Roots in sewer pipe to main, Hydro-jet??

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DavidN

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I have a root problem. They are a little over 100 ft from the house. Had a local plumber over two weeks ago with a 100 ft snake with a 3 inch bit. He cleared the backup, but the camera revealed another batch of roots too far for the snake, so its backed up again. I want to get it hydrojetted. Is there anyone in the Delaware valley that does this? Having a hard time finding anyone online. I am in northeastern Maryland bordering Delaware and Pennsylvania. Any help would be appreciated. Also, pipe appeared to be in great shape except for the roots. Thanks
 
If the pipe was in great shape roots would not be able to enter it. You need to repair the pipe where the roots are entering it. Even if you get them removed they will grow back in a short period of time.

John
 
If the pipe was in great shape roots would not be able to enter it. You need to repair the pipe where the roots are entering it. Even if you get them removed they will grow back in a short period of time.

John

Thanks for the help John, I guess being in Florida you don't know of any plumbers in my area that hydro-jet. True, if the pipe was in great shape it wouldn't have roots in it. Let me clarify. For a 40 year old terra cotta pipe it does not appear to be in danger of collapsing or have serious structural damage. Roots are finding there way in at a few connecting points of this old pipe. My point being, I don't think I need to replace the entire sewer line. I plan on eliminating the trees and cleaning up the pipe. Thanks again for your help.
 
Chances are you dont need to replace the pipe and even if you did there is no gaurantee that the roots wont damage the new pipe in time. Unless you know something we don't and the camera is showing offsets caused by the root intrusion or major breakage, than eliminating the root sources and treatment is a good plan. I would either look in your local yellow pages or even check craigslist for a company. Draincleaningforum also has a company show case that may help you.
 
You could always dig up the connecting joints and remove the roots from the area. Once it's clean, dump a few 50 pound bags of rock salt and they will stop roots from attacking that area.
 
You can Patch line it where the problem areas are, but eventually the whole pipe will need to be replace and in answer to Drainit comment - if you "Line" the pipe and it is done properly (by a company that has over 10yrs exp) then it will last in his lifetime anyway. The product has at least a 60 year life span. Also, if you "replace" the pipe in PVC that is used in the UK then this is also guaranteed to last a very long time! All the best and yes using a High Pressure Waterjet is the way to go. If you can find a plumber also see if he can put a camera thru the pipe and give you a copy of the dvd.....
 
Don't waste your money hydro-jetting find a plumber with a longer snake and get it cleared with a small blade then medium then large and treat with root-x to buy some time then you can decide what to do to fix the problem hydro-jetting roots will make them puff up and create a hair like substance that will clog trust me from experience!

Ben Franklin Plumbing Of Alpine
304 Meadowlark Drive, Alpine, UT 84004
(801) 960-1567 ‎ www.benfranklinplumbingalpine.com
 
Jetting the main for roots is a JOKE, jetting is for SOFT blockages, yes your roots will be nice and clean after jetting is done,,, find a plumber with a longer snake 150ft +, as per code you should have a c/o EVERY 100FT, this is money better spent..
 
DavidN said:
I have a root problem. They are a little over 100 ft from the house. Had a local plumber over two weeks ago with a 100 ft snake with a 3 inch bit. He cleared the backup, but the camera revealed another batch of roots too far for the snake, so its backed up again. I want to get it hydrojetted. Is there anyone in the Delaware valley that does this? Having a hard time finding anyone online. I am in northeastern Maryland bordering Delaware and Pennsylvania. Any help would be appreciated. Also, pipe appeared to be in great shape except for the roots. Thanks

I would like to point out to the other guys that root intrusion does not always occur from the external side of the pipework. If the camera survey you had shows displaced joints then this is the case but on very small occasional it has been known for a bird to drop a seed in the open end of a stack pipe and breed in the pipe. Do have the pipe hydro scrubbed with a spinning jet head. This will remove the smaller, more brittal roots and remove the mass build up blocking the pipework. Then re survey the pipe from manhole to manhole to identify the damage to the pipe. Hydro scrubbing is the first point of clearing a drain. Any experienced drainage engineer will clear the pipe first before even thinking about a reline or localise point repair on the pipe. Snakes are best used to remove limescale on the pipe. They all still need HPWJ to clean the pipe.
 
Jetting is a great tool for certain applications and the jetters we use are very powerful and will rip the flesh off to your bone if you were hit by the jetter nozzle but on roots it turns it into a hair like substance its best to cable then jet then camera but if you know whats wrong already cable then root-x or replace or repair.

Ben & Munson Mech Plumbing
Lehi, UT
(801) 960-1766 ‎
 
Hi, we are in the uk, a lot of u keep going on about root-x, what is this?
 
Root-x is one of the more common and longer lasting root killing chemicals for sewer pipe.
 
Have you tried a Jetter? It attaches to your Power Washer, and you feed it through your drain pipe.

Can't remember the website, but I originally saw an Ad in Popular Mechanics Magazine. Sure you can Google the words Jetter Attachment, and find it.
 
Have you tried a Jetter? It attaches to your Power Washer, and you feed it through your drain pipe.

Can't remember the website, but I originally saw an Ad in Popular Mechanics Magazine. Sure you can Google the words Jetter Attachment, and find it.

Jetting has been mentioned in the #7 and #10 reply's to this post and I tend to agree with him. Jetting has it's place but not on roots.

John
 
Good to know cause they advertise it will.

Since we use Pipe cam's we find the clog area, and dig up the ground to replace that section.
 
Jetting is probably the longest lasting "short" term solution. We use both cable machines and jetters to clean sewers. The cable machine usually only gets around 60% of the roots out of the line due to clean outs not being big enough to put a cutter that is large enough to clean the whole pipe. If all the roots aren't removed, they will begin growing immediately. Hydro jetting on the other hand removes 95 to 100% of the roots out of the line taking much longer for the roots to re grow in the pipe. We offer a 3 year guarantee when we hydro jet. If your line backs up because of roots, we will come re jet for free. Make sure your plumber has a root rat or wart hog head that is designed for removing roots. If roots are growing in your pipe, they will always grow back eventually. The only way to prevent re growth is to dig up or line the pipe with a cpe liner.

Mr. Rooter Plumbing
Dane County, WI
(608) 819-6588
 
I disagree on jetting for roots as well. I'm sure Mr. Rooter charges a pretty penny for it though.
I'd cut a cleanout in further downstream so you can clean the whole line. Use a regular snake to clean the line and see how long it takes for the roots to return. just about every old sewer in the Detroit area has roots. If they're choking your pipe every 6 months, you probably need to consider a repair. Every year or two, I'd use copper sulfate and keep an eye on your floor drains. They are usually the first sign of a back up.
 
DetroitRob said:
I disagree on jetting for roots as well. I'm sure Mr. Rooter charges a pretty penny for it though.
I'd cut a cleanout in further downstream so you can clean the whole line. Use a regular snake to clean the line and see how long it takes for the roots to return. just about every old sewer in the Detroit area has roots. If they're choking your pipe every 6 months, you probably need to consider a repair. Every year or two, I'd use copper sulfate and keep an eye on your floor drains. They are usually the first sign of a back up.

Agreed completely. Jetting sewers doesn't make sense. it'll puff the roots right up.
 
Agreed completely. Jetting sewers doesn't make sense. it'll puff the roots right up.

I guess I'm new to the forum and don't want to ruffle too many feathers, but how many of the plumbers on this forum are familiar with how root removal with a hydro jetter works? I have a brand new 2001 machine that goes every where I go and works fairly well for most applications. The problem with any sewer machine is that they only remove 60 to 70% of the roots at best. We camera every job we do and the consensus is almost always the same. I you have a 4 inch clean out and it transitions to 6 inch pipe, the sewer machine just wont get all the roots out of the pipe. If the pipe has offsets and you have to use a smaller cutter, the result is even worse. Some customers root issues are so bad that they have to cable every 6 months to a year. When we us our hydro jetter the roots are totally gone from the pipe, that's why we offer a 3 year warranty. In the past 5 years that we've been using scrubbers, there have only been a handful of callbacks out of hundreds of customers! Jetting with a regular cleaning head would just clean the roots off and push the stoppage through, causing the roots to puff up. Using a root rat or warthog head cuts the roots flush with the edge of the pipe and removes all the roots out of the line. The roots eventually will grow back but it takes much longer than when we use a cable machine. There is a reason that we spent almost $50,000 on jetters and cameras. ;)
 
I guess I'm new to the forum and don't want to ruffle too many feathers, but how many of the plumbers on this forum are familiar with how root removal with a hydro jetter works? I have a brand new 2001 machine that goes every where I go and works fairly well for most applications. The problem with any sewer machine is that they only remove 60 to 70% of the roots at best. We camera every job we do and the consensus is almost always the same. I you have a 4 inch clean out and it transitions to 6 inch pipe, the sewer machine just wont get all the roots out of the pipe. If the pipe has offsets and you have to use a smaller cutter, the result is even worse. Some customers root issues are so bad that they have to cable every 6 months to a year. When we us our hydro jetter the roots are totally gone from the pipe, that's why we offer a 3 year warranty. In the past 5 years that we've been using scrubbers, there have only been a handful of callbacks out of hundreds of customers! Jetting with a regular cleaning head would just clean the roots off and push the stoppage through, causing the roots to puff up. Using a root rat or warthog head cuts the roots flush with the edge of the pipe and removes all the roots out of the line. The roots eventually will grow back but it takes much longer than when we use a cable machine. There is a reason that we spent almost $50,000 on jetters and cameras. ;)

We here appreciate your input, and welcome to the Plumbing Forums!
 

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