A Drainage Minute: The Reid & Pederson Drainage Blog

Spring is finally here, and if you’re like a lot of South Suburbs homeowners, you’ve got a yard project brewing. A new patio, garden beds, a fence line, maybe some serious tree work. It’s exciting stuff.

But before you rent a trencher or call a landscaper, there’s one thing worth doing first that most people never think about: having your underground sewer and drain lines inspected.

At Reid & Pederson Drainage, we’ve been working in and around Crete, IL for over 40 years, and we’ve seen what happens when someone starts digging without knowing what’s down there. It rarely ends well.

Here’s what you should know.

Landscaping and Sewer Lines: What Can Go Wrong

Your home’s sewer line runs underground from your house to the municipal main, usually right through your yard. Depending on your property, that line could be anywhere from a couple of feet deep to significantly deeper, and it doesn’t always run in a straight, predictable path.

When landscaping crews dig for irrigation systems, retaining walls, fence posts, or drainage improvements, they’re often working in the exact same zone as your sewer and drain lines. A single strike from an excavator or even a manual post hole digger can crack, offset, or sever a line, and the repair costs that follow can be significant. We’re talking anywhere from a few thousand dollars for targeted drain repair up to $10,000 or more if excavation and sewer replacement become necessary.

And that’s if you know the damage happened right away. Sometimes a compromised line leaks slowly for months before anyone notices.

What a Sewer Camera Inspection Shows You

A sewer camera inspection is exactly what it sounds like: a waterproof, high-resolution camera on a flexible cable gets fed into your drain system through an existing cleanout or access point. In real time, a technician can see exactly what’s happening inside your pipes.

Before landscaping, this is valuable for two reasons:

1. You’ll know where your lines actually run. Sewer lines don’t always follow the path you’d expect. A camera inspection, especially paired with a sewer line locate, tells you precisely where your pipes are and how deep, so your landscaper can work around them with confidence.
2. You’ll know what condition they’re in before you disturb the ground. This one matters more than people realize. If your line already has a crack, a root intrusion, or a section showing early signs of deterioration, that’s useful information to have before equipment starts moving nearby soil. Vibration and ground disturbance from landscaping can aggravate existing damage, and if something fails shortly after a dig, sorting out liability gets complicated fast.

Common issues a video inspection can catch include:

• Tree root intrusion (especially in older clay or cast iron pipes, very common in established South Suburbs neighborhoods)
• Pipe cracks, offsets, or bellied sections
• Buildup or blockages that restrict flow
• Deteriorating joints or corrosion in aging pipes

Signs You Shouldn’t Skip This Step

Not every landscaping project warrants an inspection, but some situations make it a pretty easy call:

• You have mature trees in your yard. Tree roots actively seek out moisture and are a leading cause of sewer line damage in older neighborhoods throughout Will County, Cook County, and Northwest Indiana. If big trees are near your sewer line path, it’s worth knowing what’s going on underground before you add more root disturbance.
• Your home is 30 or more years old. Older pipe materials like clay tile, cast iron, and concrete are more susceptible to cracking and deterioration. They’re also more common in the established communities we serve across the South Suburbs.
• You’re planning significant excavation. Fence lines, retaining walls, new drainage systems, underground irrigation. Anything that involves sustained digging near the house.
• You’ve had drainage issues in the past. Slow drains, recurring clogs, or soggy patches in the yard are worth investigating before you add landscaping complexity on top of a potential underlying problem.

If the Inspection Turns Something Up

This is actually where an inspection pays for itself. If a problem shows up on camera before you landscape, you have options, and you get to make them on your timeline rather than under emergency pressure.

Depending on what the camera reveals, the path forward might be a simple cleaning, a targeted repair, or in some cases, sewer lining, a trenchless approach that rehabilitates a damaged pipe from the inside without excavating your yard. That’s worth knowing about before you invest in new landscaping you’d hate to see torn up for a repair down the road.

If something unexpected does happen mid-project and a line gets nicked or a backup starts, Reid & Pederson offers 24/7 emergency service throughout the South Suburbs and Northwest Indiana. But we’d much rather help you avoid that situation in the first place.

Don’t Forget About Ongoing Maintenance

If you’ve never had your drain and sewer system looked at, or it’s been a few years, this is a good moment to think about routine upkeep too. Our annual sewer maintenance program is free to join and keeps you on a regular schedule, so small issues get caught early and you’re not caught off guard.

A little attention now goes a long way toward protecting both your yard investment and your home’s drain system.

Get Your Sewer Inspection Scheduled

If you’re planning a spring landscaping project in the South Suburbs of Chicago or Northwest Indiana, reach out to Reid & Pederson before the digging starts. We’ll run a camera through your line, tell you what we see, and help you move forward with confidence.

It’s a simple step that can save you a lot of headaches and a lot of money. Book today!

Call (708) 757-9040