The Side-Sewer Panic: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

Q: Several weeks ago in The Seattle Times, the "Planet Northwest" columnist decided to scare all of us who vaguely remember seeing the term "side sewer" on some piece of paper that relates to our house. "Repairs aren't cheap . . . thousands of dollars . . .," he wrote. What are side sewers? How do you know they need attention? What attention do they tend to need?

A: That columnist would be Bill Kossen, who also writes for this Saturday Real Estate section. Darn him for scaring you. Scaring you is my job.

A side sewer is that section of pipe that carries waste from your home to the point where it meets the main sewer line in the street or alley. You own it and are responsible for its maintenance.

Just as he began slurping a side sewer byproduct mistaken for coffee in the movie "The Spy Who Shagged Me" Austin Powers blurted, "Whoop-dee-doo, what does it all mean, Basil?" just as you did. It means, no side-sewer maintenance is necessary or really possible, until you discover a problem.

The following is not a pretty visual, but graphically illustrates the scope of one familiar problem quite clearly: Imagine something going down the drain upstairs coming up the drain downstairs. The plumbing system outside of the house can break, be blocked, leak or separate and can create a heck of a mess in a lot of ways both inside and outside the home. On some older homes, downspout drain lines from the gutters and roof are tied directly into side sewers, rather than the storm sewer system (ideally, "sanitary" sewers carry raw sewage and "storm" sewers carry rainwater runoff). Debris on your roof that can fit through the downspout could get into and plug the very pipe you conduct vitally important business through. And no, I'm not talking that vital Internet pipeline. This is more important than that.

Roots can grow inside and between pipe sections, plugging the line. Why would roots push into a pipe, you ask? The inside of a sewer line is heaven for a tree root; plentiful water and lots of decaying organic matter to feed on. The very same reason rats love sewers so much.

Individual sewer pipes have male/female fittings, commonly referred to as "bell ends," because the female end is flared like a bell. Older concrete sewer pipes lacked bell ends and were strictly butt fit, which means they have a tendency to leak at each cemented joint as the cement cracks. These pipes were most prone to pulling completely apart during earthquakes or if the ground shifted slightly. They also occasionally broke during backfill unbeknownst to the installer - which is why sewer ditches are lined with sand today.

When gaps develop between sections of pipe, dirt and silt washes into the line and is carried away, especially when the ground surrounding the line is moist. It is actually quite common to see exterior sinkholes, hollow basement floors and even entire foundation walls washed out from underneath because of leaky pipes literally carrying the dirt down the sewer.

In a very few homes, wooden sewer pipes are still in use. You can probably guess their condition. . . .

In the worst situations, a sinkhole or raw sewage oozing from the ground lets you know a problem exists. If you find yourself regularly needing to call the power-rooter people to have your line cleaned, you have either gaps between side sewer pipes where roots are entering, a source of plugging material from the roof or floor drains, or partially collapsed pipes. In some cases, re-routing the downspout lines (even a splashblock) can remedy a blocking problem if you have a home where the systems are connected. Chances are you have at least one plugged downspout drainline if it's concrete pipe.

Downspout lines may be connected to the foundation footing drains on other homes; possible leakage into a basement or crawlspace is another good reason to separate downspouts from all drainage lines, whether connected to the sanitary sewer or otherwise.

So yes, if you have an old plugged or leaky side sewer, it may very well need to be dug up and rebuilt. But before agreeing to spend "thousands of dollars" to rebuild a faulty line, consult with a knowledgeable drain cleaner or other professional who won't gain financially by selling you a new sewer line.

Ask The Expert answers readers' questions every Saturday. Send questions to Ask The Expert, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, or call 206-464-8514 to leave your questions on Ask The Expert's recorded line. E-mail address is dhay@seattletimes.com

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