Sewer and Septic Inspections

Selling your home or purchasing a new one isn’t the only reason you might need to have a professional perform a sewer or septic tank inspection. Have you noticed plumbing backups, odors in your home, or puddles and greener than usual grass outside your home? These may be warning signs of septic tank or sewer problems. 

If your home has a septic tank, it comes with three main components: the septic tank, the leach field, and the distribution box. All three components must work together to separate and distribute the waste coming from your home. If any of these are not working properly you will need a professional to perform an inspection. The two types of inspections for a septic tank are visual inspections and full inspections. If your plumbing professional cannot detect the problem by looking at the drain field, or observing your plumbing fixtures, they will do a more thorough inspection until they determine what the issue is. 

If your waste is disposed of through the public sewer system, a sewer lateral or private service lateral will be conducted which is an inspection of the pipe that carries waste away from the home and to the sewer main, or the city sewer. You can also expect for the house trap or curb trap to be part of this inspection. A house trap (sometimes called a curb trap because in some cases it is located near the curb outside your home) is the bend you see in the pipe typically below your sink. This bend was created to trap the water and air from your home thus, keeping air from your sewer from entering through the pipe and into the air of your home.