I have tree roots that accumulate in a cleanout trap just before the storm drain leaves the house. The hair like ends of these roots appear in the clean out. Occasionally, there is also some sand that deposits there. The combination blocks the discharge, which has caused a back up into the basement.
The roots can be cut or snaked out at the cleanout trap but that's just a quick fix. I would like to do a more thorough clearing out of these roots as far upstream as possible. The question is where & how do I (or a drain cleaner tech) do it?
There are no sump pumps here, the storm drain goes into a public storm sewer by gravity. This is a quad level house in south east Michigan. It was built in 1965. I believe the drain tiles are vitreous pipes and the sewer lines are iron.
I'll try to describe the scenario further. Because it's in a quad; the basement is only about 15 x 30 feet. Also, because one wall is adjacent to an attached garage & another is adjacent to a sunken family room, there are only two walls that appear to have drain tiles at the footer on the exterior walls. A huge tree is adjacent to one of these walls.
In the basement, the storm sewer consists of one floor drain (favoring the two outer walls) and a clean out trap. Both can be snaked out through an opening on the down stream side of the traps (but no access to go upstream).
I have two questions. Can anyone tell me (or guess) what is upstream of the floor drain? Would it be a single pipe from the footer drain tiles to the floor drain - or two, one from each wall; or what ever? Additionally, is there a way to get the roots out that are probably upstream of the floor drain (without tearing up floors, etc)?
Your help will be much appreciated.