Sewer & Drain · Nashville, TN
Septic Repair in Nashville
Broken baffles, cracked lids, crushed lines and saturated field lines repaired once the cause is known.
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Tell us which drain is backing up
Sent straight to us, day or night. We respond immediately.
Septic Repair in Nashville, Tennessee
Broken baffles, cracked lids, crushed lines and saturated field lines repaired once the cause is known.
For septic repair, Nashville's Sewer and Drain works across Middle Tennessee — licensed, insured, with the price in writing before the work starts. Drain and sewer crews who clear the stoppage first, then put a camera down the line and show you what caused it.
Why homeowners call
Signs that bring people to us for this
- Sewage coming up a floor drain
- Every drain in the house slow at once
- Gurgling toilet when the washer drains
- Sewer smell in the yard or basement
- A soggy, sunken strip over the sewer line
- Roots back in the line every year
- Sump pump running and running
What is included
What our septic repair work includes
- Cause found before any repair is priced
- Broken baffles replaced with PVC tees
- Cracked or unsafe lids replaced
- Crushed house-to-tank line dug and relaid
- Effluent filter cleaned or added
- Distribution box leveled or replaced
- Failed field lines repaired under permit
- Water-use advice for a field recovering from overload
How Septic Repair goes, from cleanout to final pass
A cracked or caved-in tank lid is the repair that can’t wait. A person or a child can fall through a weak lid into the tank, and the gases inside are dangerous on their own. If you find one, block it off so no one walks there, and keep people away until it is replaced.
When the house backs up but the tank level is normal, the trouble is usually the pipe between them. Trucks, a trailer parked in the wrong place and settling soil crush or sag that short run, and roots find its joints. A camera from the cleanout shows which it is before anyone digs.
A field that is wet but not failed is often overloaded. A leaking toilet can send hundreds of gallons a day through the system, and several loads of laundry on one day floods it. Fixing the leak and spreading the laundry across the week gives the soil a chance to drain, and some fields recover.
Fields also fail from water that was never meant to reach them: downspouts and runoff pointed across the field, or a sump pump discharging onto it. Moving that water away is part of the repair. Where the soil under the lines has sealed with a dense layer of biomat, the lines usually have to be replaced in new ground, under permit.
Also available
Other sewer, drain and septic work
Septic Services
Tanks, fields and grinder pumps for homes off the city sewer or sitting below it, from the first inspection to a new system.
Learn moreSeptic Inspection
The tank opened, its levels and baffles checked and the field walked, for a sale or because the yard has started to smell.
Learn moreSeptic System Installation
A new tank and field laid out to the soil and the state or county permit, sized for the bedrooms in the house.
Learn moreGrinder Pump Installation
A grinder pump and basin for a house that sits below the sewer main, wired with a high-water alarm.
Learn moreService area
Sewer and drain calls we take across Middle Tennessee
Our trucks reach Nashville and 100 more towns in 12 counties, and we take sewer and septic calls anywhere within about an hour of the city.
FAQ
Septic Repair: what people ask first
Can a failing septic field be repaired, or does it need replacing?
Sometimes it can be repaired. A field that is flooded because a toilet leaked, laundry was bunched up or roof water ran across it can recover once the extra water stops, and a crushed line or a tilted distribution box can be fixed. A field sealed by biomat or by solids from an unpumped tank usually needs new lines in new ground, under permit.
Why does my septic system back up after heavy rain?
Because the ground around the field is already saturated, so the effluent has nowhere to soak in. Middle Tennessee clay drains slowly, and a field in a low spot or below a slope collects runoff on top of that. Diverting surface water and downspouts helps, and a field that fails every wet spring may need to be rebuilt elsewhere on the lot.
What is a septic baffle and what happens if it breaks?
A baffle is the fitting at the tank’s inlet and outlet that keeps scum and solids in the tank. When the outlet baffle breaks off, solids flow into the field lines and begin clogging the soil, which shortens the field’s life. A broken baffle is usually replaced with a PVC tee, a short job once the tank is open.
Do septic tank additives fix a slow system?
No, and they don’t replace pumping. A working tank already gets the bacteria it needs from normal household use, and the EPA’s guidance for homeowners is that additives aren’t necessary. Some products can stir up solids and send them toward the field. A slow system needs an inspection to find the cause.
Free estimate
Book septic repair with our crew
Call or write to Nashville's Sewer and Drain with what the drains are doing; we clear the line first and price any repair from the camera footage.