Root intrusion at a clay pipe joint, seen on camera.
A collapsed sewer lateral is one of the more expensive things that can happen to a house, and it is also one of the most predictable. In nearly every one we have replaced, the homeowner had been living with at least two of these signs for months.
1. More than one drain is slow
A single slow fixture is a local clog. Two or more slowing at once — particularly if they are on different floors — means the problem is downstream of both, which is the main line. This is the earliest reliable warning and the one most often dismissed.
2. Gurgling in a fixture you are not using
If flushing a toilet makes a tub gurgle, or running the washing machine makes a toilet bubble, air is being displaced through a route it should not take. That means something is partially obstructing the main. Do not wait for it to become total.
3. A patch of lawn that is greener than the rest
A strip of grass that is noticeably lusher, or spongy underfoot, along the line between your house and the street is being fertilized by your sewer. It is a small leak now. It will not stay small.
4. Sewage odor, especially after rain
A properly sealed sewer system should be odorless. Smelling it in the yard, the basement or near a floor drain means the seal is broken somewhere. After heavy rain is when a cracked line is most likely to give itself away.
5. Repeat backups
If you are having the main cleared more than about once a year, you are not paying for a fix, you are renting one. Something structural is catching debris — roots at a joint, a belly holding water, a broken section. A camera run answers it in twenty minutes.
Buying a house on Long Island?
A standard home inspection does not include a sewer camera. On any house built before about 1980, pay the few hundred dollars to have the lateral scoped before closing. It is the best-value inspection nobody tells you to get.
If any of this sounds like your house, a camera inspection costs a fraction of a replacement and gives you a real answer rather than a guess. We credit the cost against the repair if you go ahead with us.
Tony Serrano
Flow’s Plumbing has served Long Island since 2004. If this is happening at your house, give us a call.
Call and speak to someone who works here. Average response across Nassau and western Suffolk is about 90 minutes.
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