Sewage Damage – Dead Giveaway of a Sewer Backup
If you wake up one morning and have a bunch of water in your basement, the question of course gets asked, “Where’s it coming from?”
Well, Water Damage can come from many sources, but sewage damage can be particularly damaging and just plain gross. Some signs are obvious, some are not. Here are some telltale signs of whether or not you’ve had a sewage backup:
- The water is black and murky
- Repugnant Odors
- There is toilet tissue, female products or other solids floating in the water
- Water is coming up from a floor drain – if you have an overhead sewer system, you may see water coming up through the floor drains in the event the pump has burned out, in which case you will get a new pump or repair the one you have.
- You see tiny black flies with jagged wings
Now, the first thing you’ll need to do is call a sewer and drain technician/plumber to come and handle the source of the problem – Do not attempt to handle it yourself as the source could be under your house all the way out to the city main sewer line and you are not equipped to handle this. Also, your home is now contaminated by god knows what, let the professionals come in and do their job.
Next, you should call a Water Damage Restoration company that handles sewage damage (not all of them do) and have them to decontaminate, remove and repair your home and save what articles and content can be saved. In the event that this is a residential home backup, your next call should certainly be to your insurance company to make sure you have this covered to minimize all of your out of pocket expenses.
