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Spring is coming and your tree roots are in the gym

As spring approaches and the temperatures start to rise, trees begin to prepare for their active growth phase. During winter, many trees enter a state of dormancy, where their metabolic processes slow down to conserve energy and protect themselves from cold temperatures. As spring arrives, the tree root system becomes quite active in response to changing environmental conditions. Here’s what the tree root system is doing as spring approaches:

  1. Absorbing water and nutrients: As the ground warms up and rainfall increases, the tree roots become more active in absorbing water and essential nutrients from the soil. This is crucial for supporting the tree’s growth and development during the upcoming growing season. Your sewer pipes are an easy source of water and nutrients
  2. Sending signals to the rest of the tree: The root system communicates with the above-ground parts of the tree through chemical and hormonal signals. This communication helps coordinate the tree’s growth and responses to the environmental cues.
  3. Extending and branching out: Tree roots grow and expand as the soil becomes more suitable for root growth. The root system will extend further into the surrounding soil, and new root branches will form to explore fresh areas for water and nutrients.
  4. Establishing new relationships: Many trees form symbiotic relationships with fungi in the soil. These fungi help the tree roots by extending their nutrient-absorbing capacity, and in return, the tree provides sugars produced through photosynthesis to the fungi. During spring, these relationships become more active and beneficial.
  5. Repairing and regenerating: Like any living organism, tree roots may experience some damage or stress during winter. As spring arrives, the tree allocates resources to repair and regenerate any damaged parts of the root system.
  6. Preparing for shoot growth: The root system plays a crucial role in providing the necessary resources for the tree’s above-ground parts, such as leaves, branches, and buds. As the tree prepares for new shoot growth in spring, the tree root system ramps up its activity to support the upcoming foliage and flower production.

In summary, the tree root system becomes highly active during late winter and early spring, absorbing water and nutrients, establishing beneficial relationships with fungi, extending into new areas, and coordinating with the rest of the tree to support its growth and development throughout the upcoming season.

Tree Roots are a pain in the drain!

Tree Roots never stop growing in your sewer pipes.

Cut them out and they just grow back!

Depending on the tree, it can take up to 3, 6 or 12 months, or sometimes more, but they do grow back…Like a time bomb ticking away.

When you get a blocked drain and have your plumber cut tree roots from your sewer pipes, every 3, 6 or 12  months, the cutting action, whether by electric eel or high-pressure water damages the pipes.

The cutting action is like pruning. Any gardener will tell you that pruning will make the tree grow stronger, and thats what happens with your tree roots.

You cut the tree roots, and they grow back Thicker and Stronger.

You know all the symptoms.

The smell, the gurgling, ankle deep shower water, you lift the lid on the loo, AND IT’S STILL THERE!

Now your plumber is a likable bloke.

His number is on your auto dial. He knows where the door keys are, and the dog just wags his tail when he shows up.

He’s put his kids through private school because the tree out the front of your home keeps growing in your sewer, blocking your drains

There must be another way to Stop Tree Roots in Drains

There is. It’s called Vaporooter!

When you’re ready to talk about it, Call us on 1800 637 600

Who can Help me Stop Tree Roots in Drains?

Vaporooter will Stop Tree Roots in your Drains!

It’s not a DIY process. Vaporooter must be applied by a Certified Applicator to ensure:

# The pipeline is suitable
# You have the right access to the pipes
# The job is done properly
# You get a Guarantee

If you have any questions, call me on 1800 637 600.

Vaporooter – There are some setup costs


G’day! Its Dave Conroy. I’m here today to talk about Vaporooter.

There are some set-up costs if you are considering putting Vaporooter down your sewer pipes if you’ve got repeat blockages caused by tree roots.

The setup costs are a one off thing and, what they include is putting a drain camera through your pipes to survey exactly what is going on inside your pipes to determine if your pipes are actually suitable for a Vaporooter application. 9/10 times they are!

Now, the most common question people ask me is “Does the product work?” Yes, It does!

We’re actually applying Vaporooter at this property in Vaucluse in Sydney’s eastern suburbs this morning. This is a client who has had it applied for five years in a row.

So, to sumarise:

Yes, there some setup costs.
Yes, It does work.
Yes, you need to have it applied annually.

If you’ve got any questions, through Vaporooter Australia, please contact me on 1800 637 600
Or go to our website: VaporooterAustralia.com.au

Tree roots grow through pipe joints.

Tree roots usually enter your pipe line through the pipe joints.

Did you know each clay sewer pipe is usually 2-3 foot long? That’s 600-900mm each.

So, in a pipe line 100 feet in length (30 metres), there could be up to 50 individual pipes with bends and junctions.

That means there are at least 50 different places for tree roots to get into your sewer pipes.

That’s a lot of opportunity for tree roots searching for moisture in our hot Australian climate where rainfall is unpredictable.

If you’re considering pipe relining, root cutting or a pipe renewal as options for keeping the roots at bay, remember, the tree roots can just move down to the next pipe joint that hasn’t been protected.

How tree roots get into pipes #1

Tree roots grow through trenches dug for plumbing pipes.

When plumbers excavate a trench in virgin soil to lay pipelines to take the waste water from your home, we till the soil.

That’s right, the simple method of excavating the soil with a shovel or even a mechanical excavator like a backhoe actually breaks up the soil.

After we complete our excavations and lay the pipes in the trenches, we back fill the trench, putting the excavated soils back.

Sometimes we water in the soil and quite often use a compactor to help with the back fill process.

Some pipe line excavations are back filled with an aggregate like blue metal gravel. Even so, the backfilled soil is never as compact as virgin soil. That provides the roots of nearby trees a much easier path to “wander” along in their search for water and nutrients.

I don’t want to live like this!

Sonia, from Bronte asked, “What does your Vaporooter Guarantee actually mean?” You could hear the fear in her voice!

Sonia lives on the first floor of an 8 storey block of home units. “About every 3 months we get a blocked drain caused by tree roots in the pipes under our building.”

“Depending on the type of tree, that’s not unusual,” I said.

“You don’t understand,” she said as her throat began to tighten. “When we get a blockage, all the sewer and waste water flushed by the residents on the 7 floors above, hits the blockage in the carpark and backs up through the floor drain in my bathroom.”
overflowing toilet Yuk!
“Ouch, Do you mean everything?’

“Yes, everything. Poo, condoms, tampons, cotton wool buds, toilet paper. It’s absolutely disgusting. It makes me want to throw up just thinking about it, running from the floor drain in my bathroom, out the door and all over the hallway and lounge room carpet.”

“But, why are you so upset now?” I asked.

“It’s been 4 months since it happened, so it’s gonna happen again soon. I don’t want to live like this!”

I actually had this conversation on April 8th 2016.

The Body corporate committee are getting other opinions on Tree root treatments for drains.

I feel for Sonia.

Tree root Poonami closes Coogee beach

Sydney Australia has many world famous beaches. Yesterday morning, April 14th 2016, one of her crown jewels, Coogee Beach, had to be closed after a Sydney Water sewer main in nearby Dudley Street had a blockage that overflowed into the Randwick City council stormwater drains.

Daily Telegraph 2016 04 14

Daily Telegraph 2016 04 14

The blockage was caused by tree roots growing in the Sydney Water sewer main.

The overflowing sewer spilled into a stormwater pipe that discharged into the ocean, right under Coogee Surf club.

Randwick City council closed the beach and drained the Ross Jones pool next to the Coogee Surf club in the afternoon on a day when holidaying school kids and tourists alike were enjoying our beautiful autumn weather and pleasant 21 degree water temperature.
2014 04 14 Whats that smell
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the beach has been re-opened today after time and tide have cleaned up the beach overnight. Sydney Water technical crews were testing the water quality this morning.

The disappointing part is that this tree root blockage in the sewer pipe was totally preventable.

Cities across Australia are currently using Vaporooter to protect their sewer assets, drastically reducing maintenance costs and preventing sewer overflows like the Poonami that closed Coogee beach.

Vaporooter Helps Strata Prevent $40,000 Sewer Replacement

Tree Root Photo-1
Location: Clovelly, Sydney
Occupants: Mostly women over 40. 2 with teenage children.
Home: Block of four 2 bedroom flats 2 up, 2 down circa 1920
Trees in Vicinity: Tree lined Street, many large Hills Weeping Fig (Ficus Microcarpa Var.)

In total we have billed this client $9,772.00 for tree root cutting and repairs.

In March 2010, they finally indicated their interest in applying Vaporooter to control the tree roots in and around their sewer pipes.

The quote to apply Vaporooter is $1,586.00. This comes with a 12-month Guarantee.

The estimated cost to renew this sewer around both sides of the building and out to the sewer main in the street is estimated to be an astonishing $40,000.00.

The roots from the trees in this street are widespread and we have attended to blocked drains in houses and unit blocks up and down the street. The roots are getting stronger and without Vaporooter, a full sewer replacement will be the only (costly) alternative.

Some of the residents have indicated that instead of applying Vaporooter, they will lobby the Council to cut down the trees. That would change the entire streetscape and severely diminish their property value above the $40,000 sewer replacement and well beyond the preventative Vaporooter solution that is guaranteed to solve the problem.

This beautiful period block of flats, a 5 minutes walk from the beach is on a street lined with Hills weeping fig trees.
You know the kind; they produce the most beautiful summer shade with birds attracted to the fruit. The branch canopy stretches right across the street. But, so does the root system of these magnificent specimens.

We were first called to this property to attend a blocked drain in May 2005. The problem was tree roots from the specimens on the public footpath at the front of the property. The ground floor flats were the worst affected. Not only did their toilets back up when they flushed them, but when the flats upstairs flushed their toilet, that also came up and sometimes overflowed in the ground floor toilets.

That’s called The U-Tube (poo-tube) effect!

We recommended to the owner occupiers that Vaporooter would control the tree roots in their sewer. They declined to take up the offer.

In the 5 years since, we have attended to this sewer blocked by tree roots 7 times. We have carried out excavations to repair sections of drainage damaged by this aggressive tree root system. This unfortunately includes costly and inconvenient weekend and after hours callouts.

Stop Tree Roots in Pipes: Client Testimonial

Just in via email…..

Dear Dave and Leigh,
Thank you for doing the Vaporooter treatment this morning, it gives me considerable peace of mind.

As you will recall we had experienced some nasty sewer blockages previously, up to two a year, due to an invasive ficus vine spreading its tree roots into our pipes. The sewer line passes under a slab floor and access to the pipes is virtually impossible without major invasive works; Vaporooter seemed like a good option.

Once the blockage had been thoroughly cleared, you applied the treatment.

Today’s was the third annual re-treatment and I am happy to tell you that we have had no trouble whatsoever with the drains. The treatment has been successful and has avoided a costly and invasive repair job.

Thanks, Stephen
Kingsford 2032 Sydney
Clean surf compressed 1