Sewage Backup.
I Handle the Part Nobody Wants To.
Phil Sheridan · IICRC Certified · Edmond, OK
Professional sewage and contaminated water cleanup across Edmond and OKC. I answer my phone.
What You're Dealing With
A sewage backup isn't a leak. It's contaminated water — what the industry calls Category 3 — and it carries bacteria, viruses, and other things I won't list here because you're already stressed enough.
The good news: I handle this regularly. Not "once or twice" regularly. This-is-a-normal-Tuesday regularly.
Here's the plan: I contain the contamination. I remove everything that's been compromised. I treat what's left with antimicrobials that actually penetrate porous materials — not surface spray, not bleach. And then I verify. Not "it looks clean." Not "it smells better." I verify with air quality readings and surface testing that confirm your house is actually, measurably clean.
That's what I do. The rest of this page explains how.
Why Sewage Can't Wait
Contaminated water doesn't behave like clean water. It doesn't just sit there. The bacteria in it are actively reproducing. The moisture is soaking into your subfloor, your drywall, your baseboards. And mold can start growing on contaminated materials faster than on clean water damage — because the organic matter in sewage is fuel.
Every hour that passes means more material that has to come out instead of being treated in place. There's a window — usually 24 to 48 hours — where I can save your subfloor, your lower drywall, sometimes even your baseboards. After that window closes, it's demolition and replacement instead of treatment and restoration.
I'm not saying this to pressure you. I'm saying it because the science doesn't negotiate. The sooner I can get containment set up and extraction started, the more of your house I can save.
How I Handle a Sewage Cleanup
Step 1: Assessment and Containment
I show up in PPE because that's what this situation requires. First thing I do is assess how far the contamination has spread — this means checking behind baseboards, under cabinets, anywhere the water could have reached. Then I set up physical containment barriers — plastic sheeting, negative air pressure — to prevent cross-contamination to the clean areas of your house.
Step 2: Extraction and Removal
Everything the contaminated water touched that can't be decontaminated has to come out. Carpet and pad in the affected area — gone. Lower drywall where sewage soaked above the mud line — gone. Porous insulation, personal items that absorbed contaminated water — gone. I know that's hard to hear. But those materials are holding bacteria that no amount of cleaning can safely remove. I document everything I remove with photos and measurements for your insurance claim.
Step 3: Antimicrobial Treatment
This is the step most people don't know exists. After removal, I treat every remaining surface with professional-grade antimicrobials — not bleach, not household disinfectant. These are EPA-registered products designed to penetrate the materials that bleach can't reach. They kill pathogens inside the wood, inside the concrete, inside the remaining structure. Then I HEPA vacuum to remove dead particulate.
Step 4: Structural Drying and Air Scrubbing
Once the antimicrobial treatment is done, I set up the drying system — commercial dehumidifiers and air movers — the same process I use for any water damage, but with one addition: air scrubbers with HEPA filtration running continuously. These filter out particulate matter, microbial spores, and the gases that cause that lingering sewage smell. Your air gets cleaned at the same time your structure gets dried.
Step 5: Clearance Verification
This is where I'm different from the guys who spray some bleach water and call it done. I verify with instruments, not my nose. ATP swab tests on treated surfaces tell me whether bacterial contamination is actually gone — not "probably gone," actually gone. Air quality readings confirm the air is clean. Moisture readings confirm the structure is dry. You get numbers, not opinions. And those numbers go in your documentation file.
What I Bring to a Sewage Job
Sewage cleanup isn't a bucket-and-mop situation. Here's what actually shows up when I pull up to your house:
Containment System: Heavy-duty poly sheeting, negative air machines, seam tape. This creates an airtight barrier between the contaminated area and the rest of your house. The negative air pressure means air flows INTO the containment zone, not out of it — so contaminants can't migrate.
Extraction Equipment: Truck-mount and portable extractors rated for contaminated water. These aren't your standard water removal units — they're designed for Category 3 with filtration systems that prevent pathogen spread through the extraction hose.
Antimicrobial Application System: Sprayers and foggers that deliver EPA-registered antimicrobials deep into porous materials. Surface spray misses what soaked in. My system doesn't.
Air Scrubbers with HEPA Filtration: These run 24/7 during the job. Each unit processes the room's air volume multiple times per hour, trapping microbial particulate, spores, and the volatile organic compounds responsible for the sewage odor. When I pull these out at the end of the job, the air in your house will be cleaner than it was before the backup.
ATP Testing Equipment: Adenosine triphosphate swab testing. It sounds scientific because it is. This tells me whether the surfaces in your house have living biological material on them. Clean surfaces score low. Contaminated surfaces score high. I test before treatment and after. The numbers don't lie.
Moisture Meters and Thermal Camera: Same FLIR and pin-type meters I use on every job. These confirm the structure is dry — not "feels dry," actually dry.
Sewage Problems in Oklahoma Aren't Random
Oklahoma City's sewer system includes infrastructure that's been in the ground for decades. Some neighborhoods in the metro are running on clay tile sewer lines that were installed before anyone reading this page was born. Those lines crack. They collapse. Tree roots find the joints and grow into them. And when they fail, Category 3 water comes up through your floor drains and into your house.
The soil doesn't help. Oklahoma's red clay shifts with moisture changes — swelling when it rains, shrinking when it's dry. That constant movement puts pressure on sewer laterals — the pipe that connects your house to the city main. A line that was fine last summer might fail this spring because the ground moved enough to separate a joint.
Then there's storm load. When we get the kind of rain Oklahoma gets — and we get it fast — the combined sewer systems in some older areas can surcharge. That means stormwater overwhelms the system, and the overflow has nowhere to go but back into your house through the lowest drain.
I've cleaned up after all of these scenarios. The cause matters for the plumber. What I care about is what's in your house right now and how to get rid of it safely. That's what I do.
Sewage Damage and Your Insurance Policy
Here's something most homeowners don't know until they need to: standard homeowner's insurance typically does NOT cover sewer backup damage. It requires a separate endorsement — usually called a "sewer and drain backup rider." Some carriers include it automatically. Many don't. And the ones that do often cap it at $5,000 or $10,000, which may or may not cover the actual scope of a Category 3 cleanup.
If you have the rider, I handle your documentation from start to finish. I photograph everything. I record moisture and contamination readings. I scope the loss in Xactimate — the same software your adjuster uses — with line-item detail that matches their format. When my scope matches their language, the conversation gets short.
If you don't have the rider — or if your adjuster tries to argue the scope — I walk you through your options. I've worked enough claims to know the difference between a legitimate coverage question and an adjuster trying to reduce the payout. I document the contamination category, the affected square footage, the antimicrobial treatment protocol, and the clearance verification results. That level of documentation doesn't leave much room for argument.
I can't make your insurance company behave. But I can make it very hard for them to say no to a properly documented claim.
Questions People Ask About Sewage Cleanup
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=01 "Is raw sewage in my house actually dangerous, or am I overreacting?" ▶ ENTER
You're not overreacting. Category 3 water — which is what sewage is classified as — contains bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other biological contaminants that can cause illness. The IICRC S500 standard requires full PPE and containment protocols for Category 3 events. This isn't about being dramatic — it's about the actual biology of what's in the water. You were right to <a href='/contact/'>call</a>.
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=02 "My sewer line backed up but the plumber already fixed it — do I still need a cleanup company?" ▶ ENTER
Yes. The plumber fixed why it happened. I fix what it left behind. Even if the water has drained, the contamination is in your building materials — your subfloor, your drywall, your baseboards. Those materials absorbed sewage, and they need antimicrobial treatment and in some cases removal. A fixed pipe doesn't fix a contaminated floor.
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=03 "Does my homeowner's insurance cover sewer backup, or is that a separate thing?" ▶ ENTER
It's usually separate. Standard homeowner's policies typically exclude sewer and drain backup. You need a specific endorsement — a rider — for that coverage. Some carriers include it, some don't. If you're not sure, I can help you check while I'm assessing the damage. If it's covered, I handle the documentation. If it's not, I'll give you a straight scope before I start.
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=04 "Can I clean up sewage myself with bleach and a mop, or is that not enough?" ▶ ENTER
It's not enough. Bleach kills bacteria on hard, nonporous surfaces — tile, sealed concrete. But sewage soaks into porous materials: drywall, wood, carpet pad, unsealed concrete. Bleach can't follow it there. Professional antimicrobials are formulated to penetrate those materials and eliminate the contamination inside them. A mop addresses the surface. Contamination is below the surface.
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=05 "How long does the smell last after a sewage backup, even after cleanup?" ▶ ENTER
If the cleanup was done right, the smell is gone when the job is done. "Done right" means the contaminated materials were removed, the remaining surfaces were treated with antimicrobials, and <a href='/services/odor-removal/'>air scrubbers</a> with HEPA and activated carbon filtration ran throughout the process. The smell comes from volatile organic compounds released by bacterial activity. Remove the bacteria and the source material, scrub the air, and the smell goes away — not masked, eliminated.
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=06 "What gets thrown away after a sewage backup vs. what can be saved?" ▶ ENTER
Porous materials that absorbed Category 3 water almost always have to go: carpet and pad, affected drywall from the mud line down, fibrous insulation, any personal items that soaked in contaminated water. Non-porous and semi-porous items — wood framing, concrete, tile, sealed surfaces — can usually be saved with proper antimicrobial treatment and <a href='/services/water-damage/structural-drying/'>drying</a>. The faster I start, the more falls into the "save" column.
admin@4d : ~/faq $ query --id=07 "Do I need to leave my house during sewage cleanup?" ▶ ENTER
It depends on where the contamination is and how extensive it is. If it's contained to a utility room or a single bathroom with a door, and I can seal off that area, you can usually stay in the rest of the house. If it's a main living area, a basement that shares air with the house, or if there are small children, elderly family members, or immunocompromised people in the home, I'll recommend you stay elsewhere until clearance verification is complete. I'll give you a straight answer during the assessment — not a guess.
Call me. I answer. I show up. I handle the part nobody wants to.
The Contamination Stops When I Start.
405-896-9088Text me a photo — I'll tell you what I'm looking at.
IICRC Certified · Veteran-Owned · Serving Edmond and OKC Since January 2024