Ask Me Help Desk - Storm Sewer Tree Roots

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.

DO NOT snake any drain line upstream or against the flow. This will hang the snake up
On a fitting or come up in a toilet. It's just not done.
Put a cutter tip on the snake and cut those downstream roots out. For immediate relief and to kill the existing roots and prevent further growth you can purchase RootX or Robics Foaming Root Killer that contain Dichlobrnic.
A less expensive way would be to call around to garden supply stores and ask for fine grain Copper Sulphate. Put a 1/2 pound in the pipe and flush it down with a garden hose. Repeat in 6 months. Good luck, Tom

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedball1

DO NOT snake any drain line upstream or against the flow. This will hang the snake up
on a fitting or come up in a toilet. It's just not done.
Put a cutter tip on the snake and cut those downstream roots out. For immediate relief and to kill the existing roots and prevent further growth you can purchase RootX or Robics Foaming Root Killer that contain Dichlobrnic.
A less expensive way would be to call around to garden supply stores and ask for fine grain Copper Sulphate. Put a 1/2 pound in the pipe and flush it down with a garden hose. Repeat in 6 months. good luck, Tom

Thanks for the reply Speedball1, it's appreciated.

I am aware of Rootx, Roebics & copper sulphate. In fact I have been using copper sulphate twice a year now for three years. It has only slowed down; but not stopped, the root growth. The limitation here is (I believe) that the roots are entering the footer drain tiles & growing towards the house clean out. None of the above chemicals can be made to go upstream from the clean out to the footer drain tiles (where the roots are coming from). When I use the copper sulphate, I put it into a floor drain that discharges into the same house clean out even though I have no idea if there are any roots in it or not.

Maybe you can educate me on how the footer drain tiles and the floor drain (mentioned above) may have been arranged. Do the footer drains go directly into the public storm sewer (in this case the house clean out)? Are footer drains ever run under the basement floor?

"Maybe you can educate me on how the footer drain tiles and the floor drain (mentioned above) may have been arranged. Do the footer drains go directly into the public storm sewer (in this case the house clean out)? Are footer drains ever run under the basement floor?"

I wish I could but we don't have basements in my area or problems such as yours. Perhaps one of the other experts will pick up on this and give you a answer. How about it guys? Tom