A badly damaged or collapsed sewer pipe is an unwelcome problem for any homeowner. As well as causing health risks and unpleasant odors, fixing a major failure often involves heavy earth-moving work and plenty of disruption.
If your sewer pipe starts to deteriorate, you want to spot it as early as possible, when it can still be fixed relatively easily and cheaply.
What are the signs to watch out for?
Frequent Clogging
One of the first signs of sewer trouble is repeated clogging of your toilet, sink, or bath tub. If drainage is slow and unreliable, it could be that damage to the sewer pipe has allowed soil or other debris to get in, reducing the flow and eventually blocking it completely.
Often, occasional blockages within your home’s plumbing can be cleared with a plunger or by using chemicals. But if it’s a recurring problem that’s difficult to fix, then a damaged outdoor pipe is a real possibility.
Appearance of Indoor Mold
If mold suddenly starts to appear inside your home, it’s probably caused by increased moisture in the air. This could be a symptom of a damaged wastewater pipe which isn’t draining your plumbing as quickly and completely as it should.
Bad Odors
If your sink and bath plugs are plagued by bad odors, then it’s usually a sign that the sewer pipe’s contents aren’t flowing away efficiently enough. One especially important sign is when sewer smells start coming from your kitchen sink as well as the bathroom, suggesting that there’s a major compression problem somewhere in the waste outlet system.
Discolored Lawn
If patches of your lawn in the area above the pipe are discolored, then it’s likely to be a sign of a leak. The patches could be yellowed with unhealthy grass, caused by cleaning chemicals and acidic substances.
On the other hand, the patches could be a dark green and grow more luxuriantly, thanks to fertilizing substances escaping. Either way, an uneven lawn color should be investigated.
Sunken Areas of Your Yard
If parts of your yard are noticeably sunken, then something underneath is giving way. If the sunken parts are above and around your sewer pipe, then damage to it is the most likely culprit.
Water Pooling
Sunken patches may also turn into shallow water pools. When a sewer pipe is badly cracked, the soil may already be saturated with leaking water, and so rain can’t drain away so easily.
Rat Problems
Although most people don’t like to think of it, nearly every sewer contains a healthy rat population, and from time to time the rodents can venture into the sewer outlets of homes.
With intact pipes, the visitors are unnoticeable, as they’re confined to the sewer system. But if your pipe is cracked or split, you may find rats squeezing through even tiny gaps to search for food in your yard or basement.
Insect Infestations
Lastly, insect infestations may not be as dramatic as rat appearances, but they’re still a health risk as well as being unpleasant. From flies to cockroaches, a sudden increase in insect numbers around or inside your home can be a sign of inadequate sanitation, and a damaged sewer pipe is the most likely cause.
Not all of these warning signs will appear in every case, and just one or two of them could possibly be down to coincidence. But if several of these clues look familiar, it may be time to call in a drainage specialist who can inspect and repair your sewer pipe before the problems get any worse.
