What to expect - Roots in the Drain

[cjplumber]

Here is a good article on how the roots cause problems on a sewer line, check out the hydro jetter videos and other methods to fix your sewer line hope it helps to answer most of the questions.

http://www.therooterdrainexpert.com/Sewer_Roots_Explained.html

 

[PipeInspection]

You didn't mention what the Blue and Black lines are. Is that the piping? Most plumbers don't want you to do this, but you'd be better off getting your own pipe camera.

Roots will always travel to water. I'd clear the 30 feet. Make a brake where you have access and do what you can to clear that area. However, it's your house.

 

[PipeLining]

Hey all,

I've spent a few hours reading some old posts and various things around the good ole interwebs.

We have a root issue in our sewer drain. Pipes are cast iron to the yard and then clay pipes.

about 2 months ago we had a drain back up so we had a roto rooter type guy come out and found quite a few roots. He recommended snaking it every 6 months. Last week it backed up again, so this time we called a plumber in case the issue was more severe. They snaked the drain and planned on running a camera a few days later. I wasn't there for the camera today, so this is all relayed from my wife. Looks like the root issue is pretty bad at the joints, but the rest is in good shape. My questions:

We paid $325 for a snake and camera. I expected them to clean much of the roots, not just get it to pass water. Was this expecting too much?

The culprits (I assume) are two trees in our front yard that the drain runs by. There are a couple other trees in neighbors yards, but not very close to the property lines at all (probably 40-50 feet from the drain line). We're having those two trees removed in the next few weeks. If we remove the trees, kill the root systems, run some rootx, would that be a good solution?

Second question - everyone seems to have copies of their drain cam. We didn't get one...is that the norm?

Hi Litleclay, not sure who told you that the water would go right back into neighbours drains but this is false. Or should I say in 99% of cases this shouldn't happen especially if the company knows their stuff. Not sure what you mean by Pipe Lining only repairing up to the T section but any good Lining company can Line T-sections, Junctions, bends etc but then not sure what you mean by can't get anything past the 'T'. If your area of pipe is just under grass then yes maybe your better off excavating and replacing with new pipes. With anything, very hard to advise when can't see it clearly but good luck and shop around for quotes.

 

[protech]

See responses in blue.

Hey all,

I've spent a few hours reading some old posts and various things around the good ole interwebs.

We have a root issue in our sewer drain. Pipes are cast iron to the yard and then clay pipes.

about 2 months ago we had a drain back up so we had a roto rooter type guy come out and found quite a few roots. He recommended snaking it every 6 months. Last week it backed up again, so this time we called a plumber in case the issue was more severe. They snaked the drain and planned on running a camera a few days later. I wasn't there for the camera today, so this is all relayed from my wife. Looks like the root issue is pretty bad at the joints, but the rest is in good shape. My questions:

We paid $325 for a snake and camera. I expected them to clean much of the roots, not just get it to pass water. Was this expecting too much? No, they didn't do their job properly.

The culprits (I assume) are two trees in our front yard that the drain runs by. There are a couple other trees in neighbors yards, but not very close to the property lines at all (probably 40-50 feet from the drain line). We're having those two trees removed in the next few weeks. If we remove the trees, kill the root systems, run some rootx, would that be a good solution? No, fixing the pipe would be good.

Second question - everyone seems to have copies of their drain cam. We didn't get one...is that the norm? unless that was promised to you, they did nothing wrong.

Anyone who suggests snaking as solution for roots is milking you. Jet the pipes totally clean and reline them or have the broken sections replaced. Remove the disease, not treat the symptoms.

 

[litleclay]

Well, since this post was brought back to life I'll give an update.

My neighbor has a 50' 1/2" Ridgid auger that we've been taking back and forth (he's owned it for years and runs it every 3-4 months for precautionary measures. Its not quite long enough for my section of the line, but it gets most of the problems taken care of. For hydro-jetting, I haven't found a single company that does this in my area. Lots of plumbers "have heard of doing it" but I don't want to be a test home for a bplumber just getting on this scene. I really haven't spend a ton of time looking either, as we're looking at the full replacement route.

The local gas company laid a new line on the main road we live on. This gave us a good look at where the sewer line was. Turns out I'm not only on my neighbors' line, but also his neighbors. There used to be a fourth, but they recently ran their own line. Four houses, one 4" line of clay pipe. Wow. Anyhow. I'm now exploring options with my neighbor to run new sewer lines. Since I know you guys loved my last one, I've attached a new paint file to show where the existing line is and where we would like to go.

Dark Blue - Existing Line
Light Blue - Possible Route 1 - easiest route, most excavation cost and added turns/bends in the line.
Dark Green - Possible Route 2 (running from main stack 15 feet out the side of the house. Minimal excavation & basement is currently open and being renovated anyway).

The reason we want to keep them close going into the street is the high permit costs. I live on a state road (5 lanes + large shoulders, about the width of 7 lanes total) and permits for cutting into the road will be almost $5,000 and we're trying to get the city/state to allow shared costs. The excavation company quoted about $35/foot for digging, coming out to about $3,000 for excavation costs on my end. The other option is to run two new lines following the same route they currently take. The third property has zero issues with backed up drains, so they don't care to participate. My neighbor is a snow bird and is leaving the state for the winter in a couple weeks. If I'm willing to wait until Spring he'll be a part of the line replacement AND we may be able to get his son to do the excavation portion (he owns a back hoe). We'll see. At this point I just hope we can make it 6 more months...

 

[protech]

Have a competent plumber hydrojet the roots and trash out of the line. Then camera inspect the sewer line. If line is not collapsed, have a specialty relining company come out and reline the sewer.

 

[cici]

Are you in business in San Diego. Looking for honest plumber for root intrustion problem.

the above statement is true, however if you are NOT able to afford this type of work, i offer this as an option, i cable the line with full set of blades and camera the line, i keep doing this over and over until i get all or most of the roots out of the line, then i will add root-x to kill off any strands of roots still hanging around.. then at this point i recommend to cable once a year before the holidays just to prevent back up ( maintenance), roots will still grow into your pipe so you must do this, it kinda like shaving once a year.... i havent seen your pipe, so if any sections are crushed or disconected, the only way to to replace.. i charge about $500 for the above service just so you can compare the two.. hope you can find a plumber in your area to do option 2, if you go that route...