“How close is too close for a tree to be by my sewer line?”
“How close is too close for a tree to be by my sewer line?”
Homeowner: “How close is too close for a tree to be by my sewer line?”
Me: “If the roots can smell toilet paper, it’s too close.”
Look, I like trees. Trees are great. Shade, oxygen, birds, squirrels—all that wonderful nature stuff.
But planting a big tree right beside a sewer line is the plumbing equivalent of parking a bulldozer on top of a septic tank and saying, “It’ll probably be fine.”
Those roots don’t care what the landscaper promised you. They’re looking for moisture, and if your sewer line has one tiny crack or bad joint, they’ll find it faster than a wannabe plumber finds a SharkBite fitting.
Then one day your toilet starts gurgling, the tub backs up, and everybody acts shocked.
“Could it be the tree?”
No, Karen. The 40-foot oak sitting six inches from the sewer line is probably completely innocent.
Trees need room.
Sewer lines need room.
And licensed plumbers shouldn’t have to dig up your yard because somebody thought “close enough” was a landscaping measurement.
American Plumbing — fixing yesterday’s bad decisions one sewer line at a time.
