A sewage backup is a health hazard — treat it like one
When a sewer line backs up, a toilet overflows, or a drain fails, the water that comes into your home is Category 3 "black water" — grossly contaminated with bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. It looks like a plumbing mess, but it's really a biohazard. Contact with sewage, or even breathing the aerosols around it, can make people and pets sick. That's why sewage cleanup is one job you should never try to handle with a mop and a shop vac.
Sewage in your home? Keep people and pets away from the area and call [PHONE]. We answer 24/7 and arrive equipped to handle it safely.
Why sewage cleanup is different from water cleanup
A clean-water leak and a sewage backup can flood the same room, but they're handled very differently. With contaminated water, the priority is containment and decontamination, not just extraction. Our crews wear protective equipment, seal off the affected area to prevent cross-contamination, and dispose of sewage and unsalvageable materials according to safe-handling practices. Only after the contamination is gone do we move on to drying and restoration.
Our sewage cleanup process
- Contain and protect — we isolate the area and set up containment so contamination doesn't spread to clean parts of the home.
- Remove sewage and water — specialized extraction removes contaminated water and solids.
- Discard unsalvageable materials — soaked carpet, padding, and drywall that absorbed sewage are removed and disposed of properly.
- Clean and disinfect — salvageable hard surfaces are cleaned and treated with professional disinfectants.
- Deodorize — we address the odors sewage leaves behind, not just the visible mess.
- Dry and verify — the structure is dried and moisture-checked so mold doesn't follow.
What can be saved — and what can't
Homeowners are often surprised by how much has to go after a sewage backup. As a rule, porous materials that soaked up sewage — carpet, padding, drywall, particle board, upholstered furniture — usually can't be fully disinfected and should be removed. Non-porous surfaces like sealed concrete, tile, and metal can typically be cleaned, disinfected, and kept. We assess each material honestly and only save what can be made genuinely safe for your family, rather than cutting corners you'd regret later.
Sewage backups in older Ann Arbor plumbing
Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities have a lot of older housing stock, and aging sewer laterals, combined storm-and-sanitary connections, and tree-root intrusion all make backups more likely during heavy rain. Basements are the usual victims, since they sit at the lowest point in the system. We handle sewage cleanup across Washtenaw County, and if the backup came in during a storm, we can address the related basement flooding at the same time.
Documentation for your claim
Because sewer-backup coverage often depends on a specific policy endorsement, careful documentation matters. We photograph conditions, record what was removed and why, and log the disinfection and drying work so you have clear evidence for your insurer. See our claims guide for how water and sewage claims typically work.