Is the plumber found tree roots in my sewer line an emergency?
Not urgent. Roots do not drill through sound pipe. They find water vapor escaping an already-failed joint or crack, grow in, then thicken and catch paper and grease. So this is really two findings at once: your lateral is broken, and a nearby tree found the break. The pipe defect is the disease and the roots are the symptom — which determines who you should actually be paying.
What changes while you wait
For the tree, watch, indefinitely. For the plumbing, days if you have an active backup, because sewage in a finished basement is a health and insurance problem that worsens hourly. Between backups, roots re-occupy a rodded line on a fairly predictable cycle; if your interval is shortening year over year, the pipe defect is enlarging, and you are buying rodding on a schedule that will eventually cost more than lining the pipe once.
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