Blocked drains in Perth are a serious issue and can cause severe damage.

We love the tree-lined suburbs of Perth. They provide shade, filter the atmosphere, and are beautiful. However, underground, your tree could cause severe and costly damage to your stormwater or sewer pipes. Here’s how to fix blocked drains in Perth from tree roots.

How Tree Roots Block Drains

Tree roots will grow anywhere they can, no matter where your pipes are. They are attracted to the condensation that forms on the outside sewer or stormwater drains. It forms around tiny cracks, spaces between joints, and imperfections in your pipes. They can easily grow through cracks and reach the source of more water. The bigger your tree roots grow, the more water will flow down your pipes. The roots create a kind of net that prevents waste from getting down your pipes. This can cause a blockage.

Clay pipes are most vulnerable to tree root problems because they are older, smaller, and more complicated to install. The cement used to join the sections can cause them to deteriorate over time. This creates weak points that allow roots to penetrate.

What are the signs and symptoms of root damage in pipes? And how can you correct it?

Slow Drains Are Found in Sinks and Showers

Roots can grow and spread once they are present in your pipes. Although this may not be noticeable at first, they will continue to grow and expand over time, which can lead to major blockages and even permanent damage.

A slow draining sink, bath, or shower is one of the first signs that you have a blocked drain. Slowly draining water is a sign that there are more tree roots in your pipes.

Your Drain Makes Gurgling Noises

We’re not referring to the regular bath draining noise at the end of a relaxing soak. Sometimes, blocked drains in Perth can be accompanied by a gurgling sound from nearby drains when you flush the toilet or run water.

This is water struggling to pass through the blockage in your drain.

Your Toilet Regularly Backs Up

A toilet that backs up often is another sign of a blocked drainage system. Tree roots can block pipes and trap toilet paper.

Bad Smell Coming from Your Drain

Tree roots can trap waste and block your sewer lines, eventually causing a foul-smelling smell to emanate from your drains. The smell will get worse as more waste is trapped by tree roots blocking your sewer line.

Sudden Low Water Pressure

Low water pressure can be another sign that you have a blocked drain. You may have a blocked drain if you notice a drop in water pressure throughout your home or feel like you are getting less water.

Professional Perth plumbers will need to examine the situation and determine whether it is caused by tree roots.

Unexpected Increase in Your Water Bill

You might have serious tree root damage if you look at your water bill for the quarter-end and are shocked by the higher-than-normal price.

Water leaking from a pipe is a sign that you are paying for the water wasted. Tree roots in your sewer pipes could be the reason for unexpectedly high-water bills.

You Have Very Green Areas on Your Lawn, Or Your Tree Grows Unexpectedly Quickly

If your trees seem uncharacteristically green, bushy, or greener than normal, it could be that there are tree roots in your pipes. The constant supply of water and nutrients will make sure that any infiltrating plants are happy.

These signs could be caused by any type of blockage. However, they can also indicate tree root growth in pipes. If you see any of the above signs and an unintentionally green garden, then you most likely have tree roots growing in pipes.

 Your Yard Is Filled with Sinkholes

If your pipes are damaged by tree roots, sinkholes or soft spots may appear on your lawn. Extreme tree root growth could crack or break pipes and allow water to seep into the soil.

Water can saturate the soil and eventually cause sinkholes. These signs are usually a sign that there is a severe tree root blockage in your drain lines. If this is the case at your property, you should call us at Superior Plumbing, Drainage and Gas to immediately attend to them.

How to Solve the Problem

A Perth plumber will bring special machinery to locate, inspect, and clear a blocked drain. The machine includes a large cutting head and a cable that cuts through the root to clear the blockages.

A CCTV camera, a long cable equipped with a camera on its head and a camera on its end, is also recommended. It can be used to inspect the pipe for damage and to locate where the tree roots are coming from. With our special equipment, this CCTV camera emits a sonar sound, which allows us to locate the camera even though it’s 3 metres under concrete. This allows us to pinpoint the exact location of the issue and to accurately price the repair.

If tree roots have been in your pipes before, it is likely that they will be back. They will find the same crack, gap between joins, or imperfection in your pipe and continue growing through it. Although relining might be suggested by some companies, this is temporary and treats the symptoms, not the cause.

Tree roots can only be prevented from growing back into your pipes and causing future blockages by replacing the pipes where they have reached with UPVC pipes. For future troubleshooting, you can ask your Perth plumber for an inspection point to be installed at the problem spot.

What Not to Do

To clear drain roots, Fremantle plumbers don’t recommend:

You should never pour poison, herbicides, or weedkillers down your drains. This will kill the roots. This is not only illegal but ineffective as well. These poisons get down your pipes and into the waterways, which can cause harm to the environment and public safety.

It is unlikely that rock salt will help to dry up roots. You shouldn’t put anything other than standard trash down your pipes.

Boiling water in your pipes is simply a waste of water. This so-called solution is rendered useless by heat loss as the water travels from the sink to the tree.

Contact Superior Plumbing, Drainage, and Gas.

Sometimes, it takes more than clever landscaping to clear a blocked drain in Fremantle. Expert plumbing and gas services are the best choice in such cases. Contact us today. We are highly skilled and available 24/7 for emergency plumbing.