Tree Roots in Your Pipes: the Newcastle Problem

If your drain keeps blocking no matter how many times it gets cleared, the culprit is very often tree roots in the pipes. In Newcastle’s older suburbs, with their original earthenware (clay) sewer lines and established gardens, root intrusion is the number-one cause of recurring blockages we see. Here is why it happens, how to spot it, and how to stop it coming back.

Why roots get into pipes

Tree roots are hunting for water and nutrients, and a sewer line is full of both. Older clay pipes are laid in short sections with joints every metre or so. Over decades those joints shift slightly and let out a little moisture, and the roots follow it straight to the gap. Once a fine root hair gets through the joint, it grows into a thick mat inside the pipe that catches everything else going past.

It does not take a tree right on top of the pipe, either. Roots from a gum, a fig, a jacaranda or a liquidambar can travel a surprising distance across a yard to reach a leaking joint.

Signs you have roots

• Blockages that keep coming back weeks or months after being cleared. This is the giveaway.
• Gurgling from the toilet or drains as water struggles past the root mat.
• Slow drainage across several fixtures, getting worse over time.
• Multiple fixtures affected at once, because the roots are in the main line everyone shares.

A plunger or a snake might punch through the roots and get things flowing for a while, but the roots are still there and they grow back.

How we deal with roots for good

There are two parts to a proper fix:

1. Clear and inspect. We cut the roots out with a high-pressure water jetter, then send a CCTV drain camera down to see exactly where they are getting in and how bad the damage is.
2. Seal the entry point. Clearing the roots alone is temporary, they will find the same crack again. The permanent fix is pipe relining: a new pipe is formed inside the old one, sealing the joints so roots have nowhere to enter. No digging up the yard, and it lasts decades.

If you are in Newcastle and you are clearing the same drain every few months, it is almost certainly roots. Give us a call and we will find the entry point and seal it, so you are not back here next season.