Greetings,

Our one story house built 1955 has had an issue with the main line since we purchased it about 11 years ago. We suspect we have orangeburg pipe from conversations we have had with some of the original owners who are our neighbors.

We have to have the main line which exits our house and connects to the County's sewer about once a year on average (sometimes twice). We can always tell when it is going to start giving us problems as when the washer discharges the toilets will begin to gurgle. It is interesting because they are not air bubbles making the sound, but when I am looking at the toilet I can actually see the water level being sucked down until it starts making the noise.

My question is, besides the orangeburg pipe issue, should I ask the plumber to snake down the vent line from the roof as he does not do this. He simply snakes the line from the clean out to the sewer. Could this be causing the backup problem apart from the poor integrity of the orangeburg pipe (which we are seriously considering replacing). THANK YOU

speedball1

I remember installing Orangeberg pipe 40 years ago in Tampa wondering how long tarpaper sewer pipe was going to last. I guess some are still holding up.
The fact that the water level in the toilet was being sucked down should have been a dead giveaway to your plumber. That would point to a suction in the system that is not being relieved by venting. This slows the flow down in the sewer so solids drop and begain to build up causing a blockage. By all means have your plumber clear the vents. Good luck, Tom