Sewers: Service with a Smell
Sewer line problems are among the most unsettling issues Fort Myers homeowners can face. Your sewer is a critical pipeline, unseen and underappreciated as it goes about one of the dirtiest jobs to keep your family healthy and comfortable. Shuttling wastewater from your toilets and drains to the municipal system, the sewer line performs three key functions:
- Protecting Your Health: A compromised sewer line can lead to sewage backups, exposing your family to harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can cause respiratory illnesses, skin rashes, and gastrointestinal problems.
- Preventing Property Damage: Cracked or collapsed sewer lines can saturate the surrounding soil, causing it to erode, shift, and slide, which in turn may cause your home’s foundation to crack or sink.
- Safeguarding the Environment: Leaking sewage contaminates the local surroundings, potentially even local water sources, which could jeopardize the community’s health and expose you to lawsuits.
These are reason enough to monitor your sewer’s performance. If it exhibits any of these signs of ill-health, it’s time to contact the sewer wizards at Service Minds Benjamin Franklin Plumbing:
- Slow Drainage: Multiple drain blockages point to an obstruction in the main sewer line.
- Backups: Raw sewage paying you a return visit through your drains or toilet is an obvious indication that something is wrong.
- Foul Odors: A persistent sewage smell around your home can only come from one source: a leak in the sewer line.
- Damp Lawn: Soggy or lush grassy areas are the result of nutrient-rich sewage escaping its pipes into the surrounding soil.
Is Sewer Line Replacement Really Necessary?
Service Minds Benjamin Franklin Plumbing understands that sewer line problems can be stressful, and you might prefer to repair, rather than replace, your broken sewer line. Service Minds Benjamin Franklin Plumbing employees expert technicians whose vast field experience give them the tools they need to assess the situation and recommend the best course of action.
They will consider several factors:
Severity of the Damage: Smallish cracks or localized leaks can often be repaired with trenching and targeted pipe remediation. Extensive damage, such as collapsed pipes, severe deterioration, or multiple breaks throughout the line, however, typically necessitates a complete replacement.
Age and Existing Pipe Material: Newer sewer lines made of durable materials like PVC or high-density polyethylene lend themselves to repair. Sewer lines laid before the 1960s typically were constructed with cast iron or clay, which break, corrode, and fail to the point of no return.
Budget: Repairing widespread problems can easily cost more in the long run than replacing vulnerable sewer lines with modern plastics. Repairs and patchwork merely put off the inevitable and drain your bank account in the interim. Replacing your sewer line upfront might seem like a larger investment, minimizes the risk of backups and future line breaks.
Replacement Options
If sewer line replacement is recommended, our engineering team will walk you the options, give you a clear, honest pricing proposal and an recommend one of the two main sewer line replacement techniques we use:
- Open-Trench – Also known as the “dig and replace” method, traditional open-trench sewer replacement calls in the heavy equipment to excavate the entire length of the existing sewer pipe. Once fully exposed, the pipe is removed, a new line is laid in its place and connected to your home’s drainage system before the trench is filled back in.
Open-trench replacement often must be followed be extensive resodding and landscaping. It takes a week or more to complete. And it costs more than trenchless methods due to the need for expensive equipment and extra labor. Unfortunately, it is often the only feasible method when the pipe has absorbed sever damage or the break is located in a difficult-to-reach area.
On the plus side, open-trench excavation allows for a thorough inspection of the entire sewer line, ensuring that all damaged sections are identified and replaced. - Trenchless – Advancements in plumbing technology make this the preferred method in most cases in which it is a viable alternative. Less invasive than open-trench line replacement, trenchless techniques include pipe relining and pipe bursting.
- Pipe Relining inserts a new, cured-in-place epoxy resin pipe into the existing sewer pipe. This “pipe within the pipe restores structural integrity, covering and sealing off any cracks, root penetrations, or weak areas.
We start with a camera inspection and thorough cleaning of the existing pipe. The liner, a custom-fabricated epoxy sleeve is then fed through. It is the precise size of the existing pipe’s internal diameter and is inflated to adhere snugly to the walls.
Little digging is required, so your lawn remains intact, costs are manageable, and the job can be completed in a few days. Lining the existing pipe, however, slightly reduces its width and flow capacity. Still, there is little reason not to take this path when available.
- Pipe Bursting breaks and removes the old pipe and lays a new one in its place. It works by dragging the new line behind the bursting head as it progresses through each section of existing pipe.
This method is ideal for replacing pipes with severe damage such as cracks too large for pipe liners to cover effectively. Like the other trenchless method, bursting avoids extensive excavation and landscape disruption and can be completed in half the time it takes to finish an open-trench project. Again, the sewer system’s capacity could be reduced slightly, as the bursting head and new line must be small enough to fit into the existing pipe, but this usually is of little concern.
Our Minds are in the Sewer
Don’t let a failing sewer line turn your house into an unsanitary health hazard. Service Minds Benjamin Franklin Plumbing will have your sewer situation solved quickly and professionally, minimizing the disruption to your life while delivering lasting results you can trust.
Here’s why you can count on us:
- On-Time Guarantee: No one should be kept waiting for a service tech to arrive. We guarantee prompt service. If there’s any delay, it’s you we pay. You’ll receive $5 per minute we’re late to your service appointment, up to $300.
- Unmatched Quality: With decades of combined training and field experience, our licensed plumbing technicians can solve any sewer line scenario. Our record of accurate diagnostics and proper repairs completed right the first time is legendary in Fort Myers.
- Transparent Pricing: You’ll never encounter hidden fees or unpleasant surprises lurking on your invoice We provide detailed upfront estimates before starting any work, so you know exactly what to expect.
- Emergency Dispatch: Sewer line emergencies can’t be put on hold. That’s why we stand ready to respond 24/7 to provide fast response and mitigate damage and disruptions.
- Satisfaction Guaranteed: Your contentment is our top priority. We back our labor warranties 100%. If you’re not happy, we’re not finished.
Keep Service Minds Benjamin Franklin Plumbing’s contact information handy and call us whenever sewer line problems – or any plumbing situation – arise.
