Is It the Rain, or Is It Your Sewer Line?

After weeks of wet weather, some plumbing warning signs are easy to blame on the ground.

Houston gets a good stretch of rain, the yard stays soggy, and suddenly a drain inside the house starts running slowly.

Probably the weather, right?

Maybe. But the timing can also make an existing sewer line problem more noticeable.

Your home's sewer line carries wastewater away from the house through an underground pipe. If that line is damaged, partially blocked, poorly connected, or affected by roots or shifting soil, problems may develop gradually rather than appearing as one dramatic backup.

That can make the early signs easy to dismiss.

A single slow sink usually isn't enough to point toward the sewer line. But when several fixtures begin draining slowly at the same time, a toilet starts behaving differently, or you hear gurgling when another fixture drains, the pattern becomes more interesting.

Wet weather can complicate the picture.

Houston's expansive soils change as moisture conditions change. Long dry periods followed by substantial rain can contribute to soil movement around underground piping. Heavy rainfall can also make an already-wet yard less useful as a clue because a damp or unusually green area may simply look like part of the weather.

That's why what's happening inside the house matters.

If one bathroom sink is slow, start with the obvious possibilities at that fixture. If the toilet, tub, shower, and other drains are all beginning to act differently, the problem may be farther down the system.

And if the problem keeps coming back after someone clears a drain, it may be time to find out what's actually happening inside the line.

A sewer camera inspection allows the interior of the line to be viewed rather than guessed at. It can help identify conditions such as buildup, root intrusion, damaged piping, offsets, or other obstructions that may be affecting flow.

Not every slow drain means you have a sewer problem.

But not every plumbing problem after a week of rain is caused by the rain, either.

When several drains start giving you the same message, it's worth finding out where the problem actually begins.