Question:
Dear Any Hour Services, Electrical, Plumbing, Heating & Air,
I just had a company tell me that roots were causing a drain blockage. How is that possible when they don’t have any trees?
– Cindy R.
Answer:
The short answer is — yes, you can have roots in your pipes/drains even without having trees. Other culprits include crabgrass, rose bushes, juniper bushes, arborvitae (technically a tree), etc. In our climate, plants will seek out water and nutrients anywhere they find them, including your sewer main line.
However, there is a lot more to discuss about what is going on to allow roots to enter your sewer main line. The most commonplace for roots to intrude are around the joints. The most common reasons this happens are aging, improper installation, and lower-quality materials.
Advances in the material used and improved installation practices can extend the life of your sewer main line. If there are no issues with the slope of the pipe and it is not too damaged from the root intrusion, pipe lining is a great option because it seals any opening where roots could make their way into the pipe and cause the same issue in the future. Another option is to dig up the old line and lay a new one.
If you live in an older home and want to know the condition of your sewer main line, find a company that has a department that specializes in drains and has the right kind of equipment to inspect it.
If you’d like to know more about why sewer main lines fail and specifically about roots in a sewer main line, check out this podcast episode we recently uploaded in August. Episode 025 – Why do Main Lines Fail? (10:29 time stamp)
Or if you’d like a full library of episodes, check out the main page for our podcast, In the House.
