When it comes to home disasters such as drain and sewer backups, the smartest thing to do is always be prepared. This article addresses a few tips for handling such a situation. However, you do not need to read it to understand that sewer backups are no joke.
Poor home maintenance, old homes, and increased rain can all lead to sudden sewage backup into your home. If this happens, you should take immediate measures to fix it to prevent further emergencies and issues. Read on to find out more.
Drains and Sewer Line Backups 101
Sewer backups are common homeowner problems, especially during certain weather conditions. It occurs when the main shared sewer gets backed up as a result of heavy rain, overgrown tree roots, broken pipes, or other forms of blockage.
When this happens, waste and drain water from your home start flowing in reverse. Water and waste typically exit your house after taking a shower, draining the sink, or flushing the toilet. It flows through the drain pipes, into the main sewer line, and finally into the municipal sewer lines.
How Drains Get Backed Up
Sewer backup occurs when wastewater and effluent from the sewer lines have nowhere to go because they are overwhelmed, resulting in a reverse flow returning to your house. This flow goes back from the main sewer line to the network of drain pipes throughout your home and eventually emerges from the drains in your home, such as the basement floor drain, kitchen sink drain, or even bathroom fixtures such as the toilet or shower.
This backup poses a health hazard to you and your family and typically comes in the form of wastewater from a flood through the drains or human waste through sewage backup. Actual human waste is a biohazard that produces airborne and physical contaminants in your home as well as odors and fumes.
You can suffer asthma-like respiratory symptoms or gastroenteritis if you breathe in these sewage vapors or particles. Additionally, you and your loved ones may be exposed to viruses and harmful bacteria such as hepatitis, salmonella, coronavirus, and E. coli.
How to tell if your Drains are Clogged
Often, you will notice one or more signs in your home if you are experiencing a clogged sewer or drain line. Your clogged drain system might show signs like:
- Bubbling noises as the sink or shower drains or as you flush toilets
- Slow drains in the toilets, showers, and kitchen or bathroom sinks
- Lush, green spots outside, above the septic tank or broken pipes
- The odor of sewage backup is similar to sulfur or rotten eggs.
- One or more drains may back up when you use a plumbing fixture or flush toilets.
What to do when the Drains are Backed Up
Sewer and drain backups pose a danger to you and your loved ones, as mentioned earlier. For this reason, you should contact a professional plumber who provides emergency sewer services right away.
You do not want to risk your family’s health. Keep them away from all the affected spaces and ensure they do not come into contact with the effluent. Also, dispose of any clothing that has been exposed to the sewage.
Next, turn off all water going to the drains throughout the house. Do not flush toilets; use the dishwasher and washing machine, and turn off all sink faucets. Additionally, avoid using any appliances, drains, or plumbing fixtures in your household until a professional plumbing repair expert has taken the appropriate measures to correct the backup from your drains and sewer pipes. Wear protective gear if the floor is wet, and turn off the electricity mains to your home.
Get a Professional Drain Cleaning Service
Hire professional drain and sewer service from a reputable company like My Arvada Plumber to assess the situation affecting your sewer lines and plumbing system. If the backup was a result of heavy rains or storms, our experts can do little to prevent these natural incidents from happening again.
However, we can perform some repairs to lessen the chances of another backup when the next natural occurrence hits if the condition of your drain pipes and sewer system is not up to standard.
Our certified plumbers will assess if there is a blockage in your main sewer line using specialized equipment, including inspection cameras. This is achieved by running a camera down through the drain pipes to identify the location of the blockage and what is causing it. This could be anything from debris caught in the pipes to penetrating tree roots.
Next, we can use different clearing methods to unclog drains, such as using a plumbing auger or hydrojetting, depending on the clogging material. We might also undertake sewer line replacement or repair if your sewer pipe is broken due to old age, tree roots, or other causes.
Cleaning Up the Sewage Backup
All affected and contaminated areas must be professionally cleaned and sanitized after a sewage backup occurs to eliminate health risks to you and your family. Our expert sewage remediation experts wear protective gear, such as rubber shoes or boots with rubber soles, and face masks while undertaking this task. We will then:
- Clean contaminated areas using a vacuum (wet or dry) to remove solid and liquid matter as well as excess water.
- Meticulously clean surfaces with disinfectant.
- Remove and properly discard absorbent materials such as wood, drywall, carpets, and other materials.
- Remove wall panels to allow drying out and prevent mold growth, if sewage or water has seeped into wall material
- Open doors and windows, use dehumidifiers, and run fans to dry out the affected areas and remove moisture.
- Hire a well-trained remediation expert to remove any damaged or hazardous materials and make the necessary repairs.
Top-Quality Plumbing Services in Arvada, CO
Whether you need our sewer line repair services, your backed-up drains unclogged, sewer line cleaning, or a new sewer line installed, our highly qualified drain cleaning Arvada experts have the expertise and experience to handle the job professionally and quickly.
For more information about our drain and sewer services, visit our office in Arvada, CO. You can also call (303) 500-0437 today for a free quote.