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The owner of Robins Plumbing, Stephanie Robins with her featured blog titled 'Root Intrusions of Sewer Lines aka the super villain.

Root Intrusions of Sewer Lines AKA the Super Villain

October 23, 2023

Here is Why Root Intrusions In Your Sewer Lines AKA the Super Villain are Dangerous For Your Plumbing

The last thing anyone wants to hear, is that their sewer line is backed up or having serious issues. Root intrusions of sewer lines aka the super villain can cause serious damage to your sewer lines and they can lead to costly repairs. Most of us look at trees and just think about how they are a beautiful addition to the landscape around your home. We never realize how this tree can impact your plumbing. Root intrusions of sewer lines aka the super villain can cause serious damage to your plumbing system and huge repair costs.

Five Ways Roots Can Destroy Your Plumbing Infographic

  1. Drain Cleaning

    Roots pulled from plumbingHave you ever looked at a big beautiful tree and admired it? I know I have, but do you know what else I see when I look at a large tree? I see an evil super-villain lurking in the dark. Okay, I’m being a little dramatic but work with me here. I’m trying to make plumbing interesting to you the reader, without grossing you out. Let’s face it, plumbing isn’t as interesting as most things. But I’m doing my best here. There is more to trees than meets the eye. After reading this you’ll look at trees as evil villains too.

    Let’s talk about tree roots and your drain line. If your drain line was a superhero it would be Batman (I’m going with Batman so I can say Robin later). Tree roots are the villain. We will call them Poison Ivy, (this is the villain I could think of that is closely related to roots and plant life) and while I love a heroic story of triumph over evil… Tree roots always win when planted over your sewer line. Odds are you don’t know where your sewer and water lines run and you are probably not the one who planted the mature trees on your property.

    Nature is a powerful force and nature usually wins by sheer determination over time rather than a powerful windfall. Don’t believe me, let’s take termites for instance. Termites cause more property damage per year than hurricanes. The persistence of water created the Grand Canyon and the persistence of tree roots will inevitably wear down and break your sewer line. In life, we should be as persistent in our goals as tree roots are. Those tree roots never give up on their dreams.

    If you have chronic stoppages, you have a problem with your sewer line. It isn’t always roots that causes stoppages. Other common causes are grease and sludge buildup, poor grade of the sewer line, belly’s in the sewer line, separations in the sewer line and misuse. Often when we run a cable through a main sewer line that has been backed up regularly we pull back roots on the end of our cable. You can see a small web of roots on the end of this cable, after we ran the cable down the line to clear a stoppage. It is impossible to clear out all the roots. Even if we could, they would just grow back, often within days. Roots are the second sign that the line has been compromised by a nearby tree and the roots have penetrated the sewer line, the first sign is the stoppage.

  2. Let’s Do a Project Together

    Large tree in front of apartment complex
    Let’s go through a project together where a tree infiltrated a sewer line and won, until we came along. The Robins assisting Batman (I couldn’t resist). This condominium complex was having major stoppage issues, from this beautiful tree, I mean this super-villain. The tree provided ample shade for the building. It improved the look of the landscaping but underground this tree had massive and thirsty roots. Wonder what the root system of a tree looks like? Picture the tree turned over underground or mirrored on a lake. What you see above is almost duplicated below. A single tree root is not strong, but like a team the more they work together the more they get done. A root system will conquer anything in its way. Roots naturally go for the closest source of water and nutrients. Nutrients and water are readily available inside your sewer system. Time and persistence is all a tree needs to infiltrate your sewer line. Once the roots infiltrate they wreak havoc on your home.

  3. Cutting Down the “Big Ass Tree”

    Tree stumpWhat happens next when a tree like this conquers a sewer line? We come out and show it who’s boss! I have no idea what kind of tree this was, if you know by all means comment and tell me. The HOA board named this one “Big Ass Tree”. They were more than happy to see it. This had cost them thousands of dollars in property damage after a stoppage flooded the downstairs condominium. Isn’t cutting the tree down enough? Doesn’t that stop the root infestation? Not even close! Does Batman telling Poison Ivy to stop being evil get her to turn a new leaf? (Get it? New leaf! I’m obviously having way too much fun with this blog). Absolutely not! She looks at Batman and gives an evil super-villain laugh and carries on with her evil deeds.

    Cutting down the tree is just the first step. While sometimes it is possible to reroute the sewer line and leave the tree in place, this was not the case with this property. The tree was causing damage to the foundation. While I love trees and have been known to hug a few in my day, this tree had to go. If the tree was left it would have destroyed the foundation of the building, as you will see in one of the following photos. The tree roots were going under the foundation and were going to lift the concrete. Cutting down a tree does not kill the root system. It usually doesn’t kill the tree either. If this stump was left like this with the root system still going down the sewer line, in no time all green shoots would be coming up from this stump. The tree would began to show that it was still alive and kicking.

  4. Web of Roots

    A web of roots in a pipeHalfway through the excavation process you can see how encapsulated the sewer line is with roots. During the excavation process we had to continuously cut the roots with a sawzall to continue digging. Digging through roots is not the same as just digging. The roots create a compact web that is impossible to get a shovel through. Excavation through root infested soil often requires a jackhammer, though a backhoe is always the preferred method for excavation, especially since plumbers love to play with large toys. Seriously, plumbers love to run large equipment, they played with the miniature versions as kids and well, they don’t really ever grow out of that.

  5. This Root Wins

    Root coming out of a plumbing pipeCheck out these photos! That is the root breaking through the glued ABS fitting. This little root triumphed over our superhero and found a happy everlasting water source. This photo trips me out. The time and persistence it took for that root to actually fight its way through the glue of this fitting and make its way inside is truly a testament of how powerful nature is. When this line was installed originally it was put under pressure and had to hold water in order to pass inspection from the City of Phoenix. We see pipe and fittings compromised by roots like this almost every day. After 21 years, it still impresses me. Roots coming out of plumbing pipe

    This is a cleaned-up photo of the root penetrating through the glued fitting. It doesn’t seem like much but this root once inside the pipe grew and branched out. Eventually it filled the entire pipe with a web of roots. The interior of this pipe looked a lot like the root infestation around it. The roots continue to grow in length. Often times they can come up the toilet flange causing even more damage inside your home.

    This will create the need to have your toilet lifted, the flange replaced and the toilet reset. Many clients don’t know they have roots around their flange. Then randomly one day they go to plunge their toilet and water starts coming out of the base of the toilet and all over the floor. The flange and wax ring seal have been broken. At this point, the only thing to do is pull the toilet and repair them.

  6. What Can this Root Turn Into?

    Large mass of roots in a cut plumbing pipeA common term in the plumbing profession is a root log. This is exactly what it sounds like roots that have been growing and have become so impacted that they form a log. You do not want a log down your sewer line. The picture on the right is a root log still inside the sewer line. You can even see to the left on the outside of the pipe the root that penetrated through the pipe to create this massive root log. Only a super-villain of epic proportions can do that. The image below is a root log. The root log was removed and is next to a section of pipe for size comparison. That pipe is 3” diameter.

  7. Roots Can Lift and Break Concrete Foundation

    Another example of roots in plumbingThis photo shows the roots headed through the sleeve under the foundation of the property. These roots left unchecked will break the concrete slab and lift it. Have you ever walked on a sidewalk near a tree and noticed the sidewalk is lifting and cracking? That isn’t natural settling over time, that is tree roots rearranging the surrounding area to suit their needs.
    Don’t ever think you can tell a tree what to do, they are a lot like teenagers and they will just do whatever they want anyway, until you cut them down – just kidding, I didn’t cut down my teenager, but I sure did want to some days (He will read this, and he will laugh because now he is all grown up and realizes what a jerk he was as a teenager)!

    I digress, back on topic, tree roots. We cut these roots out as far as we could reach. Next we poured tons and tons of salt around them to stop them from growing. Of course, salt is better for margaritas, but we have to do what’s necessary. Unfortunately, there were no margaritas on site on the project but I’m sure after a long day our technician wanted one when he got home.

  8. What Can You Do About Roots?

    Robins Plumbing super hero plumber graphicYou don’t have to be a victim of root intrusions. The super-villain can be outsmarted, but only with forethought. If the super-villain has already penetrated your sewer line there isn’t anything you can do but call a superhero like Robins Plumbing, but if you haven’t planted your landscaping yet there is still hope. Whether you’re planning your landscaping by yourself or with a professional, invest in a camera inspection and locate of your sewer line.

    Just like you wouldn’t start digging for a pool before making sure the sewer line wasn’t in the way, the same process should take place when you are getting ready to plant trees or shrubs, yes, even shrubs. Oleander’s are a plumber’s best friend. Oleander roots can travel 30+ feet to penetrate a sewer or water line. Most desert landscaping can. Drought tolerant desert landscaping is some of the most persistent and powerful plant life there is. They are survivors! Like us Arizona people who live here through the summer, we do what it takes to handle the heat and live to tell about it, I mean complain about it.

I told you that you’d never look at a tree the same way again after reading my blog. You might not see them as super-villains. Now you know that root intrusions of sewer lines aka the super villain, are wicked powerful. The trees on your landscape should be planted only where they can’t do damage to your property, sewer lines and water lines.

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