One of the main issues that we see with people’s drains is tree root invasion. This is often a forgotten problem, what with the issue taking place outside and underground. It is easy to forget to take care of the drains in your garden, but these are the most important drains as they carry wastewater away into the public sewer system, and if they are left to become damaged or blocked then that wastewater does not get taken away and can flood your property.
Tree root invasion is particularly common in properties that have very old drainage systems. After a long time drains can become weak and worn out, and this leaves them vulnerable to damage such as cracks, and even complete collapse. Tree roots get smaller in size the further down they go, so once they reach your drainage systems they are likely very small and can therefore make their way into even the tiniest of cracks.
Drains are a perfect environment for tree roots. It provides them with the water and nutrients that they need to grow. But this causes a lot of problems for the drains. When a tree root finds its way into a pipe, it will begin to expand as it absorbs more of the nutrients that it gets from the wastewater. Over time, this expansion causes the cracks in the pipes to get bigger until they either burst, or collapse completely. This results in flooding, which is a major problem that can cause a huge amount of damage to your property, as well as posing a serious health risk due to contamination from the wastewater.
If you are unsure of how old your drainage systems are, it is possible to find out from your local council, as they will have the original drain system plans from when the house was first built. However, it is possible that the drains have been altered since then, and so it is not an entirely accurate depiction of what the drainage systems are like today. If you want to find out exactly what the condition of your drains are, we recommend calling a professional drain engineer to conduct a CCTV drain survey on your property. Using the latest technology and equipment that can establish the quality of your drains, and identify any problems that may have gone unnoticed, as well as any decay or cracks in the pipes. Once the survey is completed, if any issues have been located the drain engineer will deal with them then and there, so you can rest assured that your drains have been taken care of.
If there is a large amount of your drainage system that is particularly old and worn out, you may be interested in having the drains rebuilt. This will guarantee that you won’t have to face any problems in the future, particularly with tree root invasion. Brand new drains are much harder for tree roots to get into, and so getting a new drainage system laid out is a far more efficient method in terms of time and money.
Don’t leave it until it is too late. Once there are cracks in the pipes, it doesn’t take long until the whole drain collapses, particularly if you are not taking care of your drains, so the best thing to do is to act quickly and call a drain technician straight away. Problems with your drains will never go away on their own, and so to avoid them escalating into much bigger and more expensive issues that are harder to rectify, nip them in the bud and call a drain engineer today.
