Do you have drainage issues? - nogoodday/nogoodday GitHub Wiki

The odds are that you will call a building company like LondonEliteTrades.co.uk to fix the drain to your dishwasher, clothes washer or one or more sink drains. When addressing these fairly simple problems they may suspect that you have a much larger issue to deal with. They may suspect a main sewer line is clogged or has roots blocking them.

It is unfortunate but there are some unscrupulous rooter companies that might tell you that you have this kind of bigger problem when, in fact you don’t. To protect yourself against this happening you should ask for a written accounting of what they think your bigger problem is and then send them on their way. Then you can call a different rooter company out to check to see if you do in fact have that type of problem and get an estimate on the cost to repair it.

What is the cause

That great beauty of a shade tree in your yard is often the cause of a clogged pipe that will require a sewer line to be repaired. This is because that tree has thousands of feet of roots that are constantly searching for a source of moisture and warmth. And unfortunately your sewer line is a natural target for those roots.

Due to warm air circulating in your sewer line, water vapor regularly escapes into the surrounding soil. This vapor will attract roots. Roots will seek out tiny cracks, slightly loose joints or other openings. This will let the roots tap into your sewer line because the roots will find a very dependable source of sustenance.

While clay tile pipes are the most susceptible to this kind of root invasion, even the newer PVC pipes are not immune from roots penetrating.

Once roots penetrate your line, fine roots will spread all through your pipes. The roots will cause other debris to get backed and start to bog things down before they completely fill up the pipe. If drainage has started to slow down or if you hear a gurgling sound from your toilet, it will be time to act.

Although roots from trees are the number one reason for damage to sewer lines, there are other ways your line can become clogged or broken. Not all foreign objects will dissolve and can become stuck in the line. General deterioration due to age and extreme changes in weather over a period of time can also cause your line to break or buckle. It could even be that your sewer line was misaligned when installed or becomes misaligned due to shifting grounds.

Building companies have a variety of ways to resolve sewer line problems. Some will run a miniature camera down the line to see exactly what and where the problem is. This saves a lot of exploratory plumbing. This kind of examination can tell if an auger or high pressure flush can resolve the problem or if more extensive repairs are needed. Either way you will be given a cost estimate before any of the real work begins.

Do companies do both?

You can’t always find plumbing and heating services together in one company. When you do you will want to keep their phone number with your emergency contact list. You will be able to call one company to solve plumbing problems from installing an appliance, like a garbage disposal, to a major problem with a sewer line, and you can also get any heating service you may need done.

In Scotland where it snows if your heat goes out you will want a reliable company that will come out day or night and get the problem resolved quickly and as cost effective as possible. You want a company that knows you and your family could freeze to death if a heating problem isn’t taken care of immediately. There can be no waiting until regular business hours for this.

For issues surrounding plumbing problems, you will want your plumbing and heating professionals to be able to handle replacing frozen or cracked pipes in addition to fixing any clogged drains you may have. Even if all you have are clogged drains, it is an emergency to you and you want a company that understands this and is willing to get quick service to you.

It isn’t all that unusual that a service call for a clogged drain to your dishwasher or clothes washer will reveal a much more serious problem. If your plumbing and heating expert informs you that you may have a root bound or clogged sewer line you want to know what the estimate for the repair cost will be from a company you already trust to give great service and reasonable prices.

Is it as new home?

Often when you buy a new home you find that the heating system is so out of date that it isn’t’ cost effective to run, and so you make the decision to replace it with a modern unit. plumbing and heating companies can do the installing and make sure that you are getting the correct size unit for the area of your home. Not only that but they can set up schedules for routine checks to insure that your new heating system remains is the best of shape. If, for some reason, your heating unit should stop working or seem to be working with a lot less efficiency you can get a hold of your plumbing and heating company and you know they will be out as quickly as possible. This is a more valuable service than just using the same company where you bought the system install it. All too often the place where you bought your heating system doesn’t really have the personal on staff to handle emergency calls, and you would have to get an appointment and wait a long time to get the service you need right now.

The same is true for all of your plumbing needs. It is easy to get the place where you purchase to install what you bought, but they are not the ones you can call in case an emergency comes up which is what you need.