One of the unrecognized stars of the various home systems is plumbing. Think about it, use your plumbing system in conjunction with kitchen chores like cooking and washing dishes (not to mention having drinking water), in the hallway for laundry, and in the bathroom for showering, dental hygiene, and more. And, until something goes wrong, the well stops working, or the sewer lines get clogged, seep, or burst, the plumbing system is ignored! Of course, when things go wrong, you can bet they will happen at the most inconvenient time possible. So what can you do to make sure sewer repairs are kept to a minimum and life can move on?
Keeping sewer repairs to a minimum is not as difficult as you might think. In fact, it becomes more proactive than reactive.
So to help you be as proactive as possible in limiting sewer repairs, here are some tips:
Whether you’ve lived in your home for some time or are simply considering the home as a new residence, it is vital that someone inspect the lines. This is especially helpful if you are considering a purchase, as you don’t want to have to deal with expensive sewer repair work. Typically, the home inspection required to buy a new home will verify this, but it doesn’t hurt to ask a plumbing / sewer professional to check as well. If you already live in the house, especially if some time has passed, take the proactive step of calling an inspector to see if everything is as it should be. The cost of the inspection will be considerably less than any sewer repair and will prevent it from being necessary at an inconvenient later date.
Never flush things that don’t belong there! Wipes, sanitary pads, etc. they are not designed to “move” through your septic system and cause thousands of dollars in sewer repairs each year.
Do not pour grease or oil down the drain. These cause buildup and clogging of the system. Yes, you can use products designed to clean sewer lines, but it is best never to introduce grease. In fact, some sewer repair specialists feel that these cleaning products are misleading, as people think that by throwing these cleaners down the drain, they have addressed and avoided any potential sewer repair needs, when in reality they are just moving accumulation from one location on the septic line to another.
If you plant shrubs or trees in your yard, be sure to stay away from septic lines. The roots are important for sewer lines as they will curl up and try to dig into sewer lines.
Taking these proactive steps can keep sewer repairs off your schedule. Yes, it may take a few minutes to get rid of the grease, have that inspection, or rethink where to plant the bushes, but in the long run, it’s worth it.
Five Facts You Don’t Know About Sewer Repair, But Should
Sewer repairs these days can be carried out much more efficiently than a few years ago, and the repairs can have much more lasting effects. Often referred to as “trenchless technology,” this new sewer repair method is sure to become the most popular method of repairs, due to all the advantages it offers over traditional methods. Here are some of the most important trenchless sewer repair facts you should know.
It is much less disturbing
The ‘trenchless’ designation should reveal that fact. To repair the sewer through the trenchless method, a video camera is passed over a sewer line that is known to have some kind of problem, so that the location and severity of the problem can be identified. This makes it possible to go directly to the problem, often without the need for excavation, to affect necessary repairs. This approach avoids the need to cut through concrete sidewalks, dig up brush, and litter the front yard. It also makes the cleaning part of the job so much easier, because there were very few interruptions during the process.
Helps prevent future problems
In the trenchless method, some types of current problems can be avoided in the future thanks to new and advanced technology. Pipes that may have been breached by tree roots can be protected from the same intrusions in the future by coating them with impenetrable epoxy. By treating old pipes with epoxy, they become much more resistant to future explosions and can also be fitted with sleeves that function as a second-line defense against intrusion. Joints that are a weak point in the pipe can be replaced by seamless pipes, which do not present vulnerabilities for roots and other types of penetrations.
It is much less expensive
Because there is much less excavation involved and often none, that means there is considerably less labor involved in carrying out the repairs, and there is also much less cleanup afterwards. All this translates into cost savings for an owner, because the whole process is much easier, from start to finish. Since a smaller team is required to do the sewer repairs, you save even more on the total cost.
Longevity is achieved
When various parts of your sewer line are repaired or replaced using trenchless technology, the entire line becomes stronger and better able to withstand the depredations of nature and time. Since stronger materials are used, epoxy coatings are applied and seamless pipes are installed, the line as a whole has years of usefulness added to its useful life.
Versatility is greater
There are a number of scenarios where traditional sewer lines cannot be installed or repaired, either because of the soil in the area, the presence of various other pipes that cannot be disturbed, or for a number of other reasons.
