Tag: Middletown

Problems with a Septic System Drain Field

Posted on by Larry & Sons

If you have a septic system in Middletown, maintenance is key to avoiding repairs. Unlike people with access to municipal sewage systems, your septic system is your responsibility, which is why it’s important to watch what you put down the toilets and drains and schedule professional maintenance every year. However, problems may still eventually occur that require urgent septic system repair, particularly with your drain field.

The Job of the Drain Field

While many people know their septic system is buried in their yard, they may not know about the purpose of the large drain field. As sewage moves into your tank, the sludge sinks to the bottom while scum rises to the top. Pipes in the center of the tank allow the water to evacuate and filter through along field, providing nutrients to the earth in the process. But, when problems cause this water to drain improperly, you may need urgent repairs.

A Couple of Common Problems

  • Broken drain field piping: Sometimes, a shift in the ground may cause the perforated pipes that lead out to the drain field to break. When this happens, water cannot properly distribute into the field. Normally, remaining wastewater filters into the gravel beneath the pipes, while nutrients provide a natural fertilizer for your yard. Broken pipes cannot distribute water evenly, and solids may make their way into your yard. Shifting may occur when tree roots approach the field or because of construction.
  • Tank needs pumping: How often your tank should be pumped depends on a number of factors including how many people occupy your home and what kinds of substances you pour down the drains. However, you should call for maintenance once a year, as a technician can best determine whether your tank is overdue. Without regular tank pumping, the sludge at the bottom of the tank may build up, causing sewage to leak into your home or into the drain field. Neither of these are ideal situations for the people in your home or for the environment.

One of the best ways to prevent problems from occurring with the septic system drain field is with yearly maintenance. Whether you need maintenance, tank pumping, or other septic tank services in Middletown, call the plumbers at Larry & Sons, Inc.

Signs That You Need Drain Cleaning in Middletown, MD

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Whenever you experience a slow drain or a full drain clog in your home, you should call a professional plumber to fix it (if you can’t clear it yourself using a sink plunger). This is the basic drain cleaning service, and you’ll know immediately when you need it.

However, there are times when you should schedule a more thorough drain cleaning in Middletown, MD for your drains. Plumbers will come to your house and use video pipe inspection equipment to find where they need to target cleaning with high-pressure jetting and drain snakes to give your pipes something better than just unclogging them. With clean drains, you’ll have efficient and healthy plumbing that will give you much less trouble from clogging in the future.

Larry & Sons, Inc. has more than 50 years working on plumbing, fixing just about every type of problem that pipes and drains can encounter. Make us your first call when you notice any of these signs below that it’s time for drain cleaning:

Frequent clogging

Even if you can eliminate drain clogs with a plunger, you shouldn’t have to do this too often. If clogs have become so regular an occurrence that the plunger seems to get as much use in your kitchen as the spatulas, then your drains need to have professional cleaning to eliminate the build-up inside them. If you let the clogging continue, the clogs will eventually get thick enough that you’ll have to call the plumber anyway. Get ahead of the problem, and then put those clogs far behind you.

Bad odors from drains

As drains become more congested with organic build-up, they can start to create foul and unpleasant odors. The odors could also originate from other problems in the plumbing (such as blocked plumbing vents or a damaged sewer line), so call for a plumber to find out what’s wrong and have it fixed.

High pressure in the plumbing

As drainpipes start to lose water volume because of the development of organic build-up inside them, water pressure will begin to rise. This can result in numerous leaks and damage to appliances, so as soon as you start seeing leaking occurring along a drain pipe, call for plumbers to take care of it.

For plumbing in the best condition, you should arrange for drain cleaning on a regular basis. Your plumbers should be able to give you a good idea how often you will need drain cleaning in Middletown, MD. Trust to the experience of the team at Larry & Sons, Inc. to keep your pipes in the best shape possible. Give us a call today.

What Do Those Bad Smells from My Drain Mean?

Posted on by Larry & Sons

A sewage-like odor emanating from one or more of the drains in your home is hard to miss. Not only is it unpleasant, but it may indicate a more serious problem with your plumbing that will need the assistance of plumbing professionals. In some cases, the trouble can be fixed in only a few minutes…in others, the work might require a few days, but you can’t afford to ignore the problem.

Since 1960, the team at Larry & Sons, Inc. has helped Middletown, PA with drain repair services and other sewer line and septic services. If you have bad-smelling drains and the simple solution (which will explain below) doesn’t correct the problem, contact us as soon as you can and we will send one of our experienced plumbers to look into the problem and find an answer.

Reasons for Bad-Smelling Drains

  • Dry p-trap: “P-trap” is the name for the curved pipe section directly beneath your sink. The shape of the pipe is designed to trap a plug of water between the down pipe sections and the drain opening, and this prevents rising sewer gas from escaping up into the house. However, if a sink is not used for a long stretches (this can often occur in the bathrooms of guest houses) the water in the p-trap will evaporate and allow noxious gas to get through. This is easy to fix: run water down the drain for a few minutes to restore the water level in the p-trap.
  • Blocked drain vents: To prevent a build-up of sewer gas pressure inside pipes, drain vents move the gas up to openings on the roof of your house. Should these vents become blocked because of debris or animal nests, it will force the sewer gas back down the pipes; the pressure will be sufficient to push the gas through the water in the p-traps. If you hear a gurgling sound in your drains along with the bad smells, then clogged vents are probably the cause of the problem. Don’t climb up to the roof to unblock the vents yourself! Stay safe and call for professional assistance.
  • Sewer line issues: This is the most serious of all possible causes for bad-smelling drain. Should the sewer line that takes the wastewater from your home out to the municipal sewer system in the street or to your septic tank become blocked from root infiltration or burst, it will start to back up sewage into your drains. If the bad smells are coming from multiple drains, it is likely that the sewer line is responsible. You need to call for help immediately, since this problem can lead to sewage flooding your basement or your home’s foundations.

Larry & Sons, Inc. is a trusted source for drain and sewer services in Middletown, PA. We also handle septic systems and many other plumbing services. If you think that those bad drain odors mean you have repairs that must be taken care of right away, make us your first call.

What Is Trenchless Pipe Replacement?

Posted on by Larry & Sons

A vision many homeowners have when they think about replacing the water or sewer line that runs under their property is of a power digger ripping apart the grass of their lawn to reach down to where the pipe lies buried. The excavation work in this scenario looks as extensive as if an in-ground swimming pool were being put in…except the end result isn’t anything so luxurious.

This nightmare image isn’t far from the truth of pipe replacement. Or at least, what pipe replacement used to be. Today, you no longer have to worry about plumbers turning your yard into an archeological dig when you need to have pipe sections of your sewer or water line replaced. Thanks to trenchless no-dig technology, the job will only take a few hours and leave your yard virtually untouched.

Larry & Sons, Inc. can handle Middletown, MD trenchless pipe replacement that will make your life much easier and keep the outside of your home looking beautiful. Make us your first call for all major and minor plumbing needs.

So How Does Trenchless Pipe Replacement Work?

The core concept of trenchless pipe replacement is feeding a replacement pipe into an older pipe, then expanding the replacement segment so the outer pipe cracks apart and the new one takes its place.

To start the job, the trenchless technicians locate the two ends of the pipe section they are replacing, then dig two small access holes down to reach both ends. If one of the ends opens up inside your home, then they will only need to dig one hole. The plumbers slide the replacement pipe into one end of the older pipe, and a hydraulic system on the other end draws the new pipe completely through and into position. Once this step is finished, a device called a pipe-burster pushes through the new pipe, which expands to shatter the old pipe and fix the new one in its place. The plumbers connect the ends of the new pipe to the existing plumbing system.

The clean-up afterwards is simple: the plumbers only need to fill in the two holes and cover them over, and your yard is back to what it was before with almost no trace of the work. The whole process should only require a few hours.

Call Us for Trenchless Pipe Replacement

You no longer have to sacrifice your front or backyard to the ravages of power digging equipment that will keep the outside of your home looking like a construction site over multiple days. Just contact our Middletown, MD trenchless pipe replacement experts at Larry & Sons, Inc., and we can have the work done fast and leave you with a pristine lawn. Give us a call today to set up your next appointment.