When your pipe at home clogs, your first instinct is to grab a plunger or an auger. However, if the problem is in your main sewer line, then applying standard plunging could be useless. This kind of situation is an emergency and it is not going to get better without the help of a professional plumber. When your main sewer line backs up, it can end up with sewage filling up your house and can lead to costly repairs. Fortunately, it can also expose your family to contaminated water.

To prevent severe damage to your home and your whole plumbing system, Caccia Plumbing is here to help you through the steps that you should do when you suspect any blockages in your main sewer line.

Signs Your Main Sewer Line Is Blocked

It is vital to know between a mainline issue and a normal clog since main sewer line problems need professional intervention. Though professional help may be needed to identify the cause, some problems can point to the blockage in the sewer if you’ll start noticing that water is backing up out in your fixtures. Like when you flush your toilet, water will suddenly appear in your shower or your bathtub and a foul odor comes from your sink, toilet, or tub. That foul odor is sewage that poorly drains as a result of clogs.

Frequent Clogs – If you notice more than one of these features are slowly draining or often fails to drain; toilet, sinks, bathtubs, and showers, you’re most likely have a main sewer clog.

Bad Odors – When your main sewer line is backing up, wastewater comes back into your sinks, bathtubs, and toilets. You may not notice the water immediately, but you’ll start to notice a foul odor and that is a sign that dirty water is flowing back into your drain pipes and not draining at all.

Unusual Noises – If your toilet is making a gurgling sound after you flush your toilet, turn off your shower or even run water into your sink, you surely have a clog in one of your sewer pipes.

What You Can Do to Help

Clean the Area

While it may be hard to clear the clog on your sewer line all by yourself, you can just clean up any sewage and keep your family away from the contaminated areas. Sewage carries bacterias and other microorganisms that can cause disease and infection. You should not ignore this problem. As it won’t go away by itself and can cause a significant risk to the health of anyone nearby.

Shut Off the Water

Shutting off your water is critical if you want to keep the situation from getting worse. You might forget the problem and absentmindedly turn on your sink or use your toilet and end up flooding your home with raw sewage. Shut off your water until your plumber fixes the clog. This will prevent others in your home from using it and making the problem worse.

Contact a Plumber

A professional plumber has tools that can safely clear away all sorts of clogs without damaging your main sewer drain and line. They may want to do a sewer video inspection so they can distinguish what’s causing the blockage and where it is located. Your plumber also has the knowledge and skill to diagnose the main issue.

The problem with the DIY repair is that most sewer line blockages are caused by broken pipes or a severe clog that is not going to be removed by the standard ways. Don’t try to fix it yourself unless you have experience and the proper tools, or you could make the problem worse.

Getting a professional and reliable plumber to check your plumbing system will assure you that the real problem is addressed correctly.