Sewage Backup Cleanup in Warren, MI

Why sewage comes up Warren floor drains

In many Warren houses the basement floor drain, the laundry tub and the footing drains all tie into the sewer lateral that runs out to the main under the street. When a summer storm dumps inches of rain faster than the system can carry it, or a lateral is blocked by roots or broken clay tile, the water has one place to go: up through the lowest opening in the house.

• Storm surcharge in the sewer during heavy rain, the pattern behind the August 2014 flooding
• Roots and offset joints in older clay tile laterals
• A collapsed or bellied cast iron line under the basement floor
• Grease and wipes blocking the lateral

The EPA explains how overloaded sewers overflow in its sanitary sewer overflow overview.

How a Category 3 cleanup is done

Sewage is Category 3 the moment it happens, and porous materials touched by Category 3 water get removed, not dried. That rule is what separates a real sewage cleanup from a mop and a bottle of bleach. The mitigation team works behind containment with HEPA air scrubbers, the extraction crew removes the liquid, and everything soft that it soaked comes out: carpet and pad, the bottom of the drywall, insulation, paneling and cardboard storage.

Concrete, block and framing are cleaned and treated with an EPA-registered antimicrobial left on for its full dwell time, then dried like any other structural drying job. The smell leaves when the contaminated material leaves, not when it is covered with fragrance.

After the cleanup: keep it from coming back

A plumber can camera the lateral to find roots or breaks, and many Warren homeowners add a backwater valve so the sewer cannot push back into the house. A floor drain plug or standpipe during storm warnings is a cheap stopgap. The National Weather Service thunderstorm safety page is a good reminder of how quickly a summer cell can drop heavy rain. For the full basement picture, see basement flooding cleanup and storm flood cleanup.