Tree Roots in Your Sewer Line: Signs, Causes, and How We Clear Them

Published August 3, 2026 · Snake-It-Away Inc.

If you own an older home in the Boston area with mature trees out front, tree roots in your sewer line are one of the most likely reasons for a slow or backed-up drain. It's one of the most common jobs we run, and the good news is it's very fixable.

Why roots get into the line here

Our older suburbs are exactly the setup roots love: decades-old clay or cast-iron sewer pipe, joined in sections, running under big established trees. Towns like Medford, Arlington, Winchester, and Somerville have plenty of homes on that original pipe.

Here's the mechanism: your sewer line carries warm water and nutrients, and roots grow toward it, working into the tiny gaps at pipe joints or any small crack. Once inside, they keep growing into a mass that catches everything flushing past it. Newer PVC lines with sealed joints resist this, which is why it's mostly an older-home problem. Roots also grow fastest in the warm months, so summer is when a slow-building root problem often tips into a real backup.

Warning signs to watch for

• Slow drains throughout the house, not just one fixture
• Gurgling from toilets when a sink or tub drains
• A sewage smell in the yard or basement
• Repeated backups in the lowest drain, often a basement floor drain
• A patch of unusually green, lush grass along the sewer line's path

If you're seeing more than one of these, it's worth looking before it becomes a full backup.

How we find the problem

Guessing wastes your money. A camera inspection sends a waterproof camera down the line so we can see exactly where the roots are and how bad the intrusion is. That tells us whether it's a straightforward clearing or something more.

How we clear roots

• Root removal: a cutting head on a cable physically cuts the roots out and restores full flow. The standard fix, and it works.
• Hydro jetting: high-pressure water clears the root debris and the buildup around it for a thorough reset on a badly intruded line.

One honest note: clearing roots restores the line, but if roots got in through a cracked or offset pipe, they can regrow. The camera tells us whether the pipe itself needs repair, and if it does, we handle the sewer line repair too, so you're not clearing the same clog every year.

Don't wait for the backup

A root mass only grows. Catching it early is the difference between a routine clearing and sewage in your basement. Call Snake It Away at (781) 858-8314. Family-owned since 1997, Medford-based, and available 24/7 across the Boston metro.