A broken sewer line can cause many major problems within your home. If your sewer line is broken, it can cause E. Coli, salmonella, or pinworms to become common in your home, leading to digestive tract issues or other serious problems. To avoid a serious illness from happening to you or your family, contact a professional as soon as you notice any of the following issues happening in your home, as they could be signs of a broken sewer line.
- Strong odor
- Slow drains
- Clogs and backups
- Mold and mildew
- Lawn changes
- Wall cracks
The above issues are common issues associated with a broken sewer line. We will go over each to ensure that you are catching the problem early, saving you more time and money in the future.
Strong odor
When it comes to strong odors coming from your drains, it can be easy to ignore or to think that you just washed a dish with some bad food down the drain. Most people will pour lemon scented cleaner down the drain to block the smell, but this can be one of the main signs that your sewer line is broken. You will not want to ignore this issue if it keeps occurring after you wash some cleaning liquid down the drain. When your sewer line is working properly, you should never have a sewer gas odor coming from your drain.
Slow drains
Everyone has seen a slow drain and has probably not given it much thought, dumping some Drain-O down the pipes, hoping that it fixes the problem. Like the cleaning liquid not working to take away the smell, the same issue can be caused if Drain-O isn’t unclogging your drain. If your drain continues to move slowly, it could be due to a broken sewer line that has separated. It could also be caused by tree roots blocking the flow of water. Make sure to contact a professional immediately if your drains aren’t working properly to determine what the issue is and how to fix it.
Clogs and backups
Like slow drains, you’ll want to contact a professional as soon as you notice something not working properly. These clogs and backups could be occurring in one area of your home or throughout it. If it is only occurring in one area, it likely means that the pipe that services that fixture is blocked or broken. If this is happening throughout your home, you’ll want to contact a professional to determine what is blocking the lines in your home and how they’ll need to be fixed.
Mold and mildew
Unlike mold in your bathroom if you forget to turn on the ceiling fan, this mold can be anywhere in your home. Wet spots will be on the ceilings, walls, or floors, all possible signs of a collapsed sewer line. If these issues are left unchecked, the water from your sewer line can cause mold and mildew to spread very quickly throughout your home. The spores from mold and mildew can cause extreme allergic reactions as well as causing interior or foundational damage.
Lawn changes
If your sewer line is broken, it can cause many changes throughout your lawn. This can be anything from lush patches surrounded by brown spots to soggy and foul smelling spots. If there are lush spots in your yard surrounded by brown spots, it’s likely that your sewer line is leaking. This can cause toxins to build up in the soil, eventually reaching the surface. The soggy spots on your lawn could mean that your sewer line is broken as well. These swampy conditions attract insects and rodents that can make their way into your home, spreading odor and potential disease.
Wall cracks
This will happen naturally if the foundation is older and the ground is shifting. In extreme conditions, cracks in the walls can occur more often. This is caused by a broken sewer line washing away the dirt surrounding the foundation. Even a small crack can turn to a flood, leading to larger issues over time. This larger issue being the potential that you could lose your home. So if you notice these issues occurring, make sure that you are contacting a professional immediately.
Contact us!
If you are noticing that any of these issues are occurring in your home, call us! At Watters Plumbing we’re always here to help with 24/7 emergency service, leak repair, and new construction. Let us know how we can be of service!
