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Nothing quite impedes a household like wastewater backing up through floor drains. Our plumbing systems are designed to push wastewater out through our drains and into the city’s municipal sewer system. If you experience floor drain backup after using your home’s major appliances like a washing machine or after flushing a toilet, you may have an issue with your sewer line. One of the most common sewer line problems is tree roots. If you have tree roots growing in your line, you need an experienced plumbing service to clear the line in order to stop those messy backups. Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth features experienced plumbing service for customers in and near Saginaw, TX. If you have drains that are backing up, you can rely on us.

Could Tree Roots Be at the Root of My Sewer Line Backups?

For many people, tree roots in the sewer line are commonplace. Older plumbing systems may be susceptible to tree root infestations. As pipes age and the ground shifts, tiny cracks can develop in pipes, often near the seams of underground pipes. Tree roots, on the prowl for water and nutrients, can detect that your pipes are rich with the water and nutrients it’s looking for. Even the tiniest cracks are enough for tenacious tree roots to wriggle through. 

Once tree roots have managed to infiltrate those small openings, they will continue to grow. As they grow, they will begin to clog the pipe. When left unchecked a tree root infiltration can damage the pipe, even causing sections to collapse. The blockages caused by the roots themselves or damaged pipes can prevent the flow of your home’s wastewater to the city sewer main. The result is the backup of that wastewater into your home. 

What Are the Signs of a Tree Root Problem?

If you have trees growing on your property near your sewer line, it’s possible that their roots could invade your plumbing system. This is less likely to occur with newer homes that have more robust underground pipes designed to protect against this issue. On the other hand, older homes with aging plumbing systems may have to contend with tree roots at some point. 

Slow Drains

When more than one drain in your home is slow, you should suspect a sewer line problem. When a single drain is clogged, it won’t affect other plumbing fixtures. For instance, if you have a kitchen sink clog, your bathroom sink is likely to operate without any problem because the clog is occurring in a pipe near the kitchen. However, when a sewer line has a clog, it blocks wastewater from leaving the house; this can cause multiple drains to become slow. If more than one of your Saginaw, TX home’s drains are slow, you should contact a plumbing service like Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth right away. Slow drains can eventually become completely stopped up. 

Gurgling Noises

As clogs develop, including clogs caused by tree roots in the sewer line, you may hear gurgling noises. These noises occur because of the air caught in the developing clog. You might hear gurgling after using the shower, washing machine or flushing the toilet. Don’t ignore this sound. It is a warning sign that should alert you to call your plumbing service right away. If you allow the gurgling to continue, the clog could become worse and can cause a messy backup. Slow drains and gurgling noises should prompt you to call a plumber immediately!

Standing Water Around Drains / Significant Water Backup

A clear sign of a sewer line problem is wastewater backup. If water backs up after using various plumbing fixtures in different areas of your home, you have a sewer line problem. Often, these issues are caused by tree roots but not always. A wastewater backup necessitates emergency plumbing service. If you experience water backing up through your drains, it’s important to contact Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth right away for our fast service. 

Diagnosing a Tree Root Problem

If you have multiple slow drains or backup coming up through your floor drains, you can call Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth for our fast plumbing service. If you’ve had tree root issues before, there’s a strong likelihood that your current drain issues are related to the tree roots growing back again–as they will. If you aren’t sure why your drains are slow or you’re experiencing backup, you can depend on our plumbing service to diagnose your drain problem. 

We will send a trained plumber to your Saginaw, TX, property to inspect your plumbing issue. Sewer line clogs aren’t always related to a tree root problem. Sometimes they simply become clogged by other debris or occur because there is pipe damage somewhere down the line. Typically, our plumbing service pros will attempt to clear the line using a router. Using their equipment, they’re able to determine the nature of the problem. 

For instance, as they draw their router back up through the line, they may pull out tree roots, which is a clear sign that there’s a tree root infestation problem. If they can’t determine what the problem is this way, they can rely on other equipment such as inline camera inspection to find out what’s happening in the sewer line to cause the backup.

Tree Roots in the Sewer Line: Now What?

If a plumber from Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth determines that you have tree roots growing in your sewer line, they can use a cutting fitting on their router to cut through the roots. The tool cuts through the roots to alleviate the blockage. The free flow of water pushes those cut roots out into the main sewer where they’re washed away. Although this plumbing service clears the line, it doesn’t eliminate the tree root problem. The roots will grow back again and, very likely, cause the same type of problem in another year or so. Fortunately, there are some things that property owners can do to prevent sewer line backups due to tree root infestations.

Preventing Tree Root Clogs

After clearing your line, our plumbing service pro will likely recommend that you use a plumbing system-safe product to kill the tree roots that grow in sewer lines. These types of products, available at home improvement centers, are flushed down toilets periodically and work by killing the roots before they can cause those messy backups. 

On the other hand, many customers of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth opt for annual drain cleaning. We can visit your Saginaw, TX, home to route your sewer line and cut through any tree roots that might be growing, effectively cleaning your drains and ensuring the proper function of your plumbing system. 

Tree Roots and Damaged Pipes

Unfortunately, sometimes tree root growth causes more problems than just a clog. Their growth can weaken and eventually damage sections of pipe. The pipes can become leaky or even collapse. A severely damaged pipe will act like a clog that cannot be ‘unclogged’ using routing tools. In these cases, a more extensive repair is needed.

There are a couple ways to handle damaged sewer lines. Sometimes our plumbing service can perform an inline repair without digging up the ground to access the pipe. However, this isn’t always possible. Sometimes more extensive repairs and pipe replacements are needed, necessitating excavation. 

Damaged Sewer Line Repairs / Replacements 

If your sewer line is damaged, your plumbing system will not function properly and may come to a complete halt. When a sewer line is severely damaged, you won’t be able to shower, flush toilets, wash dishes, do laundry, etc…without wastewater backing up into your house. Consequently, you need emergency plumbing service from Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth to tackle the problem. 

If tree roots have caused your sewer line to collapse or it’s become damaged for any other reason, we can recommend the ideal fix. In the past, the only way to contend with a damaged sewer line pipe was to dig it up and repair or replace it. That requires extensive excavation, which can be much more expensive than more common plumbing service solutions and repairs like drain cleaning. Today, however, plumbers have access to many new and innovative approaches to these problems. 

Depending on the nature of your sewer line damage, our plumbing service might recommend an inline repair. We can send the fix through your pipe and make the repair without digging up the ground to replace your damaged sewer line. This type of solution is known as trenchless sewer line repair.

Unfortunately, the trenchless method won’t work in all cases. There are occasions when the only possible solution is to dig up the offending pipe and replace it. Once the new pipe is placed, however, it will be impervious to tree roots for years to come. 

Should I Replace My Sewer Line Proactively?

Some Saginaw, TX homeowners have opted not to wait until they have a disastrous wastewater backup to replace their aging sewer line. When tree roots become a serious issue necessitating many drain cleaning calls, some people opt to put in new pipes. Although this is a more costly solution than regular drain cleaning services, it may add to the home’s property value. A plumbing system upgrade is an investment in your home and can certainly improve the functionality of your plumbing system. 

Often, homeowners who have experienced a substantial wastewater backup due to tree roots are well aware of how messy–and expensive–these occurrences can be. Cleaning up after a drain backup can be a nuisance when the mess is small, but it can be a health risk when the backups are more substantial. Wastewater contains very harmful bacteria. 

Moreover, the water can damage property such as carpeting and drywall, costing the homeowner potentially thousands in repairs and mold remediation. For this reason, some people prefer to eliminate the risk of a future drain backup by replacing a sewer line that’s been infiltrated by pesky tree roots.

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth

Saginaw, TX, property owners who need any type of plumbing service can depend on the certified plumbers of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth. We have a reputation for our honesty and integrity. We won’t recommend any repairs that you don’t need. You can always expect us to provide you with a clear and accurate report of your plumbing system so you can make informed decisions about its maintenance and repair needs. And, we stand by the quality of our workmanship in every respect.

Our plumbers are highly trained and bring everything needed to provide our customers with plumbing service like drain cleaning, inline camera inspection, or leak detection. When it comes to many types of plumbing issues like tree root problems, the solutions are best left to professionals. DIY fixes can actually cause more extensive damage to plumbing systems. Instead, always entrust your plumbing needs to an experienced plumbing service like Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth.

If you suspect that tree roots are growing in your sewer line and are experiencing slow drains or wastewater backups, you can call Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth. We’ll send a plumbing service technician to your Saginaw, TX, property to evaluate the problem. Remember, a tree root problem won’t go away on its own. The roots will keep growing if left unchecked. Unfortunately, root killers won’t work quickly enough to kill the roots and clear your clog. You need a professional plumbing service to tackle these types of sewer line problems. 

Call us to schedule a service call right away if you have a drain backup or slow drains. We can also provide routine drain cleaning services to ensure that developing clogs are washed away before they can impede your plumbing system. 

Photo By Stephen Farhall at Shutterstock