What happens if main drain pipe Back Up?

Moreover, the main drain line in your house is like a tree with one main line like the trunk of the tree. When you have a clog in the main line, it can cause problems all over your house or businesses. It can halt the progress of delivering away the waste from the building or can bring your business operations to a standstill. Luckily, there are symptoms or warning signs that can alert attentive homeowners to hidden damage before things get out of hand.

• When your toilet doesn’t flush like it should and plunging doesn’t really help.
• When you flush a toilet or when a sink is trying to drain, you may notice bubbles. This can make you aware of a problem in that specific drain.
• You may hear gurgling in your tub or shower, while flushing the toilet, this means that the water is being blocked by a clog and is looking for another way out.
• The discharging flow rate of waste from any fixtures is slower than the expected rate, specifically on the basement floor this effect is the strongest
• When the waste fluid is travelling above, and close to the strainer of the floor drain

Under normal circumstances, water leaving your drains passes through several features designed to prevent the back flow of wastewater and gass. This system may break down due to the number of reasons but many of which may lead to property damage or health issues.

Unless you are able to properly pinpoint the cause of your backup, it’s impossible to fix the problem. In this post, several common main drain line backup causes are pinpointed.

1. Flush non-soluble items

The most common cause is flushing facial tissues, napkins, diapers, waste vegetables, and other waste down your toilet creates clogs and backups from other drains. Do not flush non-soluble items besides waste and toilet paper and make sure to keep a garbage can near.

2. Aging sewer systems

The plumbing pipes do not last forever. Besides, old homes are susceptible to broken or cracked drain lines due to the type of piping. The pipes tend to rust from the inside out as it ages. As they age, these pipes are prone to break or crack. When a pipe is cracked or collapsed, the drainage line won’t be able to properly drain through the system leading to immediate and frequent drain backups. It can be fixed by replacing the pipe with the stronger, plastic main drain pipe.

3. Tree roots

Tree roots are the main cause of drain line backup, especially in an older home. Tree roots can grow into the pipes and cause holes, cracks, and blockages or they may wrap around your drain line and crush it. Even though you don’t have trees around the area of your main drain line, neighboring trees might be the cause of an issue. With the use of video inspection, plumbers can find the problems and fix it by installing better drain lines or trimming tree roots.

4. Sanitary main blockages

Sometimes a city’s sanitary mainline can develop a blockage, and if it isn’t detected in time, it can cause sewage to be forced back into your building through the floor drains. This is usually a slow process, allowing you time to call a professional to review the damage.

5. Combined pipelines

After a very heavy rain or storm, the storm water and raw sewage gets combined where lines can become overloaded and cause a sewage backup. Unfortunately, poor drainage around the foundation may also lead to a drain line backup, so it is best to have a professional examine the backup if you are unsure of the cause.

For future prevention of this plumbing issue please read the following:

• Do not flush non-soluble items like mass paper/tissue towels, hygienic products, plastic bottles, waste vegetables.
• Do not discharge any chemicals that may react with pipes due to the potential production of precipitates that may effect the surface of the pipes.
• Hire a professional and get a drain line inspection every five to ten years. They will look for signs of damage, cracks, and clogs.
• Clearing your drain lines every two to five years can help prevent backups. The process usually involves connecting a large vacuum to the sewer line cleanout.
• Do not flush non-soluble items like mass paper, tissue towels, hygienic products, plastic bottles, waste vegetables.
• Consider replacing the current main drain line if you have old ones. Back in the day, plumbers used cast-iron or clay pipes, which are more fragile than nowadays plastic piping.
• Tackle the drainage issues by correcting drain connection pipes. Ensure that your plumbing system is up to code by getting a professional inspection. It will help prevent basement flooding from rain storms and minimize the chances of a drain line backup.

This specific plumbing issue is not recommended to be solved by non-plumbers, so we advise you to call, or hire a professional plumber to help solve this issue. They can perform a video inspection of your drain line and identify exactly what is causing the problem. They can then advise you the most appropriate, safest, and least expensive solution. When it comes to the main drain line, you want a permanent solution not a temporary fix. If you need assistance clearing out your backed up drain line, Call us today at (416) 383-7378.