I moved into my first home almost a year ago now and we had our septic pumped after about 1.5 months of living there cause it needed it.

Our flow of water and our drains have been great and noneproblematic since our septic flush but about 1 week ago recently I was taking a shower and I noticed that my stand up show started suddenly taking in water and it started filling up and not draining like it used to. I thought very quickly that something is wrong and that there must be a clog somewhere. I go out in the front yard to pop open the cleanout drain pipe and all is clear and nothing visible other than a small half inch stream of clean or clear water. It didn't look like anything was backed up from the septic cause there was water running and no backup.

Would my septic be full already? Which is highly doubtful cause it just isn't backing up from the septic or showing the obvious signs that it is.

Would it seem that I have a clog somewhere? I think this is likely to be the case cause when I flush the toilet or run water from ANYWHERE in the house, it doesn't run through the main sewer line that's RIGHT BEFORE THE SEPTIC tank. If I'm not seeing running water going through that main line no matter WHAT sink or toilet/shower I use, then that means that the clog has to be in that main line at the CLEANOUT right? I snaked it with a manual turning snake I bought and I swear I seen some waste start to flow but not enough to see water draining when I flush the toilets or run the sinks. Whats your quess as to what it might be?

Also real quick, why the hell are there black flying insects flying in my front lawn and what seems to be only/EXACTLY on top of my drain field and or septic tank? Maybe they're it's just the summer time? Or whatever. I've never noticed them before. I know that I don't have a wet lawn. I'm sure my septic is fine. I just can't seem to figure out why so many of the same black flying bugs flying over that area in my front lawn. THANKS


I spelled Guess wrong. Sorry.

So when you look in your main clean out as a toilet is flushed you don't see a rush of water go by ?

so when you look in your main clean out as a toilet is flushed you dont see a rush of water go by ?

No, not like I used too. I even was able to actually hear the sloshing and flushing and movement of water from the toilet before all this happen. I don't see anything. I remember having my girlfriend flush the toilet one time before just to check and see how it all works and yes, you can see the toilet paper and water ZOOM right past your sight. But now I don't get any of that. Not even a sound. But I don't see anything blocking the way when I pop open my cleanout drain. I don't know. I'm thinking that there is most likely a clog somewhere in that cleanout main drain pipe that's just before the septic tank. I ran a 25 foot snake through there a couple hours ago and nothing. I DID see some waste and colored dirty water.

I don't know how this could have happened when BOTH me and my girlfriend know better on flushing ANYTHING down other than our ANGEL SOFT toilet paper. We don't flush ANYHING down the toilet that we aren't supposed too. OR pour anything down sinks for that matter. Not even oil or grease when we cook. We dump that outside in the empty field next to us. I just don't know. It seems like such a text book plumbing problem but I'm not plumber. But it just REALLY REALL seems that it's a clog and it's where I THINK it might be.


I don't understand how a fairly new home built in late 2005 could be acting like this.

Do all of your fixtures drain poorly or just some of them ? Lets see if we can isolate the clog. Do you have a crawl space?

I even went through the house with that snake auger and did the sinks and the master bathroom toilet and even the drain where the washer machine waste water goes down. Everything seems so clean. I don't know. This LITTERALY all of the sudden just happen on that day when I was just taking a shower. Like, all the sudden!

Do all of your fixtures drain poorly or just some of them ? Lets see if we can isolate the clog. Do you have a crawl space?


No, all sinks and showers drain fine if you don't run the water for too long. The master shower and toilet are the fastest one's to fill up and clog. But I snaked those two several times each and got nothing major. Maybe a little bit of hair from the master stand up shower where it all started or happened when it did. I took off a lot of "P" trap pipes from sinks and nothing really. Little bit of hair balls but nothing major.

What's a "crawl space"?

Can you get underneath your house to inspect pipes ? (crawl space). How far is your main clean out from your house?

can you get underneath your house to inspect pipes ? (crawl space). How far is your main clean out from your house?

Oh, no I don't have a crawl space. Like a basement? No, this is FL. I don't think we have such spaces. It's just on a flat concrete slab. Just an average spec home.

I wish I had a diagram of what the pipes look like underneath my house so I can understand where the clog might be. I'd like to see something like that where all pipes go into that 1 main cleanout drain pipe.

But no, I don't have a crawl space. The main cleanout spot is not far at all. About 2.5 feet away maybe? More like 2 feet. But it's kind of flush with the lawn ground. I've seen some where it's outa the ground and sticking out about 4 or 5 inches. Some are even located at the side of houses. Mines in the front and kind of flush with the ground. Just the top is shown with the square tip to use maybe channel locks to turn open.

Is that the cleanout you already snaked?

Is that the cleanout you already snaked?

Yeah. I snaked it but I didn't see much come out. I was thinking that I'd run into the bulk clump and spin the thing and break it loose and have a crap load of stuff run out like TP, waste and water and such but I went all the way in which is about 25 feet I believe that's how long that snake is. But I didn't pull anything out. I did it several times.

Here are some pix of the cleanout drain and it's location.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/7257/dscf0192.jpg

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4886/dscf0193.jpg

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4482/dscf0194.jpg

AC101, He has already stated that He sees no discharge past the cleanout.

John,
You are correct. You have a clog in the house main. You didn't say so I'm assuming that you're on a slab with no basement, correct? How I would go about this would be to rent a sewer machine ,(see image) and send 15' from the cleanout back into the house, The reason I don't want you to put more then 15' is that you'll be snaking against the flow and could end up in a toilet and damage it. If you get the clog from the clean out you will see the built up sewage draining past the clean out into the septic tank. If that doesn't get it, station some one at the clean out and take the sewer machine up on the roof and snake from one of the vents until the person at the cleanout tell you it's draining.


why the hell are there black flying insects flying in my front lawn and what seems to be only/EXACTLY on top of my drain field and or septic tank?
These sound like moth/ drain/or sewer flies, (see image) Kill them with bug spray. Take my word for it. You don't want them in your system. I hope you didn't see any in your clean out or sewer line. They are bad news once they get vinto your home.

John follow speedballs advice he knows what he's doing for sure.

The reason I asked about the clean out is in my area we are required to have two on the main line if the main line is over x number of feet long don't remember the exact number. One must be within 4 ft I think it is of the residence and the other between that and the tank. Im sure its just a local thing as we have a lot of screwy rules and regs here. Well have a good day everyone and back to work I go. Good luck, ac

John,You are correct. you have a clog in the house main. You didn't say so I'm assuming that you're on a slab with no basement, correct? How I would go about this would be to rent a sewer machine ,(see image) and send 15' from the cleanout back into the house, The reason I don't want you to put more then 15' is that you'll be snaking against the flow and could end up in a toilet and damage it. If you get the clog from the clean out you will see the built up sewage draining past the clean out into the septic tank. If that doesn't get it, station some one at the clean out and take the sewer machine up on the roof and snake from one of the vents until the person at the cleanout tell you it's draining.


These sound like moth/ drain/or sewer flies, (see image) Kill them with bug spray. Take my word for it. you don't want them in your system. I hope you didn't see any in your clean out or sewer line. They are bad news once they get vinto your home.



Yes I'm on just a regular concrete slab. No basement. I went all the way in the cleanout with the handheld snake auger http://www.aaadraincleaning.com/images/snake-auger.jpg <----is the one I have and used and I didn't hit anything I'm thinking. I don't think that 25 feet is long enough to hit any sinks. Just taking a guess cause of where the cleanout drain is in the front yard. The nearest sink in the house is probably 23 to 25 feet away. I was hoping that I'd see the stuff zoom right past me but I went in- MAXED OUT DEEP with that snake auger and I got nothing. I've never went on the roof of my home. I think I've seen 2 pipes up there. I don't know where they go but I guess I can figure it out cause of where they're located. My question to you is, how would snaking the roof's vent pipes help with the potential clog that I have? Wouldn't gravity have taken the clog to the main cleanout pipe? That's ultimately where everything merges together to end up flowing into the septic. I would've never thought to use the roof vent pipes. What are the chances that, THAT might actually work? I hope those sewer machines aren't too pricey to rent. Could I try first with my current snake auger I showed you before resorting to a rented sewer auger? I'll have to get the girlfriend to stand near the opened cleanout drain to see if it comes out when I snake the roof's opening.

Well, I have seen these little tiny looking fly things clinged onto the inside of the cleanout pipe once I've opened it before. Not every time but sometimes and I have seen them before. Those
Aren't the flying bugs I was talking about but I HAVE seen the one's you've posted in the picture. Sucks.


I appreciate anyone's help. This is the 1 place I can turn to for help.

Sure John, You can use your hand snake, but my concern is that with a small cable you're punching through the clog and it's simply closing up behind you. Iwould rent a regular sewer machine and follow my directions. Good luck, tom

Sure John, You can use your hand snake, but my concern is that with a small cable you're punching through the clog and it's simply closing up behind you. Iwould rent a regular sewer machine and follow my directions. Good luck, tom

Thank you speedball and ac101. I'll go at it again.

By the way, I'm from Sarasota, where do you live in Florida? Tom

By the way, I'm from Sarasota, where do you live in Florida? Tom

I'm in Fort Myers. Lee County.

Hey, I went at it again like I said but It came down to realizing that the clog is somewhere around the master bathroom area. I think it's still around in the cleanout pipe but around the master bath area of the house. I went on top of the roof and found 4 PVC vents and snaked them to find absolutely nothing at all. Well, there were live frogs in at least 2 of these vents. I don't understand the vents. The snake just fell all the way through to the bottom of each vent. There was nothing. I went back to the cleanout pipe 1 last time and snaked that with all 20 or 25 feet of the snake I have and I got nothing. But I DID see some stuff flushing and a bit more running water. I know the clog is somewhere around in the cleanout pipe but I can't tell if it's in both the cleanout pipe and maybe the pipe drains for the master bathroom. The reason I know it's the master bath is cause I had all sinks and showers running on full hot water to try and flush some stuff and it gave me a better looking stream of water but I know for sure that it isn't good enough. I turned all sinks and showers off and went back into the house to find the master bath and toilet to have the clog cause the master standing shower had about 4 inches of water and the toilet level was low. I flushed the master toilet and it didn't even flush. Just took on some water. I waited like 2 hours for the master bath to drain and I know it'll just rise up again if I take a shower in there. I'm wondering why other sinks and the guest bathroom in the halway didn't fill up with water and show a clog. This is how I know it's around the master bath side. My GF and I never really use the guest bathroom. I'm getting pissed off cause I can't seem to tackle this problem without just going along and hiring a pro plumber.


I can't believe I'm having this problem with a fairly new home. This is for sure the last time I deal with a septic/well home.

The master bath problem is actually worse. Before it would drain faster but still not fast enough to feel like it didn't have a clog. Now it's not even draining. Like I said, I had to wait about 2 hours for 4 inches of water to drain from the master bath shower.

I snaked the master bath AGAIN and of course found nothing as usual. Using ALL 25 feet of the snake. I took the plunger to the master bath AND the toilet and can hear sloshing or gurgling from each side when I plunged whichever side... sighs. I don't know.

Do roots and weeds go through PVC? I thought they started using PVC when building newer homes cause they are more susceptible to weeds and roots penetrating through.

There's a good chance that it could be a root... a STRONG root that all the TP and waste stopped at when going down the drain and made a clog.

I don't know much about this stuff but I'm betting it's a root. And it might be slightly farther than my snake length can reach. I need a 50 FOOT snake line. Maybe a bit thicker too would be nice.


I NEED HELP!

First septic tanks are all ways full. They don't begin to work until they are full.

The blockage is between the toilet and the clean out. Rent a snake, usually rented by half day. Pull the toilet and snake with a sewer snake. It needs to be long enough to reach the clean out. You will need new wax ring to reset toilet.

First septic tanks are all ways full. They don't begin to work until they are full.

The blockage is between the toilet and the clean out. Rent a snake, usually rented by half day. Pull the toilet and snake with a sewer snake. It needs to be long enough to reach the clean out. You will need new wax ring to reset toilet.

I need to do all that? Why now? It wasn't like this 2.5 weeks ago. All the sudden it's all messed up. What's up with that?


I have a quick question. Would I be able to bring the water hose up to the roof of the house and spray down the toilet PVC roof vent and clean it out that way? Or will it make a mess in the house? That would be a good way to just flush out the problem.

Well, Tom is telling you the same thing. He's saying snake from the vent. I'd rather pull the toilet than carry the snake up on the roof.

Why now? Because something has gotten stuck in there. Who knows what. I've had an infant's hairbrush go down the toilet. You say that you are very careful about what you put in the toilet, but maybe a guest put a sanitary napkin down the toilet; maybe a visiting child threw his toy in. Who knows?

Pulling toilet no big deal. Disconnect the water supply line, remove two nuts on hold down bolts and lift and set toilet aside. Remove old wax, install new wax ring, set toilet back in place.

No, the water in the vent will just come out the shower drain.

Well, Tom is telling you the same thing. He's saying snake from the vent. I'd rather pull the toilet than carry the snake up on the roof.

Why now? Because something has gotten stuck in there. Who knows what. I've had an infant’s hairbrush go down the toilet. You say that you are very careful about what you put in the toilet, but maybe a guest put a sanitary napkin down the toilet; maybe a visiting child threw his toy in. Who knows?

Pulling toilet no big deal. Disconnect the water supply line, remove two nuts on hold down bolts and lift and set toilet aside. Remove old wax, install new wax ring, set toilet back in place.

No, the water in the vent will just come out the shower drain.

I understand. We don't have guests. It's just me and my fiancé that live here. RARELY do we have guests come over. And we've NEVER had children here since we've moved in about 10 months ago. So I know that it can't be something from a child or even a guest.

There were 4 vents up on the roof. Didn't know where they went to but I snaked all 4 and nothing.

I suppose I can pull the toilet. That sounds easy enough. It'll be cooler to see what's going on down there rather than try and make up some kind of guess as to what's wrong.

Do roots and weeds go through PVC? I thought PVC was supposed to be stronger than clay or brass piping. You make good points though. As does everyone that has posted. But the vents, kind of pointless cause nothing came out lol!

Fort Myers Huh? I worked out in Cape Coral back I n the 60's when it was just being built. Lived in North Fort Myers on the river.
You should have got it from the vents, can't understand why you didn't. But follow Harolds advice, pull a toilet and snake from there. Good luck, Tom

Roots can get into any pipe that has a crack or leak. A root growing under a any pipe could cause a crack but would be less likely with PVC because it is more flexible than cast iron. Why the concern with roots? If you have roots you should see bits of root on the end of the snake when you pull it back.

Yeah back in the 60's when all of FL was a happier more quieter and slower paced place to live. It's changed BIG TIME!

I was asking about roots and PVC cause I didn't know if it was likely that roots would be the cause of the clog. But it is probably not roots. I DID however pull a tiny skinny root string when I first started snaking the MAIN cleanout pipe. But I didn't get anything else like that again after that first one.

I was wondering if you guys think it would be OK to first try using the snake auger in the master bath toilet BEFORE pulling it out of the pipe to take a look. I know what you guys are thinking, that I'll scratch the toilet bowl. But if I can do that carefully without scratching the bowl, do you guys think it'll be worth trying first? I think I can find something to put around and inside to bowl that would keep the snake line from scratching. The toilet snake auger just isn't long enough. I want to use the 20-25 foot snake auger. But there's no protective plastic tubing. I'll try to find something to put over the snake line to keep it from scratching it.

I have figured out that the clog is DEFINANTLY in the master bathroom area. I can't even use EITHER of the dual master bath sinks cause when I do, the shower starts to backup. I flush the master bathroom toilet and the same thing. The clog is FOR SURE in the master bathroom side of the house. That WHOLE section of PVC plumbing is all messed up and clogged. I don't think I can figure that out to save my life. I think I should throw in the white flag. I can't figure it out. There's standing poop waste water in my master bath tub LOL. That side of the house and that bathroom STINKS LIKE AZZ! Literally!! I guess I should just call a pro right guys? It feels strange to say that cause there shouldn't be anything the pro's do that an average home owner can't do. But I guess they have the tools for the job.. I don't know. They're just going to end up using a 50 ft or longer sewer auger snake. I can't wait to see how mad and frustrated the pro's get trying to figure out my PITA clog. It's going to be priceless!
!! aaahhahahahahahahahaha!! *evil grin*;):D:p

Thirty minutes and $300.

Let us know what he does. Pull the toilet or go down the vent? Good luck, Tom