Sewage Backing Up in Your Basement? Here’s What to Do Right Now
Water or sewage coming up through your basement floor drain, laundry sink, or utility room is one of those moments that turns a normal afternoon upside down fast. Maybe you noticed it while doing a load of laundry, or you just walked downstairs and found standing water where there shouldn’t be any. You’ve probably got three questions running through your head. Is this really an emergency? What do you do right now, this minute? And who do you call?
Let’s take them one at a time, starting with the one that’s probably weighing on you the most right now.
A Sewage Backup Is an Emergency
Sewage carries bacteria, viruses, and parasites that don’t belong anywhere near your family or your pets, and the longer it sits, the more it spreads into flooring, walls, and anything else it touches. That doesn’t mean you need to evacuate the whole house. Stay out of the affected room, keep kids and pets away from it, and open a window or run a fan if you can do that without walking through standing water. The rest of the house is fine. Just give that one room some space until it’s handled, and don’t let curiosity get the better of anyone in the house.
What to Do in the Next Five Minutes
Before anything else, stop using water anywhere in the house. Every toilet flush, load of laundry, or load of dishes sends more water into a line that already has nowhere to put it, and that just pushes more sewage into your basement.
- Stop using every sink, toilet, shower, and appliance that uses water.
- Shut off the main water line to the house. It’s usually in the basement, or near the water heater if there’s no basement.
- Call us now. The sooner that call goes in, the sooner someone’s on the way.
- Don’t walk through standing water or sewage. It can hide electrical hazards, and it’s not something you want on your skin.
- Skip the plunger. It works on a single clogged fixture, not a backed-up main line, and you’ll just be standing in it for nothing.
That’s really it for the first five minutes. The goal right now is just to stop making it worse until help arrives.
Is This Your Septic Tank or the City Sewer?
Every home’s wastewater leaves through the same kind of line, whether you’re on septic or hooked up to the city sewer. What’s different is what’s on the other end, and that changes what’s causing the backup.
If you’re on septic, a backup usually means the tank is full and overdue for septic tank pumping, or the drain field isn’t absorbing water like it should. Heavy rain can make either problem worse by saturating the ground around the drain field, since the water has nowhere left to go but back toward the house.
If you’re on city sewer, a backup is more often a blockage between your house and the main line caused by grease, wipes, tree roots, or old pipe finally giving out, and it usually takes professional drain clearing to fix it. Heavy rain can sometimes contribute to sewer backups as well. In some areas, excessive rainfall can put additional strain on the municipal sewer system, increasing the possibility of wastewater backing up into connected homes.
When you call, let us know whether your home is connected to a septic system or city sewer. If you’re on septic, knowing when the tank was last pumped can be helpful. If you’re on city sewer, let us know whether you’ve noticed any other slow drains, gurgling toilets, or recurring backup issues. Those details can help us narrow down what may be causing the problem.
Does a Sump Pump Help With Sewage Backup in Your Basement?
No, and it’s a common mix-up. A sump pump handles groundwater, the clean water that seeps in around your foundation, not sewage backing up through your plumbing. It’s a different pipe and a different problem, and pumping harder won’t do anything for a blocked sewer line or a full septic tank. Stopping an actual sewage backup takes either a backwater valve installed ahead of time or a professional clearing whatever’s blocking the line right now.
If your basement has plumbing fixtures below the main line, like a bathroom or laundry hookup, you may need a sewage ejector pump instead of a sump pump, a different piece of equipment built to handle waste, not just water. If you’re not sure which one you’ve got, that’s a quick thing we can check.
How Much Will This Cost to Fix?
It depends on what we find. Clearing a simple blockage is a different job than dealing with a damaged pipe underneath, and prices for either one vary quite a bit depending on what’s going on down there. We’d rather look at it in person than guess over the phone and be wrong.
A sewer camera inspection tells us exactly what’s going on before we quote anything, so you’re not paying for more than what you need, and you’re not surprised by a bill that doesn’t match the work.
Call Now to Get the Blockage Found and Cleared
If sewage is backing up into your home, it’s an emergency that needs immediate attention. Superior Sewer Solutions offers 24/7 emergency service for homeowners in Jefferson City, Columbia, and surrounding Mid-Missouri communities, and we’ll get out to you, find out exactly what’s causing it, whether that’s a blockage in the line or something going on with your septic system, and get it fixed.
We’ll tell you plainly what’s wrong and give you a free estimate before any work starts, so you know what you’re dealing with before we ever pick up a tool. Once this one’s handled, our guide on preventing sewer line backups can help you avoid a repeat.