Hi~I own an old home and all of a sudden we have plugged sewer drainage! First, the toilet REALLY overflowed and after plunging the toilet, it backflowed into the shower, ugh, nasty! I took the toilet off, snaked (50 feet) into the lines, nothing there, did the same with the shower. Still plugged. Went into the basement, took drains off at the bathroom Y's.. ran the snake through to the clean out trap if not past it.. nothing but a little bit of nasty water, etc. No plug yet. Next, I took off the cap to the clean out trap.. got drenched with backflow.. Oh sheesh.. now that was really errrm... BAD! Ran the snake through the clean out trap seemed to hit something at approximately 42 feet of snake line but got nothing returned even after a few hours of trying to work it through. I called the city and explained my dilemma to no avail. They told me I was responsible for EVERYTHING to the City Main which is not in the center of the street, tis much closer to the 'other side of the street'. I measured and had the snake at the city's riser. I have 2 kids still at home, have worked my rear off trying to fix this problem and we have no sewer.. going on a week now. Next I'll go rent an auger I guess, the cheapest plumber wants 182.00 an hour. S'cuse me? Not to mention 2 blocks up on my side street (I own the corner lot) the city has it blocked off, and there are new sewer and water mains laying on the sides of the street. But they're telling me to foot the bill? Not to damage Their tree that I am responsible for, etc. Yikes, any Ideas here.. Oh PLEASE, any IDEAS that might HELP? I am now permanently disabled, do not have that kind of money and haven't owned this house that long. I am at a loss? :confused:
Thanks MUCH to ALL who have taken the time to read~~Casah:eek:

In every area I've ever worked in the homeowner's responsible for a sewer lines upkeep and maintenance out to the city raiser. In other words, if the problem's on your side of the property line it's on you but if it's on the city side it's on them. I have found that when the blockage's at the city raiser it's roots that have found their way past the joint connecting your line with the raiser. To help you fight roots RootX or Robics Foaming Root Killer that contain Dichlobrnic are two products you could try.
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 your toilet and flush it down. Repeat in 6 months.
Please keep me in the loop and let me know how you made out. In my book you shouldn't have to pay to repair any city owned property. Good luck, Tom

Thanks So Very Much Tom... I finally gave in and hired help, sheesh~I spent enough time in this area with my Dad! It turned out that the "PLUG in MY DRAIN" was right past the City riser and quite a few extra feet out as well were Tree Roots (as I expected) These tree roots are from a tree on the Boulevard, which does not belong to me, yet I am fully responsible for~Grrrrr! :mad: The 'very nice and well informed Licensed Drain Specialist with over 20 years experience' had to run his auger out a little over 70 feet of line before we cleared~~ from my clean out trap to the city riser is approximately 36 feet and we had added extra footage just to be on the safe side~ after viewing blueprints from the city, we found we were correct with the first measurement of 36 feet! Will the city reimburse? That's a laughing matter, even with the proof of how far we had to go in, and he didn't hit anything until he had extended about 35 feet of his auger line Hrmmm !:rolleyes: After neighbors came to see what was happening here, the main item that flowed were the stories of their own,(no pun intended)and a lot were recent events :eek: believe it or not~down to these elderly people being harassed by let's just call them 'Civil Servants' to be safe here. I myself threw a fit with the city, yet after hearing from Many, and I emphasize many people in the neighborhood, am going to keep my mouth shut after knowing what I know now and am putting my home up for sale on Monday. I am actually afraid~Holy cow!! I THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your help and especially as fast as you responded~we have been without sewer(and proper water usage) for a little over a week, boy did that shower feel great to me AND my KIDS... The rest of this eve is going to be down time for me! Then tomorrow I get to figure out how to come up with part of my house payment I had to spend and begin the nasty clean up, hope and pray the sweet lime will help the dirt floor in the basement after sump pumping what water may be left as the huge washtub didn't contain that mess. Yikes, tis still a nightmare, but I'll perservere somehow as my health lets me.. it's a strength sapper!! Again, I truly THANK YOU:D ~~~Casah

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Originally Posted by speedball1

In every area I've ever worked in the homeowner's responsible for a sewer lines upkeep and maintenance out to the city raiser. In other words, if the problem's on your side of the property line it's on you but if it's on the city side it's on them. I have found that when the blockage's at the city raiser it's roots that have found their way past the joint connecting your line with the raiser. To help you fight roots RootX or Robics Foaming Root Killer that contain Dichlobrnic are two products you could try.
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 your toilet and flush it down. Repeat in 6 months.
Please keep me in the loop and let me know how you made out. In my book you shouldn't have to pay to repair any city owned property. Good luck, Tom

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