Building unusable
Emergency sewer repair
When the main line fails completely, a building becomes unusable within hours. This is the one call we treat as outranking everything else in the queue.
A total main line failure is different from a slow drain in kind, not just degree. Nothing drains, every fixture is loaded, and the water has to surface somewhere, which it does at the lowest opening in the building. In a house that is a tub, a shower or a floor drain. In a commercial property it is often a restroom or a kitchen floor, and the building closes.
Our sequence is relieve, restore, then diagnose. We open the cleanout first to take the pressure off so nothing further comes into the building, get flow back, and only then work out why. Diagnosing before relieving is the wrong order when sewage is still rising.
Call immediately if
- Sewage is surfacing anywhere inside
- No fixture in the building drains
- A commercial property cannot open or trade
- Backup is reaching flooring, stock or equipment
- Multiple units in a building are affected at once
Do this before we arrive
- Stop every water-using appliance and fixture
- Keep people and pets away from surfaced water
- Do not flush again to test it
- Locate the exterior cleanout if you safely can
Do not keep testing it
Every flush and every load of laundry adds to what already has nowhere to go. The most common way a manageable main line stoppage becomes a cleanup is somebody checking whether it has cleared yet.
Straight answers
Questions about emergency sewer repair
Will you handle the cleanup as well?
We contain the affected area, relieve and clear the line, and clean and disinfect the immediate work area. On a large-loss sewage event you will also want a restoration contractor, and we will tell you that plainly rather than under-scoping it.
Is this covered by insurance?
Frequently, and documentation is what decides it. We photograph the condition on arrival and record the camera run, so you have dated evidence of the cause rather than a description written after the fact.
Flat rate, quoted before we start
Let's get it flowing
Call and talk to a person. You get a straight answer on what it is, what it costs, and when we can be there.