I just bought my first home in December and noticed over the past few days that the Wash Machine that drains into a utility sink was draining slowly. My fiancee tried Draino, then another industrial strength solution, to no avail. He bought a snake and snaked through every accessible line he could find. The only other issue in the house is the kitchen sink, which after use of the garbage disposal would leave food particles in the backed up utility sink. We were able to determine where the problem was but not to solve it, snaking didn't work. With laundry piling up (and a baby on the way) I had to do something so I called a plumber . They came out with an estimate of $180 (which I can suck up) and found that snaking didn't work (duh) and said they would have to use water to blow through the pipes, at a whopping $850. After nearly throwing a fit they reduced it to $655 (yipee, thanks so much) and blew out the pipes. With their snake camera they were able to find another clog down the sewer line from the initial problem and said that we shouldn't flush toilet paper or we could expect a back up. Or, they could schedule digging up our yard to get that piece of pipe out to clean it manually. It's apparently 6 feet from the house. They estimated a charge of between $3200 and $4500!!!

My question is this, if it's gooey muck in the line how is it possible that there is NO other way to clean it than to dig up our yard? I'm not a plumber, but I'm relatively sharp and could come up with a handful of "ideas". I mean, even a snake with a proper diameter pipe cleaner, wouldn't something like that work?

I spent enough buying this house, I do not want to throw 3k down the drain after just having spent $700 to get my wash machine working again.

Someone, anyone, help!!!

Patti in Somerset, NJ

ballengerb1

If they found a clog 6' from the house I don't see why they can't get a cutter in there and rod it. Do you have a clean out in your basement? When they rodded, what did they rod, just inside the house or out to the line outside the home.

pvanty

Yes, we have a clean out in the basement. The plumber opened that up and snaked through there with his little snake camera and showed us a flap of sludge that he pushed through with the snake, but it closed up again when he pulled the snake back through. The original clog they were able to clean out with the power washer thing (i'm not so plumbing savvy, admittedly so I'll do my best with the terms.)
I do not know, at this point, why they couldn't power hose that second clog (unless they were just fishing for more money). At any rate, I want to try to resolve this ourselves as I'm already in $700 more than I want to be!
I'm not sure what you mean by "get a cutter in there and rod it". Is that something I can do??

Many many thanks....

Patti

ballengerb1

I mentioned a cutter, yes you could rent one. It is an electric rotary rodder which accepts different heads, a cutter in 3" or 4" being one of the options. I just can't imagine a plumber seeing that sludge and doing nothing about it. Who are thses guys, RotoRoter??

pvanty

Pretty much, Mr. Rooter was the name. I was desperate to have a working wash machine. Now they want me to schedule a backhoe!

Lesson learned. If I can rent the equipment of which you speak and resolve the issue, I'm going to feel like such an idiot for not trying here first.

Now I just have to figure out where to rent the equipment from....I'm going to give it a shot.....

Thanks!

ballengerb1

The only reason I could see needing a backhoe would be if that flap of sludge was actually the wall of the pipe caving in. What exactly did they say about that sludge? Ask them to tell you specifically why they can't rod out the debris.

pvanty

In the invoice he left for the work performed he noted "Hydro scrubbed kitchen/laundry line from sink out to main stackline, removed food and scale.
Also at no additional cost video inspected sewer from cleanout out to street main. Sewer has scale and for best results treatment may be needed. Install 4" cleanout, 4 to 6 feet deep with up to 10' of pul (?) open and expose outside case iron and use backhoe if needed. $3,858.16 customer will receive cred when job is done"
The credit he referred to was for the $700 I paid today for them to, essentially, powerwash my pipes. Ugh. I'm sorry, that's not exact, I paid 180 for the snaking, and 480 for the power scrubbing and there was 45 in tax.
My fiancee had asked why they couldn't clean it out and the man had said that without digging to get to the clog manually we might end up with water in our house. I have no idea what that's about the plumber had asked me to go boil some water to pour down the drain.....

(feeling more and more like an idiot with each post)....

ballengerb1

Don't feel foolish, this is something you don't deal with regularly and it can be tricky. Sounds like he is planning to install an outisde clean out. To be honest with you I would not use Mr. Rotor or RotoRotor for line replacement. I suggest getting three estimates from licensed plumber who do heavy work. Something still smells fishy with his being able to reach the city main but not open the drain.