Cleaning out he Main Drain

[N2CHX]

OK... I live in a big old Victorian house built in the late 1800's. The sewer pipes are OLD and once again I had to rent a snake and clean out the main line to the street.

There is a floor drain in the basement which backs up and that's where I put the snake in. Anyway, I get to about 30 feet and the snake stops dead. However, once I hit that and drill at it for a minute or two, suddenly the flood waters disappear with a giant sucking sound. There's obviously something there, but I don't know what. So far I've not been able to get whatever it is out. Fortunately, even though I had to perform this ritual about 6 times last year, this is the first time since last spring that I've had to do it so I must have done a pretty good job of clearing it last year.

Any ideas on what the hell might be blocking it and how to be done with it once and for all, short of replacing all the pipe out to the street (about a $8,000 project from what I was told).

[ab1ga]

Robotics! :-)

A bit more seriously, a picture may be worth a thousand head scratches. How big is the pipe? A web cam is a plastic baggie plus a white LED or three may give you a bit more insight into the problem. Depending on what's down there, you may be able to run a hook to it and drag it out, once and for all.

Or, if you'd rather not get that into the job, there might be a plumbing service that can take care of it.

[N2CHX]

Robotics! :-)

A bit more seriously, a picture may be worth a thousand head scratches. How big is the pipe? A web cam is a plastic baggie plus a white LED or three may give you a bit more insight into the problem. Depending on what's down there, you may be able to run a hook to it and drag it out, once and for all.

Or, if you'd rather not get that into the job, there might be a plumbing service that can take care of it.

Dang, that's a great idea. Not sure why I didn't think of it. I wonder if they rent those plumber cams? Gonna go check home depot.

[KG4CGC]

Here's to hoping they're not tree roots.

[ki4itv]

Here's to hoping they're not tree roots.

That is what I was thinking.
If you break the clog in the same place every time, and it takes a while to become clogged again... It could very well be roots.

[N2CHX]

That is what I was thinking.
If you break the clog in the same place every time, and it takes a while to become clogged again... It could very well be roots.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it seems to be going. And the fact that it clogged again right when the weather warmed up makes sense too.

[suddenseer]

Here's to hoping they're not tree roots.

That would be my guess. I had a shrub root system work it's way into the line the septic tank. It required digging to repair, not a pleasant task.

[N7RJD]

Here's to hoping they're not tree roots.

Actually given the age of the system, if it were me I'd just about be praying for tree roots. They can be
nasty but one alternative is that a section of pipe gave way and is allowing the ground to slowly sink into
the system blocking it.

The camera idea really is your best bet. We have had commercial drains scoped a few times. It's not cheap but
neither is snaking the thing out over and over and for my taste it's always better to know what's what than to
keep guessing at it. I'm not saying that knowing is going to solve the problem but it sure will help you decide your
best plan of attack.

[n2ize]

A couple sticks of dynamite will clear our whatever the heck is stuck down there.

[W5RB]

Roots are the most common recurrent obstruction . They can actually grow through clay sewer pipe .