See Inside Your Home’s Sewer Pipes With Camera Scoping

Al’s Plumbing, Heating & A/C provides full service plumbing maintenance, repairs and replacements for every plumbing component in your home.  Al’s sells and installs Rheem Professional Series gas & electric water heaters, and tankless water heaters.  Al’s Plumbing, Heating & A/C is near your home in Plano, Allen, and Frisco.  We service all homes in southern Collin and Denton Counties with no additional travel charge.

Al’s Plumbing, Heating & A/C Does

Image Source: YouTube Embedded Video

Shown: A View Of A Home’s Sewer Pipe From Inside

NOTE: Click On The White Arrow Above To See The YouTube Video.

Why You May Want Both Under-Home & In-Lawn Sewer Pipe Scoping

Before Buying A DFW Home Built Before 1975

Does This Home Below Look Familiar From 1970’s Era Television? 

Image Source: DreamsTime

It’s “The Brady Bunch” House. 

11222 Dilling Street, Los Angeles, CA Was Purchased in 2018 By HGTV for $3.5 million.  The Sellers purchased the home in 1973 for $61,000!

The Home Is Being Restored To Match The Sound Stage Sets (where the show was filmed).

In the video above, you are looking inside a PVC (white plastic) Sewer Pipe.   In the late 1960’s/early 1970’s white plastic PVC sewer pipe was introduced.  Once introduced,  PVC pipe quickly became the choice for sewer pipes in new homes.  PVC provided easier installations and with less expensive materials. Cast iron waste water piping was still being installed during the early PVC years and can be found in early DFW 1970’s homes. **

Prior to the widespread use of PVC sewer pipe, Cast Iron was typically used.  Cast Iron is metal and rusts from inside to outside.   Above-ground installed Cast Iron (in walls & basements) has a typical life expectancy of 60-70 years. In below-grade installation (such as under slabs) Cast Iron has up to a 50-year life expectancy. ***

Image Source: DreamsTime

Shown: Cast Iron Sewer Pipe

Image Source: ShutterStock

Shown: PVC (white plastic) Sewer Pipe

** Source: http://psinspection.com/blog/the-history-and-problems-of-cast-iron-sewers-pipes/

*** Source: https://www.hancockhomeinspections.com/article-library/18-article-library/articles/35-aging-cast-iron-waste-lines

Click Below To See Cast Iron Sewer Pipe That Has Rusted Completely Through (scroll down for photos): 

Failed Cast Iron Sewer Pipe — Rusted Through

A Second Set Of Sewer Pipes Takes Waste From The Home (through the lawn) And Connects To The City’s Municipal Sewer Lines

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Shown: Cracked Expansive-Clay Soil When Very Dry

Much like the pipes under the home, the pipes in the lawn are made of different materials.  Depending on when the home was built (if the sewer lines are original) the pipes may be made of Clay, Cast Iron, or PVC.  Homes built prior to 1980 most likely have clay sewer pipes connecting the house to the city’s sewer main line.

Image Source: DreamsTime

Shown: Clay Sewer Pipe 

Clay pipes naturally leak a little water at their connections.  If there are trees within sight of a clay sewer line in the lawn, the leaking water will attract tree roots.    Root infiltration typically starts with very small roots (called hair roots) entering into the joints of a clay pipe.  As long as roots remain inside the pipe untreated or removed, they continue to grow and get larger. Over time roots can crush or crack the sewer pipe.  Given enough time, tree roots will completely fill and destroy clay sewer pipe.

Click Here To See Tree Roots Having Entered A Clay Sewer Pipe Connection:  Tree Root Intrusion In A Clay Sewer Pipe

Click Here To See Tree Roots Having Destroyed A Clay Sewer Pipe: Clay Sewer Pipe Destroyed By Tree Roots

NOTE: If the tree roots intrusion is caught in time, the roots can be removed with a commercial “Drain Snake” through the lawn pipes.  In order to prevent damage in the future, this process must be done periodically.  The time between cleanings is determined by the number of trees close enough to reach the sewer pipe.

Al’s Plumbing, Heating & A/C Can Remove Tree Roots From Lawn Sewer Pipes (depends on the extent of roots intrusion). 

Without tree roots’ damage, clay sewer pipes can last up to 60 years.  But, that’s less likely in DFW due to the expansive-clay soil (also called “reactive soil”)  because it reacts to soil-moisture level.  Expansive-clay soil affects 75% of north America and is everywhere throughout DFW.

When expansive-clay gets wet, it increases in size.  When it dries out, clay shrinks.  The wetting & drying of a DFW lawn can move clay sewer pipes up & down. Because clay is brittle, the pipes can crack, chip or break as a result of recurring movement.

Click Here To See Damaged Clay Sewer Pipe: Damaged Clay Sewer Pipe

Click Below For Our Detailed Article About Sewer Pipes Under The Home & In The Lawn

AlsPlumbing.com Sewer Pipes — Under Home & In The Lawn

Al’s Plumbing, Heating & A/C provides full service plumbing maintenance, repairs and replacements for every plumbing component in your home.  Al’s sells and installs Rheem Professional Series gas & electric water heaters, and tankless water heaters.  Al’s Plumbing, Heating & A/C is near your home in Richardson, Garland, and northeast Dallas.  We service all homes in southern Collin and Denton Counties with no additional travel charge.