Your sewer line cleanout is a highly useful feature of your plumbing system. Not every home has one, but those that do benefit from it. The cleanout allows your plumber access to the sewer line if you have a sewer clog. That way, the plumber can work right from the access point instead of trying to open up your walls and get into the sewer that way. This saves them the precious time of figuring out exactly where your blog is, as the sewer line cleanout can access everything.
The sewer line looks like a small white pipe popping up somewhere in your yard or, potentially, at the side of your house. It is closed off, but not too pretty. Many homeowners want to hide the sewer line cleanout, and there are a few ways you can do it. Here they are.
1. Garden
A garden bed with medium-sized plants is a great way to disguise your sewer line cleanout. Choose plants that can obscure the view of the line, but that won’t grow into it or prevent your plumber from getting access to it. Decorative grass, soft bushes and perennial flowers are a great choice. Annuals can work,too; you’ll just have to replace them year after year.
2. Gravel or Mulch
Sewer line cleanouts are typically white, so you can disguise them successfully with white gravel. Building up mulch around the line is also an option, but it just won’t match the line as well as white gravel will. If your sewer line cleanout is grey instead, which is possible, grey gravels will work.
3. Sculpture
If you only want to block the view of the sewer line clean out from one direction, you can add a garden sculpture. It could be a grand, tall angel sculpture or a tiny class garden gnome. Whatever works best with your garden’s aesthetic.
4. Feeders
Another great option is to place feeders, whether for birds or other mammals, near or above the plumbing access spot. It should be closed off, which means the debris from the feeder won’t be a bother. Instead, you and your neighbors will have cute animals to look at instead of your sewer line cleanout.
Things to Avoid When Hiding Your Sewer Line Cleanout
When you’re disguising your sewer line cleanout, you want to avoid turning it into a tripping hazard. That means you shouldn’t place walkways nearby. You also want to ensure that your plumber will have access to it in the future, which means making sure that you don’t place plants there that can become a hassle. Bushes with thorns, like rosebushes, are something to avoid. The same goes for trees; you don’t want their roots interfering with the sewer line.
Lastly, don’t bury your sewer line cleanout. You may forget where it is, or the dirt may make it harder for your plumber to conveniently access it. The whole point of the sewer line cleanout is that it is simple to use when you have a sewer emergency.
