It’s easy to forget about your sewer line, especially when it’s working correctly. However, sewer line problems are often difficult to detect, and unseen issues can cause long-term damage. To ensure your sewer line functions correctly, regular inspections are required. In this blog post, we’ll explore why your McKinney, Texas, home needs regular sewer line inspections and what a sewer line inspection entails.
Contact us to schedule a sewer line inspection for your residential or commercial property in McKinney, Texas, or the surrounding area.
Why McKinney Homes Need Sewer Line Inspections
Your McKinney, Texas, home requires sewer line inspections to ensure your system is in good condition. The following are a few reasons why you should have your sewer line inspected regularly.
- Detect Potential Problems Before They Escalate: Sewer line issues can worsen over time, leading to damage from leaks, water infiltration, mold, and mildew, which require more expensive repairs.
- Help Protect the Health of Residents: Sewer line leaks or backups can pose serious health risks, exposing occupants to harmful sewer gas, waste, and mold. Getting sewer line inspections can help detect leaks and blockages.
- Monitor Sewer Line Conditions: A sewer line inspection helps plumbers understand the condition of your sewer lines. Thorough inspections can determine if your sewer line requires service, such as hydrojetting, repair, or replacement.
- Detect Root Intrusion: Tree roots seek out the moisture inside sewer lines. When roots grow around or into lines, it can lead to blockages and cause severe damage to your home and sewer system.
- Avoid Issues Caused by Soil Shifts: McKinney, Texas, has Houston Black Clay soil. As the moisture levels in this soil fluctuate, it expands and contracts, which can weaken and damage your sewer pipes.
- Prevent a Sewer Line Backup: A sewer line backup is inconvenient and can also lead to overflow, creating a serious health hazard to everyone in the building.
- Helps Home Inspections: A sewer line inspection provides critical insight into your home’s condition that standard home inspections often can’t reveal.
What’s Included in a Sewer Line Inspection?
During a sewer line inspection, also known as a sewer scope inspection, a plumbing professional inserts a small camera into the sewer lines. This camera allows the plumber to locate issues such as obstructions, corrosion, root intrusion, and other problems.
Contact us for a commercial or residential sewer line inspection in McKinney, Texas, or the surrounding area.
Signs You May Have a Sewer Line Problem
Recognizing the early signs of sewer line problems is essential. Below are a few common warning signs.
- Cracks Inside, Outside, or Around Your Home: Leaking sewer lines can destabilize the surrounding soil, leading to cracks in your home’s foundation and causing patios, driveways, and sidewalks to shift or buckle.
- Building Settlement or Sinkholes Occur: Sewer pipe failures can lead to soil displacement, resulting in building settlement and the formation of sinkholes in your yard or beneath your home.
- Unusual Landscape Growth, Sunken Areas, or Soggy Areas in Yards: Because sewer lines run beneath yards, problems like leaks can often surface as unusually lush, soggy, or sunken areas of landscaping. Wastewater can also act as a fertilizer, causing abnormal plant growth.
- Septic Waste in Your Home or Yard: The presence of septic waste in your home or yard often indicates a compromised sewer line. However, waste surfacing in your yard may also result from a clogged drain field or a failing septic tank.
- Pest Infestations: Pests such as insects, rodents, and other animals are attracted to sewage and may infest your yard or enter your home.
- Water Bill Increases: An unexpected increase in your water bill may indicate a leak in the sewer line. While minor fluctuations are normal, a sudden or significant spike can signal an underlying problem.
- Toilet Water Level Fluctuations: Plumbers generally recommend that the water line in your toilet be 1 or 2 inches below the toilet fill valve. If the water line remains above or below that level, it could indicate a problem with your sewer line.
- Discolored Walls: Walls with dark rings, damp spots, discoloration, uneven wallpaper, or bubbling and peeling paint may indicate a sewer line leak.
- Gurgling Sounds: Gurgling noises from toilets or drains, such as a toilet gurgling after flushing, can signal a problem. This sound often occurs when air is trapped in the sewer line due to a break or blockage.
- Mildew or Mold: Mold and mildew can pose serious health risks. If your home smells musty or damp, especially near walls or in the bathroom, it may be due to mold or mildew caused by a sewer leak.
- Sewer Gas Smells: Sewer gas can be hazardous to health and even fatal. If the sewer gas smell is coming from a drain, it may be due to a clog. A clog could prevent proper venting, causing foul odors to escape from the drains. Sometimes, running water in a rarely used drain can refill the P-trap, which can stop the smell. If that doesn’t work, you’ll want to contact a plumber immediately.
- Slow Draining: If water drains slowly, it may indicate a blockage, which could lead to a sewage backup. If the drain remains slow after you’ve tried clearing it, it may indicate a root intrusion. Please note that chemical drain cleaners can damage your pipes.
Contact us for a residential or commercial sewer line inspection in McKinney, Texas, or the surrounding area.
Trusted by McKinney Since 1947
Bewley Plumbing is proud to have served the McKinney, Texas, area since 1947. In that time, we’ve helped many commercial and residential clients with their sewer line needs. Our work has earned us many five-star reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers. If you’re in McKinney, Texas, or the surrounding area, we can inspect your sewer line.
Contact us to schedule a residential or commercial sewer line inspection in McKinney, Texas, or the surrounding area. We look forward to working with you.
FAQs:
You should have your sewer line professionally inspected annually. However, if you suspect a problem, you’ll want to have it checked as soon as possible.
Sewer Scope Test
A sewer scope test, also known as a sewer line inspection or a sewer camera inspection, involves putting a small camera into sewer lines. By inserting the camera into the sewer line, the plumber can check for issues such as blockages, root intrusion, corrosion, and cracks. Sewer scope tests excel at locating specific issues and determining their precise location.
Hydrostatic Test
During a hydrostatic test, the sewer lines are filled with pressurized water. A plumber then monitors the system to check for leaks or weaknesses. Hydrostatic tests help plumbers assess the overall integrity of your sewer system and find issues that may go unnoticed during a visual inspection.
No. We use modern technology and minimally invasive cameras to inspect your sewer lines without disrupting your yard or home.
Sewer line damage can have numerous causes, such as:
– Old pipes
– Tree root intrusion
– Clogs
– Corrosion
– Pest infestation
– Ground shifting
– Pouring harmful materials down the drain
– Poor maintenance
– Extreme temperatures
If we find a leak during your sewer line inspection, our team can repair it quickly and efficiently.
Yes. A permit is required for sewer line repairs in McKinney, Texas.
Yes. Even if you don’t notice any signs of sewer line damage, you must have regular sewer line inspections, as they can detect hidden problems and allow you to fix them before they escalate.