Why Does My Floor Drain Keep Backing Up? | Tips from Your Trusted New Orleans, LA Drain Cleaning Service Provider
Therefore, if you are dealing with standing water near your floor drain on a regular basis, it is time to stop looking the other way. Instead, call a drain cleaning service and get to the bottom of the issue. Not only can this eventually cause flood damage, but whatever the plumbing issue is will compound and become much more costly to fix in the future.
The Basics of Floor Drain Clogs
The floor drain is different than any other drain in your home, because as the lowest drain in the entire home it is the first-place waste water flows if there is a backup. This means that a clog from any drain line in your home can actually cause the floor drain to backup. This can make it harder to isolate where the clog is, which is why a New Orleans, LA drain cleaning service is so important.
If you can’t figure out where the clog is, the floor drain will continue to backup with waste water until it eventually overflows and you will see sewage leaking out of your floor drain. If your home doesn’t have a floor drain in the basement, or a basement at all, then you will likely see the lowest fixtures of the home start to have backups like showers, sinks, and tubs on the first floor. Proper attention by a drain cleaning service can help prevent this. Here are just a few more areas that may be causing an issue with the floor drain.
Clogs in the Sewer Lines
Sewer lines can also become clogged, which can cause large issues since the sewer line is buried deep into the plumbing system of a home. There is no way to identify this issue for yourself, but a plumber in New Orleans, LA with the right tools can take a look and either rule it out or confirm that the clog is in the sewer. If the clog is in the sewer line, the waste water will not be able to flow out of your home and will back up until it exits the floor drain and back into your home.
Damage to a Sewer Line
While clogs are commonly associated with the floor drain backing up, there are occasions where a clog is not the issue. Damage to the sewer line can also obstruct the flow of the waste water leading to a backup out the floor drain. Some common instances of sewer line damage include cracks, holes, a collapsed sewer line, misaligned tree roots, or tree roots that have started to grow into the sewer line. All of these blockages need to be dealt with immediately. A drain cleaning service will identify the problem and then advise you on the best way to deal with it.
How to Prevent Your Floor Drain from Backing Up
While there is not much you can do about damage to your floor drain, there are a few preventative measures you can take to prevent your floor drain from backing up in the future once a drain cleaning service fixes the problem. Regular drain cleaning is actually the best way to prevent any problems from occurring.
Once your sewer lines are repaired and working correctly, your goal should be to keep them that way. Routine cleaning will free your lines of any debris and prevent clogs from recurring. Hiring a plumber for routine cleaning is also usually much cheaper than hiring them to troubleshoot a clog so it is in your best interest to keep up with your plumbing maintenance. It also helps you avoid the headache of a flooding basement and any ensuing water damage.
How Does a Plumber Fix a Drain Backup?
Of course, if your floor drain is still backing up you need a solution first. Once you call a drain cleaning service they will send a plumber out to your home to ask a few questions. They will want to know how long you have had issues with the backups and if there is an odor to the backup. If the backup is new, resist the urge to clean it up and let the plumber see the issue for themselves. It can help them narrow down what the problem is.
Based on your answers, the drain cleaning service is likely to test various plumbing fixtures around your home. They will turn the fixtures on and off to look at how the system is working and if water is flowing correctly through the sewer and drain line.
Many times, the plumber will also want to perform a camera pipe inspection which involves taking a small camera that is fixed to the end of a thin tube and stringing it town your pipes. This lets the plumber see inside of your pipes so they can see any existing issues for themselves. Usually this results in a much better long-term solution since they can see the exact issue and where it is located in your plumbing system.
Depending on what bluefrog Plumbing + Drain finds they may recommend drain cleaning service, a sewer line repair, or sewer line replacement. Once the job is done this should eliminate your floor drain from backing up in the future so long as you routinely have it cleaned to eliminate future clogs from forming.