Toronto is a beautiful city with grand old trees, and lovely landscaping, but in early spring, tree roots wreak havoc on our plumbing. Once the snow has melted and oxygen-rich water full of nutrients flows freely through the pipes again, the tree-roots infiltrate sewer lines. This is the second-most busiest time of the year for plumbers in Toronto as we are called to help rehabilitate pipes.
Tree roots in sewer lines and digs usually occur on the main line running from the street to your home, and is a problem particularly on older properties that still have clay sewer drains that easily develop cracks in the joints. Causing backups and blockages. The roots grow on the inside of sewer pipes and can lead to costly repairs if not seen to.
What Happens When You Have Roots in Drains?
As a homeowner, you are responsible for maintaining your sewer lateral line, which connects to the pipes in your home. Tree roots grow through cracks in pipes that have occurred over the years to reach the moisture and nutrition inside the pipes. They will continue to grow undisturbed until the pipes are filled to capacity with hair-like root masses that catch all the tissue paper, grit, fats, oils and grease (FOG) and other household debris.
As roots in drains continue to grow, they continue to exert pressure and expand the crack in the joint, causing major leaks or breaks. At worse, it may result in the total blockage of the pipe, requiring replacement of the pipes.
Symptoms of Roots in Drains
The first sign of roots in pipes is usually diminished water pressure. If you have tree roots in sewers, you will note slow flushing toilets in basement or the water level may be higher in the floor drain.Which could cause pooling around the floor drain. It could lead to sewer backups and worse.
Preventing Tree Roots in Sewer Lines
If camera inspection shows infiltration of tree roots and clay pipes still exist.
We recommend replacement of clay pipes with plastic (pvc) piping to prevent infiltration of roots.
   |