A sewer drain backing up is a plumbing nightmare that no homeowner wants to deal with. Sewer drain backups can cause serious damage, and they can also bring hazardous contaminants into your home, putting your family’s health and safety at risk.
If your sewer drain keeps backing up, you need to do some sewer drain troubleshooting to figure out what’s causing the problem. Once you know why it’s happening, you’ll be able to solve the problem and prevent your sewer drain from backing up again.
What Causes a Sewer Drain to Backup?
Some of the most common causes of sewer backup we see at our customers' homes in Lawton, Duncan, and Fort Sill include:
Tree Roots
Tree roots can wrap around your sewer pipes and crush them, and they can also grow directly into your pipes, creating a blockage. Tree roots can extend out much farther than the tree itself, so even if you don’t have any trees growing near your sewer lines, trees in your neighbors’ yards could be extending their roots into your yard and causing a sewer line problem.
Clogs
When a solid object gets caught in your sewer line, backups are inevitable. Clogs happen when solid objects go down your drains and get stuck. They can be caused by hair, grease, cooking fat, napkins, paper towels—anything that goes down your pipes but shouldn’t.
Broken Sewer Lines
Although modern sewer lines are made with plastic, many older homes still have cast iron, cement, or clay piping that can break down and collapse over time, leading to sewer backups.
How to Take Care of Your Sewer Drain
Make sure you’re taking proper care of your plumbing and water systems with these tips to keep your sewer drain from backing up:
Use Your Drains Correctly
You can prevent most clogged drains just by using your drains correctly:
- Don’t flush napkins, diapers, paper towels, “flushable” wipes, or sanitary products down the toilet—only flush toilet paper.
- Try not to use your garbage disposal as a trash can.
- Avoid pouring cooking fats and grease down your kitchen sink.
Stay on Top of Plumbing Maintenace
Regular plumbing maintenance is one of the best sewer drain tips out there. With routine maintenance, you’ll be able to prevent small issues from snowballing into serious problems. Pippin Brothers offers plumbing maintenance plans so you can keep your plumbing system running smoothly.
Steer Clear of DIY Fixes
If you do notice a problem with your sewer drain backing up, it’s important to call in a professional plumber instead of trying to solve the problem yourself. DIY drain cleaning fixes like Drano can deteriorate your pipes and make the problem much worse.
Pippin Brothers is the plumbing company to call for professional drain cleaning and sewer line services in Lawton, Duncan, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. We’ve been in business since 1978 and are one of the most experienced local plumbers in the area. We care about your family’s comfort and safety and will resolve your sewer drain problem quickly so that you can get back to your daily life!