Small puddles can quickly turn into a big problem, as a basement floor drain backing up may signal a blockage farther down the line. If wastewater can’t drain normally, it may back up into your home, increasing the risk of water damage. Knowing what to do when your basement drain backs up can help you limit cleanup costs, avoid foul odors and give your family peace of mind.
What to Do When Your Basement Drain Backs Up
If your basement floor drain is backing up, your priority should be to get everyone to safety. Next, follow the tips below to avoid making the damage worse.
Stop Using Your Water
Ask everyone in your household to stop using plumbing fixtures until a professional inspects them. This means no showering, washing dishes, doing laundry or flushing the toilet. If the backup affects the main sewer line, adding water from above can make things worse.
Running a faucet isn’t a reliable way to determine if a blockage remains. Water can recede from the sink or shower even with a clog farther down.
Keep People and Pets Out of the Basement
Water coming up through a floor drain may be contaminated with bacteria or other organisms, even if it looks clear. Prevent the spread of germs by keeping children and pets out of the affected area.
Standing water can also create an electrical hazard, so don’t touch wet cords, electrical equipment or appliances. If you can safely reach the main breaker from a dry location, shut off the power. If you would have to enter standing water to reach it, call an electrician.
Call a Plumber
A backed-up basement floor drain needs immediate attention, especially if it’s actively overflowing or causing sewage to leak into your home. When you call Duane Blanton Plumbing, Sewer, Heating & Cooling, let us know:
- When the backup started
- Whether your toilets or other drains are gurgling
- What you were doing when the overflow occurred
- Whether your neighborhood had heavy rain within the past few days
- Whether the problem has happened before
Before we arrive, ask your neighbors if they’re having similar backups. If so, there might be a problem with your public sewer line.
Why Is My Basement Floor Drain Backing Up?
Just because your floor drain is backing up doesn’t mean the problem originated in the drain. Because basement drains sit low in homes and commercial buildings, they sometimes create an outlet for wastewater that isn’t being carried away. Clogs, tree roots, damaged pipes and overloaded sewers can all lead to drain backups.
A Clog in the Drain or Sewer Line
Debris can make a drain narrower, while grease, baby wipes and other materials can create blockages when they accumulate elsewhere in the sewer system. Once water accumulates behind the obstruction, it may leak through a floor drain. Bubbling toilets, several slow drains and water rising downstairs when you drain an upstairs plumbing fixture all suggest a problem with a shared drain or sewer line rather than a single fixture.
Tree Root Intrusion or Damaged Pipes
Over time, sewer pipes can develop small cracks, allowing tree roots to enter. As the roots grow, they obstruct the flow of water, which may cause a floor drain to back up. Aging pipes may also sag or collapse, making it critical that you call a professional.
Heavy Rain and Overloaded Sewers
In some parts of Chicagoland, intense rainfall can quickly overwhelm the local sewer. If the system fills up faster than it drains, water may back up into basements connected to the affected line. As a result, storm-related backups may require different solutions than standard household clogs. It’s helpful to keep your plumbing in good condition, but cleaning alone doesn’t address problems related to an overloaded public sewer.
What to Avoid During a Backup
Follow these tips to avoid making a bad situation even worse:
- Avoid using chemical drain cleaners: They can irritate the respiratory tract or leave hazardous chemicals in standing water.
- Don’t remove the sewer cleanout cap without professional guidance: It may allow contaminated water to flow into your home when opened.
- Avoid repeatedly plunging an overflowing drain: It may not be effective for downstream blockages, and it can spread contaminated water.
- Don’t make your own drain plug: Blocking one opening may cause wastewater to move to another fixture.
Let us know if you’ve already used a drain-cleaning product. It’s even more helpful if you can give us the product name and the approximate amount you used.
How Our Team Identifies and Fixes the Problem
When you call Duane Blanton, we’ll send a plumber to assess the affected fixtures and your drainage layout. Depending on what they find, we may recommend a sewer camera inspection to locate tree roots, cracked pipes, displaced pipe joints or obstructions.
Treatment depends on the cause of the problem and the pipe’s overall condition, but these are some of the most common fixes:
- Drain snaking or rodding: Can break through some obstructions
- Hydro jetting: Uses high-pressure water streams to clean buildup from certain pipes
- Sewer repair or replacement: Can address structural damage that plunging and cleaning just can’t fix
Duane Blanton Plumbing, Sewer, Heating & Cooling provides sewer inspections, drain cleaning, hydro jetting and sewer repair services throughout Chicagoland. If you’ve been searching for “drain cleaning services near me,” we’ll find out why the backup occurred and recommend an appropriate solution.
Plumbing Repair vs. Sewage Cleanup
Fixing your drainage problem doesn’t remove contamination from flooring, walls and personal property. Our plumbing team handles the repair, but depending on the extent of the contamination, you may also need a qualified restoration company to remove sewage and handle the cleanup.
If you’re looking for “sewer backup cleaning services near me,” make sure the company handles sewage contamination. Not all service providers do, especially when carpet padding and other porous materials are involved.
How to Reduce the Risk of Another Backup
After repairs, we’ll let you know what caused the problem and suggest some preventive steps based on your lifestyle. We always recommend addressing gurgling drains early and keeping grease, baby wipes and debris out of drains. If you have frequent storm-related backups, we may advise you to install a backwater valve.
Address the Root Causes of Drain Backups
A basement floor drain backing up calls for quick action. Stopping water use, keeping the affected area off-limits and calling a professional plumber can help you limit the damage. Once you control the immediate overflow, call Duane Blanton for assistance. We’ve served Chicagoland and surrounding areas since 1988, so we can help you resolve even the most complex drain or sewer problem.
