Our toilets and bath tub backed up. We called a plumber and he could not find a clean out, so he would charge almost $200. To lift the one toilet up, snake it, and replace toilet. Well... His BIG augger, machine driven would not go anywhere, it kept hitting the toilet in the master bedroom (which actually worked, some of the time). Then he moved it all around and pushed very hard, sounded like it was hitting cement. I went outside and that's what I heard right outside of the bathroom. He said he couldn't do anymore (after over $200. Oh, we also have a home warranty.. Hmmm) Anyway, he said to pay a person to find the line and he would return, dig up whatever and clear it for the tune of $565.00. I called the warranty place, and they are sending a new plumber. BUT, in the meantime I flushed the master bedroom toilet (no tub or shower in there) and black, sandy goo backed up into the tub in the bathroom he was working in. Could he have broken something? We never had that type of stuff, only "sewage". There was about 4 - 5" of water with the crud, after about 3 hours it drained out. Now we are worried that a pipe or the master bedroom toilet has been damaged. They are denying everything... Keep saying warranty doesn't cover that. But he still took the cash. Main question: damage? The new plumber wants to try to go through the roof, but we are so skeptical. Thank you for any help or insight that you can offer.

I doubt if he damaged anything but may have pushed the clog further downstream. Home warranty usually does not cover a clogged sewer but it would cover a broken drain line. Call a plumber who can snake the line with a camera. SeeSnake® Video Inspection - RIDGID Professional Tools (http://www.ridgid.com/tools/seesnake)

Agree with Ballengerb1: no damage. He only dislodged dirt in the pipe that eventually backed up into the tub. He was unable to insert put snake through toilet inlet because of the "back-to-back" installed toilets, installed on Double San-T. He should have go on the roof and snake it through 3" of 4" vent. This way he would by-pass the San-T turn. Also, he should look for clean out outside. It is not so hard for an experienced plumber to locate main sewer w/o Sewer Locating equipment. If you don't have clean out, he should suggest to install one - perhaps double clean out ( one facing the house, the other facing the street ) - and then snake your sewer line through new Clean Out. Installing new clean out justifies the $565.00 charge. Back to you. Milo