How sewage cleanup is different
Restoration crews treat sewage as the dirtiest category of water. That changes the whole job:
- Crews wear protective suits, gloves and respirators.
- Porous materials that sewage touched, such as carpet, pad, drywall, insulation and upholstered furniture, are bagged and removed.
- Hard surfaces get cleaned and disinfected before any drying starts.
- The area is dried and checked so nothing is left damp behind walls or under flooring.
If sewage came up through a floor drain, tub or toilet, stop running water in the house until the line is cleared. Every flush or load of laundry adds to the mess.
Is it your line or the city main?
If the backup is only in your house, the clog is often in your own sewer lateral, the pipe that runs from the house to the street. Tree roots and old clay or cast iron pipe are the usual causes. If several neighbors are backing up at once during a storm, the problem may be in the public system. In that case call the City of Lawrence too, so they can check the main.
What to tell us when you call
- Where the water is coming from, if you know (pipe, water heater, washer, toilet, sump, rain).
- Whether it is clean water or sewage.
- Which rooms and floors are wet, and roughly how long it has been wet.
- Whether the water is shut off and the power to wet rooms is off.
- Your street or nearest cross street in Lawrence, so the right local crew picks up.
Stay on the line for a couple of minutes. That is usually all it takes to get matched with a local company that can send someone out.
Free to call. No obligation to hire anyone.
Sewer backups in older Lawrence neighborhoods
Many of the older homes in East Lawrence, Old West Lawrence, Pinckney and Oread still have original clay or cast iron sewer laterals. Roots work into the joints over the years, and a heavy rain or a holiday weekend full of guests can be enough to back things up. The city has offered help with private sewer line repairs in parts of eastern Lawrence before, which tells you how common the problem is there.
Basements with a floor drain are where sewage usually shows up first. If yours comes up during storms, ask a plumber about a backwater valve after the cleanup. It lets water flow out to the main but closes when the main pushes back.
The company you are connected with can clean up the mess, document it for your insurance, and in many cases point you to a plumber to camera the line.