Bad Smell in the Yard? It Could Be a Broken Sewer Line

Why Sewer Odors Surface in the Yard and What They Mean

The smell you're noticing is hydrogen sulfide gas, the byproduct of decomposing organic waste inside a sewer pipe. When the pipe is intact, the gas stays contained and routes out through your home's vent stack. When there's a crack or break underground, the gas escapes into the soil and works its way up to the surface.

Rain accelerates the process because water pressure shifts the soil and temporarily widens small cracks. It also pushes gas up through the ground faster than in dry conditions. That's why homeowners notice the smell most after a storm, then assume it's gone when it fades a few days later.

The odor itself could be a symptom of active waste leakage. If raw sewage is saturating the soil around the break, it creates health risks for anyone using that part of the yard and can contaminate groundwater if the leak continues unchecked.

How a Sewer Line Breaks and What Usually Causes It

Most residential sewer lines run between 4 and 6 inches in diameter and sit 2 to 6 feet underground. Several specific conditions cause them to fail.

• Tree Root Intrusion: Roots follow moisture and grow into pipe joints, then expand until the pipe cracks or collapses.
• Soil Shifting: Freezing, thawing, drought, and heavy rain all cause ground movement that can stress buried pipes.
• Pipe Age and Material: Clay and cast iron pipes installed before 1980 are especially prone to corrosion, brittleness, and joint failure.
• Heavy Surface Loads: Vehicles parked or driven over a sewer line's path can compress the soil enough to fracture the pipe beneath.
• Grease and Debris Buildup: Blockages that go uncleared build internal pressure, which eventually splits older or weakened pipes.

The break usually doesn't happen all at once. It starts with a hairline crack that lets roots in or allows small amounts of leakage, then worsens progressively over months or years. By the time you smell it in the yard, the damage is already well past the early stage.

Other Yard and Lawn Symptoms That Point to a Sewer Problem

Smell isn't always the first sign. Some homeowners notice the yard before they notice any odor, and the visual clues are specific enough to take seriously.

A patch of grass that's noticeably greener and growing faster than the surrounding lawn is a common indicator. Sewage acts as a fertilizer, and leaking waste feeds a concentrated area of the yard while the rest stays uniform. Soft or spongy ground in a specific spot, especially over the sewer line's path from the house to the street, points to soil saturation from below.

Sinkholes or depressions forming gradually in the yard are a more urgent sign. These develop when soil erodes into the pipe through the break and leaves a void underground. If you see a depression forming, don't let people or pets walk through that area until a plumber in Lantana evaluates it. The ground above a pipe collapse can be unstable enough to give way.

How Technicians Locate a Broken Sewer Line Without Excavating the Entire Yard

Locating a sewer break used to require digging up a large portion of the yard to find the problem. That's no longer the standard approach. Most plumbing repair services now use camera inspection as the first diagnostic step.

A technician feeds a waterproof camera on a flexible cable directly into the sewer line through a cleanout access point. The camera transmits live footage to a monitor and records the interior of the pipe as it moves through. Cracks, root intrusion, collapsed sections, and misaligned joints all show up clearly on the footage. The technician also notes the footage's timestamp and footage depth to pinpoint the exact location underground.

Once the camera identifies the problem's location, a sewer repair service uses ground-penetrating radar or electronic pipe locators to mark the spot on the surface. This limits any necessary digging to a targeted area rather than a full trench. In many cases, the camera footage alone determines which repair method is appropriate, so the diagnostic step directly informs the work plan.

What Sewer Line Repair Options Are Available and How They Compare

The repair method depends on the type and extent of the damage the camera inspection reveals. There are two primary approaches used in residential work. Trenchless pipe lining works when the pipe is cracked or has moderate root damage, but still holds its basic shape. A technician inserts a resin-saturated liner into the existing pipe and inflates it against the walls. The resin cures in place and creates a new pipe surface inside the old one. This method preserves your yard, costs less than full excavation, and adds 25 to 50 years of service life to the repaired section.

Pipe bursting applies when the existing pipe is too deteriorated for lining. A technician pulls a bursting head through the old pipe, which fractures it outward while simultaneously pulling a new pipe into position behind it. This also avoids a full excavation but does require access points at each end of the replaced section. Traditional open-cut excavation remains necessary for full collapses or situations where the pipe has shifted so severely that trenchless tools can't get through it. A qualified plumber will recommend the method that fits the condition of the pipe rather than defaulting to the most expensive option.

Do You Need Professional Sewer Repair Services?

Hydrogen sulfide exposure, soil contamination, and structural ground failure all get worse the longer a broken sewer line stays unrepaired. Schedule a camera inspection at the first sign of odor, soft ground, or unusual grass growth. It gives you a clear picture of what's broken, where it is, and what plumbing repair service is required. Trust Rooter provides camera inspections, trenchless repairs, and full sewer repair services for local properties. If your yard is telling you something's wrong underground, we'll confirm it and fix it.