What to Ask a Customer With a Sewer Backup Before Sending a Plumber

First, stop the water and keep people safe

• Tell everyone in the house to stop using water now: no flushing, showers, sinks, dishwasher or washing machine.
• Is sewage on the floor? Keep children and pets out of the area, and do not touch it without gloves.
• Is the sewage near outlets, appliances or the electrical panel? If yes: stay out of it and away from the panel. If anyone feels unsafe, leave and call 911.
• Is there a strong sewer smell with no visible water? Open windows and keep people out of that room until the plumber arrives.

One clog or the main line: the quick checks

• Is it one fixture, like a single toilet or sink, while every other drain works? That points to a local clog.
• Is water coming up in the lowest drain in the house, like a basement floor drain or a ground floor shower? That points to the main line.
• Does flushing a toilet make water rise in a tub or shower? That points to the main line.
• Did it start during heavy rain, or after roots, digging or work near the yard line? Tell the plumber.
• Does the home have a septic tank or city sewer? If septic, when was it last pumped?
• Do they know where the outdoor cleanout is? Leave it closed. Opening a cleanout with a backed-up line can spray sewage.

What the plumber needs to know

• Which drains are backing up, and which ones still work.
• Whether there is a basement, crawlspace or slab, and where the lowest drain is.
• Where the cleanout is, if they know, and whether it is accessible.
• Whether the house has had backups before, and whether the line has ever been camera inspected.
• Whether anyone poured a drain chemical in. The plumber needs to know before they open anything.
• Photos of the backed-up drains and any water on the floor.

How it sounds on the phone

The three ways this goes wrong

• Booking the visit while the household keeps flushing. Water use stops first, every time.
• Treating a main line backup as one clogged toilet, so the plumber arrives without the right equipment.
• Suggesting drain chemicals or opening the cleanout. Leave both to the plumber.

A sewer backup call is water use stopped, people out of the sewage, then one clog or the main line, then the details. Ask in that order, and the damage stops sooner, the household stays safe, and the plumber arrives with the right equipment.