Closeup of a plumber performing a sewer line inspection to clear a blocked drain

Sewer line camera inspections can prevent structural damage and help you keep your property safe. But what is a sewer line inspection, and when might you need one? Our friendly team answers these questions and more below.

What Is a Sewer Line Inspection?

A sewer video inspection is a plumbing technique that lets us see every part of a drain line. The plumber moves a camera along the length of your sewer pipes to detect any cracks, leaks, or defects.

Sewer camera inspections are never convenient. But they’re often the quickest way to identify and resolve sewer line problems!

It’s always worth having your sewer lines inspected every few years. That way, you can identify minor problems before they escalate. But for now, let’s consider the five major warning signs that your home or business needs a sewer line inspection.

1. Water Damage

Have you noticed damp patches around the walls of your property? Particularly around the floors? Water damage could indicate sewer line problems. Such issues should be inspected urgently before they cause further damage.

2. Slow Draining Water

Slow drainage from a sink is a common complaint. It’s often caused by something innocuous, such as clogged hair or debris. But if you can’t clear the blockage easily yourself, it could indicate a deeper problem. For example, tree roots may be pressing on your sewer line, or it could be cracked.

3. Stinky Drains

Stinky, foul-smelling drains indicate standing water. Standing water means there is a clog deep within your sewer line somewhere. These clogs may not clear on their own and they could eventually damage your pipes, so they must be investigated.

4. Inconsistent Water Pressure

Is your sink or shower pressure lower than normal? Or is it inconsistent? Sometimes, this indicates a leaking or malfunctioning sewer pipe. The only way to know is to hire a professional to have a sewer video inspection.

5. Mold Growth

Although mold grows in homes for many reasons, it often indicates a blocked or cracked sewer line. The damp conditions created by leaking or blocked pipes are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and mold.

Mold is not only inconvenient, it’s a health hazard. It can cause breathing difficulties, allergic reactions, and more.

How Long Does a Sewer Inspection Take?

Inspection processes vary in duration. It all depends on the length and complexity of the sewer lines. Typically, home inspections take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or two. Commercial sewer scope inspections can take considerably longer.

In all cases, the Fox Valley professional plumbers will endeavor to complete the job quickly and efficiently.

How Much Does a Video Sewer Inspection Cost?

It all depends on the scope of the work involved. Factors that could affect the cost of your video inspection include:

  • The length of the sewer line
  • Ease of access to the sewer line

For example, if we need to remove the toilet or other plumbing to access the line, this may increase the cost. Your plumber will explain exactly how much the inspection will cost after you contact us.

  • The cost quoted is usually just for the inspection and video footage
  • Repair costs will be quoted separately

While you may be reluctant to have a sewer line inspection, they’re cost-effective in the long run. The quicker you identify the source of the problem, the cheaper it may be to fix.

And speaking of cost, don’t forget to check your water bills. You could save up to 10% on water bills by fixing leaks around your home!

Book a Sewer Line Inspection Now

Are you worried about your sewer system? Trust the professional plumbers at Fox Valley Plumbing to help. Using our high-tech camera equipment, we can quickly identify sewer line problems. And once we know what the problem is, we can provide a competitive estimate to fix it.

Don’t wait for a clogged drain or sewer pipe to become an even bigger problem. Protect your home’s plumbing system – call us or reach us online to book a service. And for emergencies, call whenever you need us. Our friendly plumbing team offers a 24/7 response service.

Whether you are a bathtub or shower person, most people look for shower-only options when buying a home. This simple fact means more than a few homeowners spend a weekend upgrading or installing showers in their bathrooms. Fortunately for you, it is a fairly simple process.

A collector or pan refers to the horizontal surface located at the bottom of the shower. The collector typically consists of a non-slip surface slightly banked towards the center or wherever the drain is located. Combined with three to four-inch walls around the side, the goal of your shower drainage plumbing is to get the water to flow to and down the drain.

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You can physically build a collector for your new shower, but you really need to think about it. Do you really want to get into the complications of getting the sloping correct, not to mention making sure every aspect of it is waterproof? And I mean every aspect!

It is much easier to simply buy a pre-cast collector online or at your local Palatine, IL Lowes, Home Depot, or hardware store. Building one might sound like a great idea, but you will probably feel differently after a couple of hours.

Regardless of how you go about getting a pan, you should make every effort to use one that has the drain located in the same spot as the original pan. Moving the drain pipes can be a task, particularly if the builder used a unique framing structure. If you are determined to move the drain, you are going to have to cut back the pipe or lengthen it, which may mean ripping up large chunks of the floor. Put another way, you are going to be looking at a multiple weekend project.

Assuming we have our drain lined up, the actual hook-up is fairly simple. The drainage pipe should be facing vertically up to the collector. It will often look like a “U”, which means it acts as a cleanout to keep nasty smells from coming back up from the drain.

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To connect the drain, you are going to create a water-tight connection between a drain cap on the top of the pan and the drainage pipe. Systems vary, but you are typically going to do this by putting a coupling piece on the top of the drainage pipe. This is then covered with gaskets and literally screwed into the drain cap. The drain cap should act as a locknut, to wit, it screws directly onto the coupling.

The tricky part of this process is getting your drain cap to fit into a watertight position in the pan. This is accomplished by backing off the drain cap once you are sure everything fits together. At that point, you put plumbers putty around the underside of the cap and then screw it back on. The putty should form a tight seal between the cap and the shower pan, which keeps water from trickling under it and into the framing under the shower.

Obviously, bathroom showers come in a wide variety of styles these days. If you purchase a collector, they almost always come with plumbing instructions or the store can note anything unusual you should know. It sounds complex but is typically pretty straightforward. Have fun!

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FoxValleyPlumbing_Corona Virus Advice For The City Of Elgin illinois!

 

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The Plumbing in your home or business is bound to have issues, even if we safeguard with thorough plumbing preventative maintenance plans in place. You may think its only happened to you, but trust us when we tell you that is not the case. Everyone has plumbing issues and there are a few well known plumbing problems that happen to most, if not all, homeowners & business owners. The key is to not panic and know who to call for help. Make sure they are available 24/7 and are a fast response company.   Drain Problems It happens ever-day. In restrooms the problem is generally caused by hair or soap scum clogging up the drain. In the kitchens it could be greasy food or oils that may get into the sink. Your Solution Most of the time these are not emergencies and you don’t need to call your plumber at 4 am, depending on how bad the blockage is, you may want to call your technician as soon as the regular business hours resume. TIP: Use a hair strainer in your drain and avoid dumping leftover oils in your sinks. A Running Toilet That annoying noise. The continuous sound of water running that for some reason sounds like money running downing the drain. While your toilet may not be giving away cash, you are. The facts are your water is constantly filling the bowl, which will increase your water bill. TIP: Fix it as soon as possible. Your Solution This can be an easily resolvable problem or it can be something that needs to be seen to at once. It all depends on the severity of the ‘run’ and calling your local plumber in, will be at your discretion. Visually assess the problem and make a decision if it needs to be seen to immediately or if it can wait until the A.M. We’d advised that you do have it fixed asap in order to save cash for other things besides costly utility bills.

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Drippy Faucets & Fixtures Ahh yes, the pleasing sound of dripping water that can completely drive a person insane (you hear it)…  If you believe that losing a drip or three of h20 is no big deal remember that every drop counts. Bottom line: It will have an impact on your utility bill. Your Solution Now of course this is not an emergency, unless the sound is driving you crazy. Get it looked at as soon as possible. It’s not a complicated problem to resolve. Leaking fixtures and running toilets are not a good combination when it comes to saving money. Unmaintained leaky fixtures could also have side effects on your plumbing system as a whole. This could possibly cause your fixtures to rust or act as a catalyst for mold growth. Low Water Pressure Low water pressure can equate to a frustrating shower or long wait time for a bath to fill up. There are several reasons this could be happening.  It could be the age of your plumbing system, your plumbing system setup or issues with the local water supply. Your solution If the problem lies with the local municipal water supply this could be difficult to repair. If the problem is the age of your system, we can fix that. If you. Have a leak and you cannot determine it’s origins, call a skilled professional to resolve this as quickly as possible. Busted Water Pipe This-one thing can ruin a whole property. If your pipes are too old or damaged in any way due to severe weather conditions such as the aftermath of a hurricane or roots growing through and around your piping, you might be cleaning up gallons and gallons of water sooner or later.. Your home will be waterlogged and you will lose precious memories and valuables in the process. Your Solution Call an emergency plumber immediately before the damage to your property becomes completely irreparable. Fox Valley Plumbing & Backflow Stand behind our Exceptional Service Guarantee. We offer a variety of plumbing services and should you live in or around Elgin, Il and are in need of an emergency plumbing service, don’t hesitate to contact us immediately. Remember we are here to serve you…

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Do you have basic plumbing skills? Can you tell if the plumbing in your home needs work? Would you like to learn ways to make plumbing improvements yourself?

If you have decided to learn more about how to better maintain your home’s plumbing, read on for some ideas. The advice in this article will show you how to streamline your own plumbing.

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Because pipes have a tendency to freeze in the winter months, it’s a good idea to insulate pipes that are in colder spaces. Think about crawl spaces, basement bathrooms, outside water sources, etc.

Insulation can be wrapped around pipes, and is available at any hardware store. Proper insulation will save your pipes from any damage, and as an added bonus, your hot water will stay a lot hotter as it travels from the water heater.

When attempting to tighten a pipe, you should know that over-tightening the pipe is bad news. Only tighten until leaks are stopped, because going further can damage threads, and maybe cause pipe cracks.

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Pump your septic tank every five years to keep it working well. Doing this prevents any sediment from getting built up within the tank, which causes a backup in your home or causes your entire septic system to fail.

Although it could cost a good deal of money to pump out your septic tank, it will cost a lot more having to clean sewage backup or having to fix or replace a septic tank.

Property owners have the option of installing flood alarms to alert them of flooding danger. Flood alarms work on the same principle as smoke alarms.

They run on batteries and will have an alarm go off when they touch water. Flood alarms can alert you to leaks or potential floods.

Now that you have the advice in hand, you can get going on taking care of your own plumbing needs. These new ideas may help yield positive results in your work. If they do not work, keep trying until you get pleasant results!

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