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Sewer Line Repair
  • August 25, 2021
  • BlueSeaXp

Sewer Line Repair – A Responsibility of Property and Home Ownership

Sewer line repair – a murky subject for the uninitiated. Some may think it is the government who mostly takes care of this important aspect of properties and infrastructure, and that is half true, but also half untrue. With regard to taking care of the pipes near one’s home or property and the pipes within the property, half of the onus of maintenance, repair, and costs is on the property owner. Makes some sense, right? If you want to own property, you have to accept and understand that responsibilities – including costs of maintenance or repair – come with it. The entropic, gradually falling-apart nature of man-made structures is a condition of life, and someone has to take care of them. Now, will it be you, the government, or professional sewer line repair in Richmond?

The pipes a property owner is responsible for are known as the upper and lower lateral pipes. These connect from your home to the public pipes under the roads or right off your property, and they are yours to take care of; they are considered part of the property, even if they are not directly under it. This is often a point of contention in terms of the law and disputes but it’s how it is generally for now. A professional would be able to determine what is your problem to fix and what is the city’s.

When a sewer line breaks or leaks, one often determines it as a result of first observing indirect effects or signs. These can be strange and mysterious more often than being overt and obvious, such as with slow draining, clogs or backups of your sinks, toilets, showers, or bathtubs; overly wet, lush, green sections of grass — it contains natural fertilizer after all — or muddy dirt areas in your yard or garden. Cracks in the indoor or outdoor floors and walls; and mold or mildew on floors, walls and ceilings. More overt signs would include a smell of sewer water or gas arising from drains, and flooding in your yard or garden.

These are all strong indicators and reasons to contact a plumbing company for and investigation and sewer line repair in Richmond; the more you wait on or try to figure it out yourself, the more damage is certainly possible and likely. Leaving it too long can make the damage become more extensive, expensive, and even dangerous; for example, if it causes floor collapse via flooding when you’re not home, or if dirty water backs up into sinks or bathtubs, causing exposure to contaminants and food poisoning.

Now, what could possibly have compromised your beloved sewer pipes in the first place? Sometimes, it might be a natural cause, like pesky tree root growth butting its way through the underground pipes, or ground freezing. On the other hand, less natural causes include old pipe corrosion, construction accidentally hitting and damaging pipes, or other ground disturbances like soil movement. Clogging can also occur deeply into sewer lines by household products accumulating — especially ones not intended to go through — like garbage, floss, wet wipes, hygiene products, or excessive loads of toilet paper.

Other signs to look out for are gurgling sounds coming from your toilet — not when flushing. Besides consulting the ghostbusters or some monster hunters, a good place to look first is good ol’ professional sewer line repair in Richmond. Professionals can do limited investigations and a minor dig to determine where the problem is originating and see whether it is a pipe you are responsible for or not. Another thing to note is that occasionally, sewer line repair in Richmond will require replacement of the pipes entirely, which unfortunately is more costly and a bigger affair, but just as necessary.