The Dangers of Tree Roots and Your Sewer Line

Waste and wastewater from your Tulsa, OK home flow to a single sewer line. This large pipe travels underground from the rear of the building to the municipal sewer main. Although residential sewer lines can last 50 to 100 years, yours could fail much sooner if it's encroached upon by tree roots or weeds. When fast-growing tree roots enter sewer pipes, they can expand and obliterate these structures. They can also clog pipe interiors, offset sections of sewer pipes, and cause dangerous, whol-home backups.

What Causes Tree Root Encroachment?

Waste and wastewater are incredibly nutrient-dense. Sewer lines are continuous and abundant sources of both nutrients and moisture. Most of the living vegetation on your property can benefit from your sewer pipe's contents. Certain factors can make your sewer line a prime target.

Terracotta Pipes

Many older and historic properties in Tulsa have terracotta sewer pipes. Although baked clay can carry wastewater without leaking for many years, it becomes dry and cracked after many decades. With time, terracotta pipes become increasingly prone to leaks. As the moisture and nutrients they contain leach into surrounding soils, tree roots and weeds start growing toward them.You can limit the risk of sewer line encroachment on an older property by scheduling sewer line replacement. However, swapping terracotta pipes out with PVC or cast-iron pipes won't make your sewer line completely immune to this problem. Whenever pipe materials age and degrade and tree roots have an opportunity to gain purchase, they'll make their way in. By branching out and sending in ultra-slim lateral roots, tree roots can enter cracks that are only millimeters wide.

Poor Landscape Management

A common cause of tree root encroachment is poor landscape management. If you have trees in your yard that are less than 15 feet away from your sewer pipe, you should hire an arborist to care for them, track their root growth, and implement proactive strategies to prevent encroachment.It's also important for homeowners to have ongoing weed control plans. Although weed roots aren't as large as tree roots, they can be just as destructive in sewer pipes. Tightly coiled spirals of weed roots can block a sewer pipe just as completely as a single, large-sized tree root can.

Planting New Trees Too Close to Sewer Lines

Before planting any new trees in your yard, you should hire a utility line locating service. Most experts recommend planting new trees at least 10 feet away from sewer lines and all other underground utilities. It's also important to choose tree species with manageable root systems.

Tree Stumps Pose a Threat to Sewer Lines

Surprisingly, tree stumps can also cause sewer line damage. Tree stumps can maintain active, fast-growing roots for many years after trees have been felled. Certain deciduous trees can even successfully resprout from tree stumps. Resprouting can occur within just two to three years, or it could take a full decade. If you or a former owner cut down a tree because it was a threat to your sewer line, you'll need to schedule stump grinding service to eliminate the threat entirely.

Soil Compression

In areas with exceedingly cold winters, plumbers often install sewer lines at depths of at least 5 feet. At that depth, subterranean soil maintains a year-round temperature of approximately 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Thus, there's always sufficient heat to keep pipes from freezing.However, in some areas, plumbers install sewer lines just 18 to 30 inches deep. At this depth, there isn't much soil covering, and even minor soil compression can result in sewer line damage.This is important to keep in mind when renting a stump grinder or hiring a stump grinding service. You should never place any heavy equipment on top of your sewer line. As the soil compresses, excess pressure can cause sewer pipes to shift and move apart at their connections. This causes offset sewer pipes that deposit waste and wastewater directly into nearby soils. Offset pipes can quickly attract tree roots and weeds.

Signs of Sewer Line Encroachment

Whether tree root encroachment results in a sewage leak or a whole-home backup, there are several ways to spot sewer line damage.

Foul Sewer Gas Odors

When sewer lines crack, noxious sewer gases invariably escape. Sewer gases smell like rotten eggs or old, rotten cabbage. You might catch a whiff of these unpleasant odors in your backyard. However, if waste and wastewater are starting to move back into your home, you might smell sewer gas odors around your plumbing-connected appliances and drains as well.

Noisy Drains and Plumbing Fixtures

As tree roots and weeds grow into and fill sewer lines, waste and wastewater have increasingly less room to move through. At night, after everyone has finished using your plumbing system, you may hear gurgling and bubbling sounds as the very last of your slow-moving wastewater exits your pipes.

Multiple Slow-Moving Drains

Having multiple slow-moving drains and frequent drain clogs are among the many drawbacks of sewer line encroachment. With less room for movement, solid and semi-solid items are more likely to get snagged on in-pipe obstructions.

Standing Pools of Water and Wet, Marshy Spots in Your Yard

Cracked sewer lines can render outdoor areas unusable. Raw sewage can saturate the surrounding soils and turn the ground soft and mushy. You may notice the space just above your sewer line looking especially verdant, or you may have foul-smelling pools of standing water in your yard.

The Health Hazards of Tree Root Encroachment

Whole-house backups caused by tree root encroachment send effluence back into all connected drains. This waste contains many dangerous biological and chemical contaminants. If residents encounter wastewater, they could develop serious skin infections. When whole-house backups contaminate cooking surfaces, kitchen sinks, and bathtubs or when germs are transferred into the eyes or mouth via the hands, serious and potentially fatal illnesses can ensue.

The Dangers That Cracked Sewer Lines Pose to Homes

Whole-house backups can cause widespread and costly property damage. These events affect:

• Building foundations

• Floors and sub-floors

• Baseboards and drywall

• Plumbing-connected appliances

• Bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room fixtures

For homeowners, it's always safest and far less expensive to practice diligent landscape and sewer line maintenance.

Tree Roots Can Grow Back Following Sewer Line Treatments

Among the many dangers of tree roots in sewer pipes is the fact that they can and do grow back. If you've had rooter service or hydro-jetting performed to clear your sewer line in the past, you'll need to repeat this treatment until invasive root sources are eliminated. It can take just 30 days or up to two years for roots to regrow following these and other removal techniques.We offer expert plumbing, sewer, and drain services in Tulsa and the surrounding cities. Homeowners can also turn to us for water heater service, water treatment, and static testing. If you have tree roots in your sewer line, contact Half Moon Plumbing today to schedule an appointment.