What Are 4 Signs Your Sewer Line Is Broken? (Little Rock Homeowner Guide)

1. Many drains back up at once. When your toilets, tub, and sinks all drain slowly together, the problem is likely in the main line.
2. You smell sewage. A rotten egg smell inside your home or in your yard means sewer gas is escaping through a crack.
3. Your yard has wet or sunken spots. Leaking sewage soaks the soil, and the ground above a broken pipe can dip.
4. Drains gurgle, or water rises in the tub. If flushing the toilet makes water come up in the shower, waste can't get past the break.

See two or more of these signs? Stop running water and book a camera sewer line inspection in Little Rock. It shows whether you're dealing with a clog or a broken line.

Each sign below is something you can check yourself today. Here's what to look, smell, and listen for, and why it happens.

1. Many Drains Back Up at Once

Your toilets, tub, and sinks all drain slowly at the same time. You may also hear gurgling from your drains.

This happens because every drain in your house empties into one main sewer line. When that line is broken or blocked, waste has nowhere to go. One slow sink is usually a local clog, but slow drains everywhere point to the main line.

2. You Smell Sewage

You notice a rotten egg smell near your drains, in your bathroom, or out in your yard.

That odor is sewer gas escaping through a crack or gap in the pipe. Don't trust your nose alone, though. At high levels, sewer gas can dull your sense of smell within minutes.

3. Wet or Sunken Spots in Your Yard

You see a soggy patch when it hasn't rained, or a new dip in the ground. These spots often sit right above where your sewer line runs.

Leaking sewage soaks the soil around the pipe. When a line collapses, the ground above it can start to sink.

4. Drains Gurgle or Water Rises in the Tub

Your drains bubble or gurgle after you flush or run water. Sometimes dirty water comes up in the tub or shower when you flush the toilet.

Watch your tub, shower, and floor drains. When waste can't get past a break, it often comes back up there.

What our customers notice first: Most Little Rock homeowners call us when sewage stops draining. It usually backs up into the tub, the toilet, or whatever drain sits lowest in the house.

Some broken sewer lines show up in less obvious ways. Watch for these too:

• Rats or roaches show up suddenly. Pests can get in through breaks in an old sewer line. Rats can even climb up through floor drains and toilets.
• Clogs that keep coming back. If a drain backs up again a few weeks after it was cleared, the pipe itself may be damaged.

A clog and a break can look the same at first. Both can make every drain in your house back up. The difference usually shows up over time, and outside in your yard.

What you notice	Likely a clog	Likely a broken line
Which drains back up	One drain, or all drains if the main line is clogged	All drains
After the line is cleared	It stays clear	It backs up again within weeks
Your yard	No change	Wet or sunken spots
Sewage smell outside	Usually not	Often

One slow sink is almost always a local clog. When every drain slows down, the problem is in your main line. If clearing that line only works for a few weeks, the pipe is likely cracked, collapsed, or full of roots.

The only way to know for sure is to look inside the pipe. A camera inspection shows us roots, cracks, and collapsed sections before anyone digs. If every drain in your house is backing up, start with our main sewer line clog page. To see exactly what's wrong, book a camera sewer line inspection in Little Rock.

A broken sewer line gets worse every time you use water. Sewage can back up into your tubs and floor drains. It can soak your floors and walls, which leads to mold. Outside, you may see soggy ground or a new dip in your yard.

If you think your sewer line is broken, do these four things:

1. Stop using water. Hold off on flushing, showers, laundry, and the dishwasher until a plumber checks your line.
2. Keep kids and pets away. Sewage carries germs, so stay clear of any backed-up water.
3. Find your sewer cleanout. It's a pipe with a cap, usually in the ground near your house. Don't open it, but know where it is so we can reach your line fast.
4. Call a plumber. A camera inspection will show what's wrong and where.

Our hours are 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Friday. Call us at 501-585-5454 and we'll get a licensed plumber out to you. If it's after hours, stop all water use and call us first thing in the morning.

If sewage is pouring into your home fast, the city's main line may be blocked instead of yours. Call the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority's 24/7 emergency line at 501-223-1509.

Most sewer lines we replace didn't fail overnight. Age, pipe material, ground movement, and tree roots wear them down for years. In the Heights and Hillcrest, the problem we find most is a collapsed line made of Orangeburg or clay pipe. Often the pipe sections are no longer even connected to each other.

Here's what causes most breaks:

• Old pipe materials. Orangeburg pipe is made of plant fibers soaked in tar, and it was common from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Over time, soil pressure squeezes it flat until it collapses. Clay pipe joints can separate as the pipe ages.
• Tree roots. Roots grow toward water and push into cracks and loose joints. As they grow, they block the pipe and break it open wider.
• Shifting ground. Parts of Arkansas have expansive clay soil that swells when wet and shrinks when dry. When the ground moves, old pipe joints can shift and crack.
• Grease and wipes. Cooking grease hardens inside the pipe, and wipes don't break down. Both build up and put extra strain on an aging line.

Every sewer line wears out eventually. How long yours lasts depends mostly on what it's made of:

Pipe material	What to expect
PVC or ABS plastic	50 to 80 years
Cast iron (underground)	50 to 60 years
Clay	Joints can separate and let roots in as the pipe ages
Orangeburg	Known to flatten and collapse over time

These numbers are home inspector life expectancy guidelines, not guarantees. Roots and ground movement can shorten any pipe's life.

Fixing a sewer line starts with knowing exactly what's wrong. We don't guess, and we don't dig until we've seen inside the pipe. We'll tell you what we're doing as we go, so you're never guessing about what's happening at your house.

During a camera inspection, we feed a small camera on a flexible cable into your sewer line, usually through your cleanout. If you don't have one, we may need to pull a toilet or go in through the roof vent. You can watch on our screen as the camera moves toward the street. We'll point out roots, cracks, sagging spots, or sections that have pulled apart, then explain your options before any work starts.

Here's how the work usually goes:

1. Camera inspection. We find the damage on camera first, so we know what we're fixing before we dig.
2. Sewer line locating. We find where the problem sits and how deep it is, so we know exactly where to dig.
3. Repair or replace. If one section is damaged and the rest is solid, a spot repair may be enough. If the line has collapsed, is damaged in many places, or is old Orangeburg or clay, a full replacement is usually the better fix.
4. Hydro jetting for roots. When roots or grease are the main problem and the pipe is still solid, our hydrojetter clears the line with high-pressure water.

Why we dig instead of going trenchless. We do full sewer line replacements with our excavator. That lets us take the old pipe out and lay a brand-new line we can see with our own eyes. We bed the new pipe by hand, clear out rocks and heavy debris, and pack it in so it won't shift. Then we set the pitch so your line drains the right way.

We've done trenchless repairs over the years. But pulling a new line through a 50-plus-year-old pipe, or lining it with chemicals, can lead to problems down the road. Digging is the method we trust enough to put our warranty on.

How long it takes. A spot repair usually takes about a day. We open at least 10 feet of ground so a technician can get down in the trench, cut out the bad section, and connect new pipe. Utility lines in the way can add time.

A full replacement usually takes 8 to 36 hours from start to finish. On a smaller home, plan on 8 to 24 hours. Trees, fences, and sprinkler systems along the line can slow the work.

If your pipe can't be saved, we'll walk you through your options. We'll tell you what we'd do if it were our own home.

If a camera shows damage, see our sewer repair in Little Rock page. For collapsed or worn-out lines, learn more about sewer line replacement.

Every sewer job is priced by what we find on camera. These things move the price up or down:

• How long and how deep your line is
• What the pipe is made of
• Driveways, trees, fences, or retaining walls in the path
• Gas, phone, or fiber optic lines we have to work around
• Whether you need a spot repair or a full replacement

What does sewer line repair cost? A camera inspection with us starts at $250 if your home has a cleanout. Without one, we may need to pull a toilet or go through the roof vent, so the price depends on the job. For repairs, national figures from Angi put a cracked-pipe spot repair at $600 to $1,050. A full sewer line replacement averages about $3,319, with most jobs between $225 and $10,000.

Who pays, you or the city? In Little Rock, the sewer service line on your property is yours. You're responsible for repairing or replacing it when it fails.

Will insurance cover it? Usually not. Standard homeowners policies rarely cover clogs or pipes that wear out with age. Damage from a sudden event, like a fallen tree, is more likely to be covered. Most insurers sell sewer backup coverage as an add-on for a small cost, so check your policy.

Do you need a permit? Yes. Replacing a sewer line in Little Rock requires a permit through LRWRA before work starts. A master plumber or the property owner must get it, and our owner, Angel Bahena, is a master plumber.



Sewer repairs are easier to plan when you have options. We offer financing on every job. Already have a quote from another company? Show it to us, and we'll tell you honestly whether we can beat it or whether it's a fair price.

Call Diamond State Plumbing at 501-585-5454 to talk with a licensed plumber in Little Rock.