Seven signs tree roots are in your sewer line

The seven signs

Any two of these together strongly suggest root intrusion.

• Repeat backups on a rough three to six month cycle
• Gurgling from a toilet when another fixture drains
• Sewage smell in the yard or near a cleanout
• A strip of lawn that is greener and grows faster than the rest
• Multiple slow fixtures rather than one
• Sinkholes, soft spots or depressions along the sewer run
• A snake that hits resistance at the same distance every time

Why North Texas is worse than most places

Blackland Prairie clay shrinks in summer drought and swells with rain, and that annual cycle pries pipe joints apart. Meanwhile a sewer line is the most reliable water source in a dry Texas summer, so oaks, pecans, willows and Bradford pears actively grow toward it. Homes built before 1990 on clay tile or cast iron are the highest risk, and Richardson, Lake Highlands, Garland and old-town McKinney see it constantly.

What to do about it

Cutting roots with a cable leaves stubs that regrow faster than the original intrusion. Jetting with a root nozzle cuts them back to the pipe wall and flushes the debris out. Then camera the line: if the joint is only open, annual or biennial preventive jetting keeps it manageable for years. If the camera shows a break or a collapsed section, cleaning is a stopgap and you need a spot repair — and you deserve to be told that plainly.