How to find sewer cleanouts?

I'll follow this thread because I'd like to know as well. I can't find mine anywhere along my slab.

No blockages yet. Just trying to be proactive in case there ever are. House built in the late 50s maybe early 60s, on slab. Cast iron drain pipe

Have not found any pipe in the ground. Just know it's cast iron from when I had pulled toilets a couple years ago

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Probing rod

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Tried that. Tried a metal detector. No luck. Or I didn't know how to use the metal detector

When I did plumbing as a high school job all we had was a probe rod.

If we did not find a clean out but did find the pipe we drilled a hole in the pipe and ran our machine thru that.

If we did not find a clean out or the pipe we just ran our machine from the roof down a plumbing vent.


ETA:
What LSU999 said seems crazy but does work. We use to do that as well with metal coat hangers.

Had thought dowsing might work, but no idea what I'm doing. Will give that a try too

main line cleanout is usually within 3 ft of the house where the main 4" line exits the slab and at or below ground level

there will also be a cleanout on the other end of the house near the kitchen or laundry room right at the slab exterior edge

if you have a blockage or slow drainage you can try this to unclog the line. fill every sink to the top as well as every tub, then release them all at the same time as best you can while you simultaneously flush all your toilets


that will send a slug of water down the lines like a power flush and will usually push any clogs free. you may need to do it more then once but it has a good success rate to avoid calling a plumber

I asked my BIL, who is a master plumber, this some years ago as I didn't know where my sewer clean out was - wasn’t having an issue just wanted to know should I have one. He said as general rule most plumbers will put the clean out on the outside of a wall of a bathroom/toilet towards the rear of the house, furthest from the street so I suppose that might a good place to start - but seems like you might have done that. Of course if a kitchen/laundry was at the rear of the house I would check there as well.

He suggested using a T-handled metal probing rod which I recall buying at HD.

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50's or 60's

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You may not have one

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Just know it's cast iron from when I had pulled toilets a couple years ago

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My experience has been cast iron is inside the house but transitions to clay tile pipe or maybe Orangeburg pipe outside. Often there were no clean outs installed. If you have clay tile or Orangeburg I would anticipate having to install an entirely new pvc line in the future as tree roots destroy those old pipes. A metal rod probe is what you use but it is a PIA as there are rocks and old brick and other things you will hit while probing. Once you find it you can dig down and install a pvc clean out using rubber couplers to connect pvc to clay tile. They make specific rubber couplers for this. Orangeburg is crap, has asbestos in it and luckily I have never had to deal with it.