When Should I Replace My Sewer Line?
Before we go any further into this post, let’s make one thing clear. If you’re asking when you should replace your sewer line, we assume that you mean when should you schedule a professional sewer line replacement. Because if you’re asking us when you should grab the shovel and the toolbox to replace your own sewer line, the answer is simple—never! This is a job for experienced, licensed plumbers only, so work with our team.
Remember, your sewer line is buried on your property. That means that you cannot give it a quick visual inspection the way that you might inspect exposed pipes in your home. What you can do, however, is learn to recognize signs of trouble with your sewer line, understand some basic facts about how it works, and contact us at the first sign of trouble. You’re not going to be going through sewer lines regularly, but there’s a good chance you’ll need to replace yours at some point.
Signs of Trouble
Your sewer line is responsible for taking the waste and wastewater from your drainage system and removing it from your property. That means everything from food scraps handled by your garbage disposal to what you’re flushing down the toilet. Given that, it is probably not too surprising to hear that foul odors are a sign that your sewer line is in trouble.
Now, if you smell foul odors coming from your drains, they may just need to be cleaned. The smell of sewage is pretty unmistakable, though. If you smell it in your home or on your property, you’re not going to be able to ignore it—nor would you be tempted to.
Another sign of trouble, and one that would be paired with this odor, is spongy spots on your lawn. If your sewer line is leaking, then it may saturate your lawn. In fact, it may even make patches of your lawn thrive by fertilizing them! Those healthy patches certainly don’t mean that this is a benefit to you, though.
When to Replace
In some cases, it is going to be possible to fix a leaking sewer line. Maybe there is just a bad connection, or a single point of concern that can be dealt with.
However, in other instances, a full replacement will be necessary. Perhaps corrosion has hit the entire pipe hard. Maybe the pipe isn’t fully corroded yet, but is made of outdated materials that are at a greater risk of such problems than the durable plastics commonly used today. If that’s the case, then replacing now while everything is exposed makes more sense.
Ultimately, you want to get your sewer line replaced before disaster strikes and you’re left with a very unhygienic cleanup project on your hands—well, hopefully not literally on your hands. It’s not always possible, but alerting us to trouble when you first notice it will help.
