Do You Have A Leaking Sewer Pipe?

Sewage smells, drains that keep blocking, damp patches, or one strip of lawn that’s suddenly greener than the rest. Any of these can mean the sewer pipe under your home is leaking. Every sink, shower, bath and toilet in your house feeds one large private pipe that travels to the street and the sewer systems of Melbourne. Sometimes that pipe cracks or collapses, and the results can be severe. The signs range from a foul smell in or around your home, usually the first thing you’ll notice, right through to structural damage like cracks in your foundation or even sinkholes. Catch it early and a drain inspection will show you what’s actually going on before the damage spreads.

Common Symptoms of a Damaged Sewer Line

Regular Blockages

If one drain in the house keeps blocking, a drain cleaning will often sort it out. But if the blockage keeps coming back, or several drains block at once, the problem is probably in the sewer pipe itself. Slow drains point the same way. A drain inspection will show you how serious it is.

Smell

A foul smell in or around your home is the obvious sign of a leaking sewer pipe, and it’s usually one of the first things you notice. Cleaning your drains and pipes might fix it for a short time, but if there’s damage along the sewer pipe, the smell will come back fast. A healthy sewer pipe shouldn’t smell at all, so if you can smell sewage near your house, there’s likely damage to the main pipe.

Rodent and Insect Infestation

It’s easy to think a rodent or insect problem has nothing to do with your sewer, but it often does. Rats and insects thrive in the sewers and can crawl through tiny spaces to invade your home. If you have a collapsed sewer line, infestations will often follow. Rats and cockroaches can lead to several health issues and you may need more than a pest control company to get rid of them permanently.

Damp or Mould

Mould growing in your house can be another collapsed sewer pipe symptom. A damaged pipe lets water leak out, which raises humidity inside your walls and encourages mould and structural dampness. Mould and damp on their own aren’t always a sign of a leaking sewer pipe, but they can be a real health issue, especially for young children, so track down the source as soon as you can.

Lawn Inconsistencies

If your lawn has inconsistencies, such as patches that are more lush than others or sinking ground, you may have a leaking sewer pipe. Lush patches might not seem like an issue, but they can be a sign of water seeping out of a pipe, acting as a fertiliser to your grass or plants. Similarly, if tree roots seem to thrive around your sewer pipe, it could be receiving extra nutrients from the leaking water. Because of this leakage, the dirt can also become softer, leading to indents in the ground or under pavers.

Foundation Cracks

Structural damage in your home is one of the most severe signs of sewer pipe damage. You’ll normally pick up the problem before it gets to that stage, but leave it long enough and you can end up with cracks in your foundation or even sinkholes. Call a professional straight away to sort the sewage issue out, and be ready for the possibility of foundation repair on top of it.

Collapsed Sewer Detection

At Drainpro we use CCTV pipe inspections so you can see exactly what’s going on underground. The footage lets our plumbers work out the best way to fix it. If you have questions or want to book a CCTV drain inspection, call us on 1300 303 247 or fill out our contact form.