Get matched with top sewer cleaners in Hudson, FL

The best practice is to clean the sewer drain lines in your home once a year or every two years. Older homes could require more frequent maintenance. Keeping up on cleaning your sewer lines can prevent severe clogs, help ensure your system is working properly, and prevent expensive repairs.

If you’re wondering whether rats can come up the toilet, the unfortunate answer is yes, it’s possible, though it’s extremely rare. These rodents are excellent swimmers and can travel through sewer pipes in search of food, and they may follow plumbing lines leading to your home if they’re drawn by the scent of scraps and waste. The toilet’s U-bend holds a small pocket of air, which can help a rat catch its breath before making its final push into your bathroom. While more common in cities with larger rat populations, this can happen anywhere with connected sewer systems; sealing entry points and keeping drains clean can help reduce the risk.

Thankfully, it’s pretty rare to find a rat in your toilet. It’s more likely in larger cities with big sewer systems that can be feeding grounds for rats, but even then, you still shouldn’t fret. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about rats coming up through the sewers,” Bradshaw says. “I’d say only one out of a thousand rodent customers we get actually have this problem. And of the 20 or some customers that have had this happen, they’ve all only had just one rat come up this way.”

A sewage smell in your crawl space is usually from a damaged or clogged pipe leaking sewer gasses or actual sewage underneath your home, but there are some other common causes. Moisture, from poor or damaged encapsulation or a malfunctioning sump pump, can harbor mold and bacteria, causing a musty smell. Pests can also get stuck in your crawl space and die, which causes a sewage-like odor.