Sewer Drain Guides

When you own a home, you have a lot more responsibilities. The lawn, the mortgage, the bills, home owner insurance, property tax etc… Just don’t forget the little things about maintaining your home: Trimming the hedges, repainting and of course, the importance of regular gutter cleaning.

It’s easy to forget simply because the gutters are kind of out of site. If your toilet is on the fritz, you’re gonna know it. But your rain gutters might be more backed up than a Los Angeles highway, and you won’t know it til you get the ladder out. Nonetheless, you gotta clean’em out from time to time if you want your roof to stay in one piece!

So here’s what to keep in mind when it comes to gutter maintenance…

Don’t Wait Til Rain Season!

Don’t just wait until the rainy season! When it starts raining, it’s too late. Not only are your gutters already clogged, preventing proper flow, you’re also going to wind up scooping out a bunch of yucky, clumpy stuff instead of just dry leaves! Anyways, who knows what could be in there? Your kids baseball? A bird’s nest? Check them at least once a month. You might not have to clean them that often, but at least check them.

Try Some Gutter Guards read more

In this article, I want to educate you on how the basic plumbing system in your house works, step-by-step. So without wasting time, let’s get started.

Is it Septic or Sewer?

Most houses in the Troy area these days are on a city sewer. When you are on a city sewer you have a main sewer line that starts at the street and comes under the foundation into your basement or crawl space. This is usually a 4” pipe and is what usually requires the use of a snake if it gets blocked. In newer homes which use PVC pipe from the street to the house, the need for snaking is greatly reduced.

Now if your house is older and still has clay or cast iron pipe, you may need a snake more often and in severe cases, a complete dig out of the pipe may be needed to replace it. What happens to iron pipe, is the joints in the pipe start to deteriorate over many years causing roots to impede through the broken down joints or cracks in the pipe. When this happens the roots block the drainage of the pipe causing it to back up. Did you know that the roots can actually sense the water running though the pipe? This is why severe pipe cracks and broken down joints can be a problem. Roots are attracted to the moisture in the pipe causing them to grow more rapidly.

If you have an older house it is recommended to have your sewer drain snaked out at least once a year to stop the excessive build up roots in the pipe. read more