because it moves waste toward the main city sewer, which is under the street.
You'll find the sewer line buried under your home, which is what causes your lack of sleep. You can't see it, and can't get to it without some serious digging.
If you’re curious, here’s how to find the main sewer line:
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Find a drain pipe—it’s usually easy to find a sink or toilet drain pipe.
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Follow the pipe until it runs into a larger pipe.
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Follow the bigger pipe until you find where it exits your home.
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The larger pipe will lead to the main sewer line.
As we just noted, you can't see or touch it without some serious digging first. Please leave the digging to a professional Regina plumber. Your home’s plumbing and wallet will thank you.
Now that you’ve satisfied your curiosity, and (hopefully) contained the urge to practice your DIY plumbing skills to locate the sewer line, how exactly can you tell if your sewer line needs replacing? It depends on a few things.
How Old Is Your Home?
People are often drawn to older Regina houses because of their character and charm. One thing that isn’t so charming? The Old plumbing pipes and systems!
Your home’s age is often the first indicator you could face in the decision in replacing your sewer line.
If you live in a home built before 1960, you may still have old cast iron pipes. The problem with cast iron pipes is that they erode. This leaves the pipe vulnerable to breaks and development of corrosion. This is especially a concern for Regina homeowners due to their age.
Cast iron pipes are suppose to last up to 60 years. The problem is most end up clogged with rust way before they reach their golden years.
Like all aging pipes in your home, sewer lines get old too. When dealing with an ancient main line, you’re at risk for a few serious problems including:
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More Frequent Clogs
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Tree Branch Blockages
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Danger of Collapse
It doesn’t matter whether your home is new or old, once the sewer line backs up, you’ll end up with raw sewage in your house. Not only would you have to pay for emergency plumbing and flood service, but you would also have to spend a small fortune to replace everything the sewage touched. You can avoid this by scheduling routine plumbing maintenance and inspections.
The Bubbles and Burps of an Unhappy Drain
If you listen to them, the drains in your toilet, tub, and sinks can tell you a lot about the condition of your main sewer line. When they’re quiet, you can breathe easy. If they are screaming at you, you should call a plumber (or an exorcist!)
If you have a blockage in your sewer line, you’ll hear gurgling sounds coming from the drains. The gurgling means you have water backing up in the drains.
Your plumbing system plays with your sense of smell, sense of hearing, and sense of seeing. If you see bubbling water and hear bubbling noises in your toilet bowl, it’s a sign of either a blockage in the vent or an obstruction in your sewer line.
Pay attention to the water level in your home's toilet bowls. When you have a problem in the main sewer line, the water level in the bowl may fluctuate. It may fill up way too high or drain to an abnormally low level, both an indication that something is off.
The Long, Slow Drain
Every homeowner deals with the occasional slowly draining sink or tub. You plunge it out or use a nifty hooking tool to pull out whatever is causing the clog (usually a combination of hair and soap scum).
Sometimes slow drains are your system warning you of a bigger problem. A single slow drain isn’t usually anything to worry about but if every drain in your home drains slowly, better call the plumber.
You may have some serious trouble in your main drain, and you should have it checked out before you end up with a nasty sewer backup.
Hint: When you flush your toilet, does water come up in your tub drain? Does the water in the toilet rise, when you wash your hands in the sink? If so, your home is trying to tell you that you have a clogged main sewer line.
The Soggy Lawn
Another common clue of a leak or break in your sewer line is excessive water in your yard.
You might notice the grass is more damp than usual. Often an area of grass feels soggy or you’ll see raised areas of ground.
One or all 3 of these symptoms mean you have more water underneath your lawn’s surface than you should.
Keep an eye out as well for isolated lush green patches of grass. When a sewer line leaks it releases wastewater. If wastewater leaches into the soil, it acts as a lawn fertilizer.
Speaking of lawns, in the past, the only option for sewer line repair was a backhoe and an ugly trench in the yard. That’s no longer the case. Read on and learn how today’s plumber work can
Think You Need a Sewer Line Replacement in Regina?
Some of your Regina home systems don’t say much when they have a problem. They limp along silently until one day, they just quit working.
Your plumbing system isn’t so mute. If you pay attention to the warning signs we’ve mentioned in this post, you can catch problems before they turn into disasters. Take a moment to bookmark this page and periodically check to see if your pipes and home plumbing system are trying to warn you of potential issues including a nasty sewer backup issue.
If your home talks to you about a possible sewer line replacement, pay attention. For expert sewer line inspection and replacement service in Regina, Saskatchewan, contact Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Regina today for your scheduled sewer line inspection appointment.
Consider Trenchless Technology For Your Regina Home
Traditional sewer line replacement required digging a trench. If you live in a cold climate like Regina, you might dig down 5-6 feet before you find the sewer line.
If you do need sewer line replacement or repair in your Regina home consider using trenchless technology. Our advanced trenchless sewer line repair service will repair or replace your Regina homes damaged underground sewer lines without digging up your entire yard.
Traditional sewer line repair services create a major mess and ruin your landscaping with a long and ugly process that attempts to uncover large portions of your sewer line. On the other hand, our trenchless repair process utilizes high-tech equipment for a no-dig technique that allows us to replace the damaged sewer line. Depending on whether you choose pipe lining or pipe bursting, you'll have either one or two holes dug in the yard. That sure beats a long trench, doesn't it?
Not only will our trenchless repair method help you save money on landscaping costs but it gets the job done quicker and minimizes the interruption on your daily routine. The best part? Trenchless sewer line repair is extremely effective and is a permanent solution that meet all Regina standards and guidelines.
Go trenchless and get the work done faster, with less mess, and less damage to your property. And remember, the graveyard look is not in!