Plumbing Service: What You Can Do When You Find Roots Growing Into Your Pipes | Katy, TX

11/12/2020

Photo By Stephen Farhall at Shutterstock

Sewage systems don’t just carry away the wastewater from the house and other nasty stuff that gets flushed down them. They also can become hosts to unwanted pests, tree roots, and clogged material over time.

The most unwieldy intrusion that happens and remains off the radar until it sticks out are tree roots. If there are tree roots in your drain pipes, calling a plumbing service in is the best way to go forward.

Tree roots are silent killers that will slowly destroy the building’s drainage system without the occupants’ knowledge. As a suburban setup, Katy, TX, is full of trees and plants capable of doing this. Good plumbing service will be able to handle the problem from its roots!

Common Causes of Root Problems

There are many reasons why tree roots can get into the piping of the house and cause a need for a plumbing service:

• Construction Type: Piping is one of the first things that goes into the ground during construction. Once covered up, it stays so for ages underground while above, owner after owner will go ahead with planting trees. It’s highly likely that the roots from one of them will make it in.

 

• Cracks and Holes: Old plumbing means cracks will have developed over the years in many places along the lines. There might even be patches of the pipe broken somewhere due to rats, aging, and other similar reasons. These allow for an easy entry point for roots. Furthermore, growing roots will widen even the tiniest of cracks making the problem worse. They could even destroy the piping itself.

 

• Dry Spells: Roots tend to grow in search of water, and the sewer system is a never-ending source full of it. In case of dry weather that can cause shortages of surface water, these roots will grow more aggressively in search of it and end up all over the building’s drainage system. It doesn’t help that drain water is full of nutrients that they seek.

Mechanism of Root Intrusion

Roots detect moisture sources in the soil and start to grow in that direction. They come across drain pipes that are leaking water into the surrounding ground and home-in on them.

First, the outer layer of the pipe is covered. Once a small hair of the root finds the crack or hole the leak is coming from, it locks onto it and starts pushing into the pipe through it.

With a water source confirmed, and the means to extract it, there is now a strong push in that direction. The roots’ ability to crack rocks in search of water is applied to the pipe, which will crack under the efforts and might fail. It’s then a highway for the roots to continue their growth and you need plumbing service to fix it soon.

Common Solutions

Removing roots from within drains can be a tedious and challenging task, which is why a plumbing service is your best solution. Plumbing services in Katy, TX, are familiar with the roots-in-drains problem and can get the job done conveniently while solving other related issues. Some common ways to deal with the problem are:

• Taking out the Source: Roots derive their strength as a part of the whole tree, which is why they are cut off at the point of contact with the rest of the tree. This will render them dead and stop further intrusion. These weakened roots will be easier to remove.

 

• Addition of Substances: Weed killers do an adequate job of destroying the roots without damaging the pipes. They are mixed with liquid soap and poured into the furthest drain point in the house to go throughout the system. Using biodegradable ones is recommended.

A softer approach would be to use lots of saline water. Mixing high quantities of salt in water and flushing it down like in the previous method will suck the water out of the roots, killing them in the process. This is a temporary fix only, though and takes time to affect, which is why it must be done repeatedly and frequently.

A more drastic and dangerous method is to pour acid into the drain. While it will certainly take out the roots it could also damage the pipes in the process. Material and age of the piping must be checked before attempting to do so.

• Total Replacement: Sometimes, the pipes will be far beyond repair due to the devastation. This is when the plumber will have to replumb the entire system. All of the pipes will be removed and replaced with a fresh set, making sure to leave no room for roots to grow into it again.

New technologies like resin refilling and sleeving can sometimes help seal patches of broken pipes and make them as good as new again. This won’t require digging up the entire drainage system.

Precautions to Prevent Repetition of Root Growth

There is still a high chance of roots finding their way back into the drain over time despite efforts to remove them. Some methods to prevent this from occurring include:

• Removing the original tree(s) that caused the problem.
• Replanting trees such that they are at least 20 yards from the pipes.
• Doing some DIY maintenance regularly on the drainage system.
• Using plumbing services to do maintenance of the drainage system.
• Installing piping of proven material that can prevent root growth, in case new plumbing is required.

Get in Touch with Bluefrog Plumbing+Drain of West Houston

If you are suffering from roots growing in your building’s drains and need a reliable plumbing service to get it fixed, the bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of West Houston is the service to call.

Dial 346-800-3316 and book an appointment. You’ll get the quality plumbing service you are looking for to solve all your plumbing related problems besides clearing of roots in drains, like flooded basement, replumbing, water heater problems, clogged drains, and more.