The very first thing I would like to bring to your attention is one of variation of Murphy’s Law - “If sh.t (something bad) can happen, it will happen”. And this is absolutely true. I am pretty sure that everyone at least once has heard a story similar to these:
Really bad and very costly – It was a severe winter at the end of February, almost -20C outside, and we decided to spend two week vacation in Mexico. When we returned we found massive damage to our lovely house caused by burst pipes.
Also bad and expensive – It happened during my birthday party. I had almost twenty guests in my house. Lots of food, soft drinks for kids and alcohol for their parents… And then this awfully smelling backup occurred in the basement. The party was ruined. The plumber who came the same night explained that the drain was almost completely blocked by tree roots and extensive use of toilets in my house by guests clogged up the drain completely.
Less expensive and could be avoided if addressed timely – The hot water tap was dripping really slowly on the kitchen countertop but it did not bother the homeowner. In four months the whole faucet started wobbling and the plumber diagnosed that the chipboard under countertop plastic was gone and there was no possible way to fasten the faucet.
In cases like the above there is no way around it and most people need a plumber.
How to choose the plumber, please read in our next post.
Once roots are in your lateral they will likely cause an eventual blockage. The best way to prevent this is to schedule regular cleaning of your sewer lateral. The common method of removing roots from sanitary sewer service pipes involves the use of augers, root saws, and high-pressure flushers.
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Andrew