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How much money am I fixing to shell out? Sewer problems

Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:30 pm
Posted by beebefootballfan
Member since Mar 2011
19032 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:30 pm
Wife had the washer running tonight and all of the sudden I heard the toilets begin to say give me your money, gurgle gurgle, and the front shower filled up with sewage. Went out to find suds coming out of the drain vent for the wash room. Went up and cleaned the frozen suds off the top and the pipe was still filled with suds less about 4 ft.

Let everything sit for about 30 min and then went to the front bath turned the shower and sink on, flushed the toilet 2 times, everything worked as normal. (Total time elapsed was around a minute)

Third flush water backed up in the shower again.

I am hoping this is in the city end since they have had a bad problem with the 50 year old pipes collapsing on this end of town.

If not what's it costing these days to have a plumber come out and run a snake through the main line?
Posted by Chad504boy
4 posts
Member since Feb 2005
166291 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:32 pm to
$350
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
27969 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:36 pm to
Do you have a cleanout? run a snake. also check your vents to see if squirrels have clogged them up.

If you are going to be a homeowner,buy your own snake,and make sure you have cleanouts for your lines. If you don't have them,install them while you don't have problems.

Are you sure you are on the sewer system? or do you have a septic tank?
Indoor plumbing aint some magic shite,it requires maintenance and consideration on a regular basis.
This post was edited on 12/9/16 at 10:50 pm
Posted by CaptainBrannigan
Good Ole Rocky Top Tennessee
Member since Jan 2010
21644 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:40 pm to
I just paid $1200 to have my septic tank line replaced and another $400 to have it pumped.
I didn't feel like doing it myself. And I had to pay more because i wanted it didn't that day.

Posted by beebefootballfan
Member since Mar 2011
19032 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:48 pm to
quote:

Do you have a cleanout? run a snake. also check your vents to see if squirrels have clogged them up.


I went looking for one but it's dark and couldn't see much with just a flashlight. House is about 50 yrs old so it may not have one. If it is it's probably buried by now

I may try to run a snake down the vent tomorrow.

I just find it odd that a clogged main would drain down enough in 30 min to run the shower for 90 seconds while getting 2 heavy flushes thrown down the line.
This post was edited on 12/9/16 at 10:49 pm
Posted by saintsfan1977
West Monroe, from Cajun country
Member since Jun 2010
7708 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:49 pm to
quote:

How much money am I fixing to shell out?


A shitload
Posted by beebefootballfan
Member since Mar 2011
19032 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:49 pm to
quote:

A shitload


Happy Birthday to me
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
27969 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 10:59 pm to
Vents could be your problem. If vent pipes are clogged,it creates a vacuum in the pipes,but you could also have the other problems.

An older house like yours probably has a septic tank?Has it been raining a lot where you live?
Posted by beebefootballfan
Member since Mar 2011
19032 posts
Posted on 12/9/16 at 11:07 pm to
It is on city sewer. Main issue we have in this town is old city lines collapsing and being in the delta a lot of areas always have problems when we get some rain, but in the two years we have been here we have been problem free.
Posted by Bill Parker?
Member since Jan 2013
4473 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 12:08 am to
Roots in pipes, tampons in pipes, or clogged vent. Space out your use over the weekend to let lines drain into the main line at street. Snake it if you have access to one, or call someone on a weekday to clean out lines.
This post was edited on 12/10/16 at 12:11 am
Posted by wickowick
Head of Island
Member since Dec 2006
45810 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 6:56 am to
50 year old lines is likely cast iron. You could have just a clog or a partial collapse. Could be as easy as a clean out, but it is probably more. It could be a damaged line in the yard or it could be a line under the home. Is the home pier and beam (built off the ground) or on a slab?

I would suspect the home is on a slab based on the discription of the problems. If the cast iron lines are damaged that means bust through the slab to repair or tunnel under the home to repair, neither are going to be cheap...
Posted by Gaston
Dirty Coast
Member since Aug 2008
39011 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 9:37 am to
If you have iron pipes try of one these in the line.



It expands to seal off your end then forces water towards the blockage. It's messy to get in, but they make black gloves.
This post was edited on 12/10/16 at 9:38 am
Posted by White Bear
Yonnygo
Member since Jul 2014
13895 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 9:47 am to
I paid like 100 to have a plumber clean out. First night in new house shower wouldn't drain. So I pulled the screw plug on the clean out to let it drain to the outside, bought snakes, etc but I could not reach the clog.
Posted by DeoreDX
Member since Oct 2010
4053 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 11:37 am to
quote:

I just find it odd that a clogged main would drain down enough in 30 min to run the shower for 90 seconds while getting 2 heavy flushes thrown down the line.


Classic signs of roots. Roots act like a filter and will clog everything solid up but let's just enough water to trickle through that the water will eventually receed. Then when you run water again it will run until you fill the pipes back up. Each time you flush a turd and tp it makes the clog worse.
Posted by Maniac979
The Great State of Texas
Member since Jan 2012
1904 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 1:22 pm to
Copper Sulfate Pentahydrarte for the win after you have the line cleaned out, assuming it is roots.
Posted by p0845330
Member since Aug 2013
5700 posts
Posted on 12/10/16 at 8:03 pm to
It turned out to be slightly on my side of the line a couple of years ago, and not the city's end, though I still question whether it really was or not. It enriched the plumber by $1,400.
Posted by reds on reds on reds
Birmingham
Member since Sep 2013
4205 posts
Posted on 12/11/16 at 7:22 am to
Had the same problem in our old house. We moved instead of dealing with it.
Posted by Twenty 49
Shreveport
Member since Jun 2014
18769 posts
Posted on 12/11/16 at 8:55 am to
Insurance tip: If your sewer backs up and damages floors and such, the damage may or may not be covered by your homeowners policy. You may want to call your agent and check on it.

My neighbor just had floors in two rooms ruined by a sewer backup. Turns out he had no coverage, but there was a $10 a month endorsement he could have purchased from State Farm that would cover it. They had never mentioned it.

This appears to be common across the country. Most homeowner and business insurance policies do not cover sewer backup unless specific sewer backup coverage is added to the policy.

I called my agent, and he said I am covered. His company (Shelter) either has coverage in the main policy or via an endorsement. Sounds like they (at least around here) try to make sure everyone is covered for it.
Posted by LSUbrat
Houma, LA
Member since Nov 2007
128 posts
Posted on 12/13/16 at 3:21 pm to
We recently had sewer backup that flooded 2/3 of my house (running toilet overnight) We felt it was also the city side, but they denied. Insurance company had a plumber out with camera and determined old cast iron pipes were misaligned at junctions and sections were sagging. This caused backup. After all the pipes under my slab and backyard were replaced, it was about $38,000.
Posted by TU Rob
Birmingham
Member since Nov 2008
12739 posts
Posted on 12/13/16 at 4:36 pm to
quote:

Classic signs of roots. Roots act like a filter and will clog everything solid up but let's just enough water to trickle through that the water will eventually receed. Then when you run water again it will run until you fill the pipes back up. Each time you flush a turd and tp it makes the clog worse


Could also be a collapsed fitting. That's what mine was several years ago. Thankfully I have a large utility sink in the basement that is the lowest fixture in the house, so the sewage backed up into there instead of up in the house. I had a plumber come out and run a jet through the main drain, then ran a camera. Old terra cotta pipes underground.

The pipe from my end was fine, but where it connected into the T for the sewer, that had collapsed and was creating a spot to catch things and causing backup. The plumber quoted me around $3-4k. I told a guy at work and he said to call the city first.

I called them and they ran a camera down it, and confirmed it was after the cleanout in the yard so it was on their end. They asked my permission to roll back some of my fence and get a mini excavator back there. Of course I said yes. They dug up the cleanout, their pipes, and my pipes, and replace about 10-15 feet of pipes with fresh fittings all around. Didn't cost me a thing.
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