Sewers can get blocked by:
- Pouring fats, oils and grease down the drains (sink) after cooking.
- Structural issues such as breaks, cracks and collapse of the sewer laterals.
- Roots that grow through cracks or joints in sewer pipe.
- Feminine hygiene products.
- Paper towel (depending on brand and type it may not entirely dissolve).
- Some thicker toilet paper brands.
- Baby / personal Wipes (even those claiming to be flushable).
- Cleaning wipes (even those claiming to be flushable).
Not always. Shea Bros. has the professional tools required to clear blockages such as but not limited to those listed above. If problems persist Shea Bros. can utilize video investigation to diagnose the issue and suggest an affordable solution.
There are a number of types of sewer pipe that have been used over the years. In the Windsor-Essex area clay tile, asbestos cement, cast iron, ABS and PVC pipe have been used for lateral sewer connections.
Each of these pipes has different compositions and qualities. Some of the older types of pipe listed above can be subject to deformation, deterioration and collapse. SDR 28 PVC is now the most commonly installed pipe used in our area for sewer lateral connections underground. This type of pipe is far less prone to failure than some of the older types of pipe used in our area over the years. A video investigation may be required in order to properly diagnose the reasons for a blocked sewer.
Your sewer line carries all your plumbing waste away from your home or business. Ensuring your sewer line is clean is critical in preventing sewage backup, property damage, and health risks.
If you are in a newer home, you shouldn’t have any issues. However, if you are in an older home or a home with a large root system near your sewer line, you may want to have your sewer line inspected and/or cleaned every few years.
Generally speaking, there are 3 common types of sewer replacement:
- Open Cut Excavation: Open cut excavation involves digging an open trench and replacing the existing sewer lateral with new PVC pipe.
- Horizontal boring: is done by digging two pits and boring a horizontal hole between the pits slightly larger than the diameter of the PVC pipe to be installed. The PVC pipe is then pushed through the hole to create a new sewer lateral.
- Relining: In the City of Windsor a video inspection must be performed, and a copy of the video must be presented to the Public Works department who then examine the video to see if the sewer is eligible for the relining process.
Without visiting the site and gathering information about the specific sewer lateral and sewer main in question it would be difficult to quote a firm price for the repair/replacement work. Shea Bros. offers no charge / no obligation estimate appointments. Our estimator will inspect the site, gather information from the property owner and then come back to the office to prepare a quote for the proposed solution.
You have signed your quote and any other paperwork that is required for your municipality, and you have sent in your deposit, so, what’s next???
Once you have provided the above, Shea Bros will get to work right away. We call in the locates for your property and complete and submit any required permits if they are included in your quote. As soon as we have received all the documents, we will schedule your project. This process can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on the time of year and how busy the locating company and municipalities are.
The day before we plan your project, we will call you to let you know we will be on-site the following day.
The crew will arrive on site between 7:30 am – 8:00 am and get to work right away. During this time, we ask that you do not use any of your facilities. This means, no flushing, no showers, no dishes or dishwasher and no laundry! You get the day off!
Once the replacement is completed, the crew will rough grade the area that was excavated. This will leave you with a pile of dirt in your yard, but don’t fret. In time this pile will settle, and you will be able to plant grass and or landscape the area.
Rough grading is the process of achieving the right overall shape and slope. Often grading involves flattening the land, but it should always be done by a professional who understands slope and drainage.
You don’t want to accidentally slope your land too much towards your home and end up causing basement flooding.
Rough grading often includes using heavy equipment, specialized tools (like lasers for slope), and occasionally bringing in new topsoil to fill in space. Rough grading is vital if you have any drainage issues around your home that need to be corrected, since that indicates a lack of proper slope to begin with.
So, what’s next? You look out your window and see a big mound of dirt where your lawn used to be. Thinking that the job is incomplete, you call to see what’s going on and you get another surprise. The mound is there for settling and settle it will, quite possibly for months; and that if you take away any of that dirt before it has a chance to settle, you will be left with a dip in your yard. What a conundrum.
First, let’s take a look at soil settlement. According to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, the following is a common example of what soil composition by volume might be:
- 45% Minerals (clay, silt, sand, gravel, stones).
- 25% Water (the amount varies depending upon precipitation and the water-holding capacity of the soil).
- 25% Air (an essential ingredient for living organisms).
- 5% Organic matter or humus (both living and dead organisms).
Most soils are made up of minerals which vary in size and can range from large stones all the way to tiny clay particles, smaller than .002 millimeters in diameter and invisible to the naked eye. The spaces between these particles are occupied by water and air.
When a sewer repair is performed, the excavation disturbs the soil, the pockets between the minerals become larger, and water and air move in. Decades of compression which formed this naturally compacted soil have just been undone in a single day.
And here you are, with a pile of dirt in your yard, and we are sure that you are wondering what else can be done.
There are a couple of things you can do to help speed up the settling process. First, you can dig small holes in the mound and let the water from the garden hose force out the air pockets in the soil. This can be done every few days, especially if there has been no precipitation.
Secondly, you can use a hand tamper to tamp down the dirt every so often. Finally, when the dirt is low enough to push a roller over it, you can give that a try for a nice, finished grade.
Other than this, there’s not much else you can do to speed up the settling process, which can generally take several months depending on the type of dirt that you have on your property.
Shea Bros. has been on the City of Windsor prequalified contractor list for PDC (private drain connection) replacements for many years. We have been repairing and replacing sewers in the Windsor-Essex area since 1987. We offer quality work at reasonable prices and stand by our work well after we leave the jobsite.