Sewer lines · repair
Sewer Line Repair in Yakima
Repeat clogs, sewage odors and wet spots in the lawn point to a break or blockage in the line. We find it with a camera and repair it, often without tearing up your yard.
Chapter 01
Three clogs in a week means look at the line, not the drain
A sewer line carries waste, so when it fails it is a sanitation problem as well as a plumbing one. The signs are multiple sudden clogs, a sewage smell inside the house, or wet spots on the lawn that have no business being there. Any of those can mean a rupture or a blockage in the line, and it needs a plumber before it needs a plunger.
Tree roots are a common culprit in Yakima neighborhoods. They push into a joint looking for moisture, grow inside the pipe and crack it. In older parts of town the pipe itself may be the problem, especially cast iron that has been in the ground for decades.
Open wall rough-in with PEX supply lines and ABS drain pipe on an All Valley Plumbing job
Trenchless repair and pipe bursting around Yakima landscaping
People here are proud of their mature trees and their yards, and nobody wants a trench across them. Not every repair needs one. With pipe bursting we create a new pipe inside the old line and burst the old one open, using durable material that can last up to half a century.
Trenchless work leaves your driveway and sidewalks alone, so you can still pull the car in. Most trenchless jobs take one to three days. Open trench work can take weeks sometimes. The shorter timeline means fewer labor hours, and most times trenchless costs less than the traditional dig.
Before any of that, Joe's crew runs a camera inspection so we know exactly what we are repairing. If the pipe is too far gone for trenchless, we say so and walk you through the open trench option on the replacement page.
Chapter 03
Old cast iron, rust flakes and what we do about them
Yakima has historic homes that go back to the 1800s, built long before PVC existed. If the sewer line has not been touched in decades, you may still be on legacy pipe with a shorter life left than you would like. Cast iron shows itself through drains that back up more often, rust colored flakes in the water, clogs that come back, and sinks or tubs that will not drain no matter how much cleaning you do.
A video camera inspection tells us whether that is your situation. Then we repair the failed stretch, or recommend replacing more of it if the camera shows the rest is not far behind. Colette Gordon had a section of her sewer line replaced during a bigger plumbing job and the whole thing was done in under seven hours.
One more thing owners should know: the private side sewer lateral, the run between your house and where the city main begins, is the homeowner's responsibility in Yakima. That covers clearing blockages, fixing leaks, replacing pipe when it fails and having it inspected.
“They replaced a section of my sewer line made sure my downstairs bathroom was completely vented and then completed work in my upstairs, half bath and fixed existing plumbing in a kitchen wall” Colette Gordon · Google review.
Your side of the property line
Clear
Get blockages cleared before they back up into the house.
Repair
Get leaks fixed while they are still a small job.
Replace
Replace pipe when the camera says it has run its course.
Inspect
Have the line inspected, especially on an older home or a lot with big trees.
If the line is beyond repair, see Sewer Line Replacement, or start from the main sewer lines page.