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If you’re lucky enough to have never given sewer lines much thought, you could be forgiven for assuming that they last forever. After all, they’re buried underground and there’s limited damage that could occur, right? Unfortunately, wrong.
While Sewer lines are made from sturdy materials and will last a long time under proper circumstances, nothing lasts forever. If the connection between your home and the sewer or septic tank system seems to be on the way out, you’ll want to get it replaced pretty quickly.
Signs Of Sewer Line Problems In Older Homes
Dealing with sewage and waste quickly and hygienically is vital to both your family’s and the general public’s health. That means it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for problems developing. This is particularly true for those of us who live in older homes as problems are more likely as pipes age.
But what should you be looking out for? Luckily, most problems leave a calling card of some description:
- Frequent Clogs: Slow drains and backing up might happen because of a one-off problem. If they happen often, something is causing them.
- Sewage Odors: The whole point of your sewer line is to move those smells and the stuff that causes them away. If the smell lingers, there’s a problem.
- Lush patches in the yard: While this might not seem so bad to start with, consider where those extra nutrients are coming from… A patch of particularly lush grass could be a sign of a leaking line.
- Foundation Cracks and Sinkholes: Water (and other liquids) can cause all kinds of structural problems when not dealt with properly.
- Water Stains and Mold Growth: Not all leaks will cause cracks or collapses. Some may just cause damp patches and unsightly staining before you catch them. Others might provide a good habitat for mold to grow, particularly if the water is ‘nutrient rich’ like from a waste pipe.
Seeing any of these means that it’s time to consult someone who offers professional plumbing services to investigate.
Common Causes Of Sewer Line Damage
Aging Pipes
Until fairly recently, most homes sewer lines consisted of either clay, cast iron or Orangeburg (a bituminized fiber pipe). These are all strong, sturdy and long-lasting materials, but they’re not immune from damage. Over time, wear and tear will take its toll and things like corrosion, soil movement and old age will cause problems.
Newer homes tend to use modern plastics for sewer lines. While it would be silly to think that they’ll last forever, we don’t have a solid number on their lifespan. All we really know is that it’s a really, really long time, even in comparison to the old standards which were chosen for their longevity.
Tree Root Intrusion
Tree roots seek out and grow towards moisture and nutrients. Sewer lines are absolutely packed with both of those things. Given small cracks in older pipework and enough time, a tree root will pretty easily find a way in. This causes issues such as leaks, clogs and even collapse over time.
Ground Shifting And Settling
While being located underground protects pipes from lots of accidental damage, it doesn’t protect them from the ground itself. The soil in your yard isn’t totally static. It moves as it gets wet and dries or you build over it. This means that the pressure it exerts on the things it contains shifts too. Eventually, this will crack a pipe as the pressure moves from one spot to another.
Corrosion
While metal pipes are strong and long-lasting, they’re very susceptible to corrosion. Given enough time, even treated pipes will succumb to rust and other forms of corrosion. When this happens, you’ll face holes, weakened walls and, eventually, total collapse.
Poor Past Repairs or Installation
While we’d like to romanticize the workmen of the past, the truth is that they were as likely to bodge it as anyone else. It’s a sad fact that the longer a building has been standing, the more repairs it will have undergone. The more repairs that happen, the greater the chance of one being subpar. A poorly fitted section could go unnoticed under the ground for decades until a serious problem develops.
Risks Of Ignoring Sewer Line Problems
While the old maxim “out of sight, out of mind” might be tempting, sewer line problems really shouldn’t be ignored. Left unattended, they have a tendency to get much, much worse and can cause health and structural problems.
Health Hazards
The whole point of your sewage line is to conduct harmful waste safely away. If that line leaks or backs up, it brings that contamination with it. This can lead to bacteria like E.coli and others finding their way into your home, drinking water and soil.
Structural Damage
A collapsed pipe can cause the soil around it to collapse too, bringing down anything above it. While this might be a fairly dramatic event, it’s not the only potential structural damage possible. Even a fairly minor leak, given enough time, can cause cracks in walls and foundations.
Environmental Impact
The control of sewage is generally a municipal responsibility because it’s so potentially dangerous. Problems in the sewer system can lead to contamination of soils, water (including drinking water) and the spread of disease to both humans and animals. A leaking sewer line could cause untold damage to the local environment.
Increased Repair Costs
If left undealt with, sewer line issues have a tendency to get worse. What could have once be solved with a minor repair could end up requiring serious excavations.
Replacement Options For Older Homes
If you do decide that the time has come, you have two options for replacing your sewer line.
- Traditional
- Trenchless
In the case of traditional methods, you’ll face significant disruption as they require serious groundwork. This also makes them pricey and they really can drag on. On the plus side, complete replacement means that they will last a very, very long time.
Trenchless methods however cut out most of the disruption. Both relining and pipe bursting are cheap, quick and fairly invasive. On the down side, they’re not always suitable if your existing pipework is too far gone.
Benefits of Being Proactive
Replacing your pipes before it’s an emergency repair might seem costly, but there are good reasons to consider it:
- Improve Home Value. Potential buyers will be comforted to know that some systems have been updated
- Preventing Future Problems. Emergencies can be expensive to deal with. Heading them off and replacing the system before they happen reduces the risk.
- Increased efficiency. There’s less risk of backups forming in modern materials.
- Peace of Mind. You won’t have to worry about potential problems forming for a long, long time.
While it might not be at the forefront of your mind when buying an older home to renovate, investing in sewer line services can really pay off.
