Sewer Backup in the Basement: What to Do First in Warren and Hunterdon County

First: stop sending water down the drains

Every drain in the building ends up in the same main line. If that line is blocked, anything you send down a drain upstairs comes back out at the lowest opening, which is usually the basement floor drain, a basement shower or a basement toilet.

So stop using water. No flushing, no showers, no sink, and stop the dishwasher and the washing machine if they are running. Tell everyone in the house or the building. In most backups this alone stops the water from rising.

Stay safe around sewage and electricity

• Treat the water as contaminated. Keep children and pets out of the area, and don't walk through it in bare feet or open shoes.
• If water has reached outlets, extension cords, the furnace, the water heater or anything plugged in, stay out of it. Turn off power to that area at the breaker panel only if you can reach the panel without standing in water. If you can't, stay out and call for help.
• Don't use a regular household vacuum on sewage.
• If you have to handle anything that got wet, wear waterproof gloves and boots, and wash up well afterward.

If you smell gas

If you smell gas, or you aren't sure what you're smelling, don't try to sort it out. Leave the building, and call your gas utility or 911 from outside. Don't flip light switches on the way out. Call a plumber after that.

One drain or the whole building?

What is backing up tells you a lot, and it's the first thing a plumber will ask.

• One fixture is slow or stopped, and everything else drains normally: the clog is probably in that fixture's own drain. Annoying, but usually not an emergency.
• Several fixtures are slow at once, toilets bubble when a sink or tub drains, or water shows up at the basement floor drain when someone runs water upstairs: the main line is blocked or partly blocked.
• Sewage comes up in the basement when nobody in the building is using water, especially during or after heavy rain: the trouble may be outside the building, in the line running to the street or in the public sewer.

The second and third cases are the ones to call about right away.

What usually causes a main line backup

• Tree roots. Roots look for water and find their way into joints and cracks in older buried sewer pipe, then grow until they catch everything going by.
• Grease, wipes and paper products. Grease hardens in the pipe. Wipes, even ones sold as flushable, paper towels and hygiene products don't break down the way toilet paper does.
• A pipe that has sagged, cracked or collapsed. Clearing the clog gets it draining again, but it will keep coming back until the pipe itself is repaired.
• Heavy rain. Fall storms can overload sewers, and leaves and debris can block the drains outside the building.
• A full or failing septic system. Not every property in our area is on public sewer. If you're on septic, slow drains throughout the house, wet ground or odor near the tank or field are signs to mention when you call.

What not to do

• Don't pour chemical drain cleaner into a line that is fully blocked. It sits in the pipe, it rarely clears a main line, and it makes the water dangerous for whoever opens the line next.
• Don't keep flushing to see whether it has cleared.
• Don't open the sewer cleanout cap if sewage is standing behind it and you don't know what to expect. It can release under pressure.

What you can do while you wait

1. Move boxes, rugs and anything valuable up off the floor and away from the water.
2. Take photos of the water and anything damaged before you clean up. If you plan to file an insurance claim, call your insurer and ask what your policy covers.
3. Find the sewer cleanout if you know where it is. It's a capped pipe, often near where the main drain leaves the basement or just outside the foundation. Clear a path to it so the plumber can get to work quickly.
4. Note which fixtures backed up, when it started, whether it was raining, and whether it has happened before.
5. If you're on public sewer and neighbors have the same problem at the same time, call your town or sewer utility as well. The blockage may be in their line.

After the line is clear

Getting the water to go down is half the job. The other half is knowing why it backed up. Recurring clogs usually point to a problem further down the line, so ask what was found in the pipe and whether it's likely to happen again.

Anything porous that sat in sewage, such as carpet, padding, cardboard and the lower part of drywall, generally has to be thrown out rather than dried. Hard surfaces need to be cleaned and disinfected. If the furnace, boiler or water heater got wet, have it checked before you turn it back on.

Shops, restaurants and commercial buildings

For a business, a sewer backup means closed restrooms and sometimes closed doors. The first steps are the same: stop water use in the building, keep staff and customers out of the affected area, and call. If more than one tenant shares the line, let the property manager know so everyone stops using water.

Sewer backing up now? Call New Ark

If sewage is coming up into the building, that's an emergency. New Ark answers every call, day or night, and emergencies go to the front of the line. We clear the line and look for the cause, for homes and businesses across Warren, Hunterdon, Sussex, Morris and Somerset counties, from our shop at 412 Firth St in Phillipsburg. We're licensed and insured in New Jersey. Call 908-454-4043, or see drain cleaning and sewer backup service and our 24/7 emergency plumber page.

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