Most homeowners don’t give much thought to their sewer lines, and that is kind of the way you want it to stay. You only think about your sewer lines when something foul is wafting up from them or you notice a few disgusting leaks where they run. However, sewer inspections help prevent these attention-grabbing situations.
By having your sewer inspected regularly, it can help catch issues before they become full-blown problems. Typically in these matters, it is easier to fix these issues before they become much worse. The question is, however, when you call out a professional service to inspect your sewer lines, what exactly do they look out for?
What Your Plumbing Service Looks For in a Sewer Inspection
When you call a professional service out to inspect your sewer lines, they essentially lower a very small camera down into your sewer and run it through the line. Through a monitor, they will be able to visually see everything that is lurking in your sewer. When this is happening, they look for:
- Leaks – The most common thing a plumbing service is likely to find during a sewer inspection is a series of cracks and leaks. These leaks start off small, but over time the cracks will get bigger and the leaks will become more of an issue. Your plumber will go over all the repair options once a crack or leak has been found.
- Clogs – Even if you were diligent in what you let flow down your drains, some odd items can find their way down there. Grease, hair, coffee grounds, egg shells, and even tree roots that grow in through cracks in your sewer pipes – these items can all cause clogs in your sewer lines. Even if they haven’t fully clogged yet, an inspection will catch these partial blockages before they become full-blown clogs.
- Collapse – The older your sewer pipes are, the weaker they will get. You also have to worry if new pipes were installed incorrectly. Regardless of which issue you may have, pipe collapse can happen when the weight of the soil above becomes too much to bear. If your pipes are starting to sag in spots, an inspection will tell you that collapse is imminent.
- Corrosion – No matter what your pipes are made from, even corrosion-resistant copper, they can be the victim of corrosion over time. This weakens the pipes and can make many of the above problems manifest. Typically a sewer inspection will allow the plumber to give you an estimate on how long those pipes have left depending on the extent of the corrosion.
The ideal situation is to run a sewer inspection and have everything come up perfect! However, that’s not always the case. If you just bought a new home or haven’t done a sewer inspection in a few years, you want to have one done. It is much easier to fix small problems before they grow into big problems. While many homeowners save sewer inspections for when they do have some kind of problem, it may be more beneficial to consider it one of those home maintenance tasks like having your furnace tuned up.
Need Help?
Are you considering a sewer inspection in your Minneapolis home? It is a good instinct and can be very beneficial for your home. Whether you bought a new home or just want to know if there are any problems lurking in your sewer line, contact us today. It doesn’t need to be an emergency for SOS Drain & Sewer to help take care of your plumbing. Let us catch plumbing issues before they become problems.
