Hi,

Here's the situation. I recently purchased a home and had not even been there for 2 weeks before I had a flood (via the utility sink) in the finished basement. Apparently the previous owners cemented over the basement drain. I have coverage through our local water company, they sent a roto rooter person to clear the drain. About a week later, it backed up again but did not flood. The same guy came and cleared the pipe again but stated that there was mud in the pipe. I then went ahead at my expense and had the pipe televised and this is their report.

"Televised line from vent to street, found heavy tree roots in line. There is about a 10' belly in pipe and at 36' the line is just about closed off with heavy tree roots. Line is partially blocked"

I have then contacted the water company who said they do not cover bellies but will jet the line. My question is, is this a temporary solution? I would like a permanent solution to this problem as I do not want to redo the basement to have it flood again. I am at my wits end with the water company. I am ready to call in Action News or the BBB.

Please help me... Thanks.

Bellies? Never heard of that one? As far as tree roots, there seems to be two thoughts on this subject. Hire a contractor to go though the sewer pipe with a rotary knife which will remove the roots for a while. OR, hire a contractor to dig up and replace the sewer line from the street to the house with new plastic pipes and get rid of the offending trees.

One way or another you are going to need to replace that drain line all the way to the city riser. The belly or settled area will collect heavier deposits and the tree roots will continue to grow back. RootX or copper sulphate from the garden center every 6 months will keep the roots at bay but it won't help your belly. I am sure the guy with the drain camera will give you an estimate but I'd get 3 estimates from licensed and insured plumbing contractors.

In the orlando area a sewer estimate is about 20 bucks a foot. In the atlanta area it is about 35 bucks a foot, both charging more if over 7 feet
The belly is a part in the pipe that has dropped due to the ditch not being tamped at a grade or installed during a rainy day. It will do what ballenger said. The roots show a broken pipe. The choices are simple, either dig up the offending belly and remedy and repair the section where the pipe is allowing roots to enter or have the whole sewer replaced. Use 4" pvc schedule 40, thinner sewer pipe is legal though.

It solidifies what everyone has been telling me

What do you do if the pipe bellie is on the city system? I have videos that clearly show the system has gaps, cracks, tree root intrusion, and misaligned to the point my private line has lundged forward but is still clearly tapped into the line. I have a DPS dept. that says if I fix my private line it will solve the problem. Why would I do that when the city line has longtudual cracks along the top and bottom in the section where my line taps into and in many other sections and the water is not flowing out the way it is intended. In addition, the two manholes my line is between is aged and made of brick and mortar and what happens is the rain/snow fill them up and also pushes the mortar and pieces of brick in the manhole where it eventually enters into the city line and causes obstructions and the water that should not be in there overburdining the system and the water backflows to my line and had been happening for the past 27 yrs. When they come clear the blockage, the water stops coming up or if standing water immediately recedes. I never have a problem with water exiting my house as long as the city line is clear. An Indepenent co. came in and ran a camera after the spent 8 hrs. jetting up the concrete, roots, etc. and in 5 areas recommend cured in place pipe and rehab before further detriotation. Any advice on my next step as having sewage in your basement and the clean up let alone loss of personal property I am at my limit.

Quote:

---

I would like a permanent solution to this problem

---

You're not going to like my solution but it's your only option. It's not the belly that you should be concerned with but the break in the line that's letting in roots and mud. You do have options, Dig up the line and repair it or replace the entire sewer line.
In the meantime to control those roots, If you wish to control roots RootX or Robics Foaming Root Killer that contain Dichlobrnic are two products you could try.
A less expensive way would be to call around to garden supply stores and ask for fine grain Copper Sulphate. Put a 1/2 pound in your toilet and flush it down. Repeat in 6 months.
Hope this helps and thank you for rating my answer, Tom

That was helpful- speedball one- what if you have one under the tub- I had it camera- lots of water- then all of a sudden -no water
Please advise

Sorry about your problems and bad news I will bring to you - but I think you would be over-reacting if you call BBB or Action News. Your pre-sale inpection should have reveal it in Inspection Report. It became a common practice in my area to have main sewer pipe Video Inspect prior to the sale of every house. Yes, it costs couple of hundreds of dollars to do so - but you will avoid problems you are going through today.

Sorry to say: belly will not go away on its own. Also, as far as tree roots go - they will also remain in the pipe no matter how well your plumber cleans it - they will eventually always grow back in. In the end, you will have to deal with it in proper way: replace the pipe.

If funds are not available to do the work, do as Speedball suggested: excavate the belly section of pipe and replace it with fresh piece of pipe. That will solve the belly problem but not the root problem. You can control the roots by snaking the pipe once / twice a year - but eventually you will have to replace it, anyway.

Hope that helps. Back to you. Milo