Avoid Expensive, Toxic Sewage Backups – Replace Your Building Trap!

If you are living in an older home, particularly one built before the 1950’s there is a good chance your drainage system is running off of a building trap. You may be curious as to what a building trap actually is, allow us to explain.

What is a Building Trap?

Today, if you were to inspect your home drainage system, you would find all of your fixtures either have built-in traps, or have had traps installed as part of their drainage system. Your fixture traps exist to utilize the water that flows down them to create an air-tight barrier between your home and the sewer line where all your wastewater flows. As your drainage system is designed to slope down to the main sewer line to effectively move water through the line, this slope also allows sewer gasses to travel up through the line and into your home, not only do these gases give off a foul odour, but they are also toxic! The traps you find on all of your plumbing fixtures solve this problem by utilizing the very wastewater they are carrying to create an air-tight seal between the inside of your home and the main sewer line.

Prior to the 1950’s new home installations were constructed with only one trap, the building trap. The building trap, placed either under a basement floor, or in the front of the house, may sound like a more efficient solution to having every fixture in the home trapped, however these building traps, on top of having been rendered obsolete for over 70 years, also present problems in modern plumbing that were unforeseen in the days when they were installed in new builds.

Why Should I Replace my Home’s Building Trap?

Unlike the drainage systems of old, in the 21st century the drains in your home are subject to carrying far greater volumes of waste than ever before, often being connected to dishwashers, washing machines, and other plumbing fixtures that hadn’t yet existed or come into common use prior to the 1950’s when building traps were installed. The diagram above is just one example of the “anatomy” of a home drainage system with a building trap. The simplest ways to access he trap is either from the basement cleanout, or with a plunging rod through the ground level vent. While you can run modern drain cleaning equipment through the basement cleanout, it is impossible for this equipment to navigate the “U” shape of the trap, which in itself accumulates thick waste and sediment. It is therefore impossible to service the city’s side of the drainage system without first excavating to access the sewer cleanout.

Furthermore, you may find you occasionally have to remove a trap under your kitchen and bathroom sink to clean it when the water stops draining optimally, this same issue arises with building traps, however given that they are buried underground, they are impossible to clean in the same manner.

When these U-shaped traps accumulate waste, wastewater cannot freely flow out of your home and into the sewer system, this causes a backup to occur where water will begin to “infiltrate” your basement through your floor drains, or any other low drain opening. This is not only a costly inconvenience, but a health hazard as well, as this drainage system failure also gives way for toxic gasses and raw sewage to enter your home.

Backwater Valves – A Modern Solution

It is always best to have these antiquated building traps removed and replaced with the more modern and functional backwater valve (pictured above.) Backwater valves are a one-way valve that will only remain open to allow water to flow freely downstream. When an obstruction forms downstream of the backwater valve, the wastewater backing up will force the valve shut, preventing city waste from entering your home. Backwater valves come standard with cleanouts for accessing the city main, making servicing and troubleshooting drain issues that much easier.

If upgrading your home’s outdated plumbing, and having piece of mind that your property won’t be damaged as a result of a messy plumbing emergency isn’t enough, the City of Toronto offers a rebate of up to $1,250 for having one installed on your property. These rebates are offered because the City of Toronto recognizes the risks, inefficiencies, and dangers inherit to running drainage systems off of a building trap setup.

Call A Alert Drain today, and with an experienced crew using the most modern equipment and materials we will remove and replace your home’s building trap. You owe it to yourself and your family to make the investment today to protect your property in the event of a wastewater backup.