Sewer lines are one of those necessities we don’t think about until they stop working. Because a serious sewer backup can cause extensive damage, noticing slow drains or frequent toilet backups is a crucial first step in addressing sewer line issues. Keep reading for more information on drainage dynamics.

Know the Age of Your Sewer Line

Depending on when your home was built, your sewer line may be made of clay piping. Over time, clay pipes can succumb to the pressure of tree roots. If you have a good idea of where your sewer line runs through your yard and the trees are thriving, you may have found the reason that your drains are slow.

Clay pipes were actually used up until the 1970s in some regions. If your home was built after that, your sewer line is probably made of a tougher plastic. However, getting your drain checked out from the inside is a wise idea.

New Technologies Can Help

At one point in time, a failing sewer line meant that your yard would need to be retrenched and a new sewer line put in. New technologies enable technicians to put a camera down the sewer line and determine where the damage is, what’s causing the blockage, and what needs to be done.

It’s possible that your damaged sewer line can be cleared and patched from within. A section of it may need to be re-lined to keep tree roots out. With these new diagnostic tools, fixing the damage may not include tearing up the yard at all.

Always Diagnose Before You Treat

There are products that homeowners can choose to pour down a slow drain to break up a grease or hair clog. Unfortunately, these products can actually do a great deal of damage to the plastic sections of your drains farther down the line. If you put these down a drain and then plunge it, you could actually get splashed with these caustic chemicals.

Before you pour any chemicals down the drain, study all the drains in the house. Is it just the shower drain, or are all the drains in your house slow? Getting the problem properly diagnosed is always the wisest choice. If you have poured clog-busting chemicals down any drain, let professionals know so they can protect themselves as they go to work on the drain.

It’s best to treat slow drains as a systemic problem and get them professionally checked out before you treat them with any chemicals.

Contact Evenflo Plumbing for a review of sewer line function in your Corvallis, OR home.