What Is a Sewer Line Collapse?
For homeowners who are curious, a collapsed sewer line occurs when the pipe becomes crushed, completely disjointed, or falls in on itself. This causes a complete or near-complete blockage and, often, leaks around the broken pipe location. The effect is that your home drains are unable to clear into the sewer, causing systematic backups or worse.
Identifying the root cause – like tree roots, deteriorated pipes, ground shifts, improper installation, or excess weight – and repairing properly is key to avoiding recurrence. Signs include strange sounds, multi-drain clogging, and backup from lowest drains first. A professional video inspection and experienced repair is recommended.
The drain lines in your home are part of a carefully designed system that culminates when they all connect and run through one main drain, your home sewer line. If you suffer a sewer line collapse it will become a catastrophic drain failure since your entire drain system depends upon it. Identifying that your sewer has collapsed means you have to call a sewer contractor to repair the problem. But there’s more to sewer collapses than that.
Knowing why your sewer has collapsed is also extremely helpful in determining the cure, and preventing the problem from repeating itself. Here at Balkan Sewer and Water Main, we have worked with thousands of sewer line failures and can help you determine the reason and solution for a collapsed sewer line below your home. In some cases, the collapse can even be prevented.
Rotted cast iron sewer pipe
Signs of a Sewer Line Collapse
The first step in fixing a residential sewer collapse is identifying the problem. A sewer line collapse goes beyond a normal drain clog and is likely to affect all of the drains in your house. A particular set of drain behaviors can give you a clue that your sewer line may have collapsed.
- Strange sounds and smells from multiple drains
- Multi-drain clogs
- Backing up wastewater
- Problems start at the lowest drains in the house
- Any previous and reoccurring issues with the sewer line
The clearest sign that you have a serious problem with your sewer line is multi-drain clogging and backed-up wastewater. The pattern almost always follows that the lowest drains in your home will clog or back up first, starting in your basement or the first floor. Floor drains will likely back up first, followed, by tubs, toilets, and sinks. Of course, if you’ve had reoccurring backups, from roots for instance, you may have known this day was coming.
The 5 Reasons Home Sewer Lines Collapse
Why do sewer lines collapse? The answer depends on the type of stress your sewer line has been under. In NYC, many residential sewer lines are quite old and have been subject to known sources of stress or damage for a long time. A sewer line collapse is when the pipe finally gives in, breaking and fully stopping the flow of wastewater at the same time.
The top 5 reasons for sewer line collapse are:
- Tree root infiltration
- Aging and deterioration of pipes
- Ground shifting and soil movement
- Improper installation
- Heavy load or pressure from above
Heavy weight on improperly supported pipes causes a collapse
1. Tree Root Infiltration
Tree roots seek moisture and often find it in buried sewer pipes. Once tree roots have infiltrated a pipe, they grow. This can result in blockages from the mass of tree roots alone, but that growth often weakens the pipes, especially in the case of clay sewer pipes. Eventually, the pipe is cracked and collapses in on itself. This causes a combined blockage of tree root growth and broken pipes, causing that section of the sewer line to become useless.
2. Aging and Deterioration of Pipes
NYC’s original sewers were installed over 150 years ago. Each neighborhood’s home sewers may be as old as the neighborhood itself. It should come as no surprise that pipes sometimes age, rust, deteriorate, and collapse. Especially when you consider that manufacturers made older pipes from less advanced alloys, which are more prone to rust or other types of corrosion and decay.
When a pipe corrodes or rusts too much, the walls become thin and weak, eventually crumbling and collapsing on their own. This causes a leak and the broken pieces of pipe from the sewer line collapse can cause a local blockage.
3. Ground Shifting and Soil Movement
NYC is subject to earthquakes (yes there are earthquakes in NYC), ground settlement, sinkholes, heavy rains, and a fair amount of underground activity. This can cause the supporting base under the pipe to sink or shift, which can upset a sewer pipe. Excessive ground movement can crack sewer pipes, as sewer pipes are rigid and do not bend. Ground shifting and soil movement put stress on a sewer pipe, that stress can eventually lead to a complete sewer line collapse.
4. Improper Installation
Poor installation can also result in long-term stress or weakness of the sewer line. If installers did not properly support or protect the line, or if they improperly connected the joints, stressors on the pipe will have a compound effect over time. Improper installation is the leading cause of newer sewer lines collapsing.
5. Heavy Load or Pressure from Above
Lastly, sewer lines are designed to support a certain amount of soil weight from above. But if something changes that adds weight to the line, this can press down on the pipe, causing it to collapse inward from the pressure.
Leaking joints & ground shifting
lead to sewer line failures
Solving the Causes Of Sewer Line Collapse Before Repairing The Sewer Line
When it comes to repairing a sewer line after a collapse, the most important step is a correct diagnosis.
Installing a new sewer line may not be the whole solution. It is necessary to understand what happened to the previous sewer line to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. If you have aggressive tree roots, you may need a root guard or to carefully ensure that joints are truly watertight. If the soil near your home is unstable or something has increased the weight above the sewer line, you may need more structural support to keep your sewer line whole when a new section of pipe is installed.
In some cases, understanding an existing sewer line condition or the existing pipe material can prevent a collapse at a later date. Whatever the cause of the original collapse of the sewer line, you must ensure the cause is removed so the replacement sewer doesn’t collapse as well.
When to Call for Sewer Line Inspection and Repair
Know when you need to hire a sewer line replacement contractor. A systemic drain problem isn’t just a problem with your drains, especially if issues begin at the lowest drains and then rise. Do your research and investigation, and never hire a sewer contractor impulsively. It is frequently a good idea to have a sewer camera inspection performed.
Always have your drains and sewers inspected, then research sewer contractor services to find a trustworthy team with the right experience. NYC sewer lines are often quite old and connected to complex systems. If you want to prevent the same problem from repeating and ensure your new sewer line is built to last, you need professionals you can trust.
Call Team Balkan for Sewer Line Collapse Repairs in NYC Homes
Balkan Sewer and Water Main has been serving NYC for over 70 years with expert plumbing services, certified to work with sewers, water mains, and residential above-ground plumbing. We have worked on every possible type of sewer line and we’ve seen every cause of sewer line to collapse. We’ll help you diagnose why your original sewer line collapsed and ensure that new pipe sections are protected from the same thing happening again.
When you need your sewer line unclogged, repaired, or replaced, Team Balkan is there for you. Contact Team Balkan any time for a sewer inspection and repair service. After over 70 years and over 90,000 satisfied customers, Balkan has been The Team You Trust.
