I have been having this problem on and off for the last 6 months. I will get it fixed (myself through chemicals, hot water, and/or plunger) or twice to a plummer. I feel like the plummer is missing part of the problem since it keeps coming back and at over a hundred dollars a visit, it's time I get some more advice.

We have a two-story townhouse, built in 1980. The first time we had a problem, we had two people showering upstairs and a bunch of sewage came up in the toilet and bathtub downstairs. We called a plummer and he snaked a drain outside, I think going to our main drain into the street.

A month later, similar problem running water upstairs (and dishwasher, but don't know if that added to the problem) and the same gross water backed up into bathtub and toilet downstairs.

Again later, I ran a bath downstairs and it would not drain. I immediately had problems flushing same downstairs toilet. When I would plunge the toilet, I could get it to drain but backing up in bathtub starts back up.

We have been lucky to keep the problem for getting out of control, but once it completely flooded our downstairs (I have tile and wood laminate flooring, which caused a little puffiness and creaking around in the floor now). But when this happens, we have to be careful with showers, washing dishes, flushing toilets... everything that is typical in a home on a day to day basis.

Any help or advice you can provide would be GREATLY appreciated.

Does it have a tendency to happen more often when it rains?

The next time t6his happens locate and open up the sewer clean out. If it has standing water the problem's between the building and the street. If not the clog's in the units system. Let us know. Tom

Speedball:

I was also trying t eliminate "sewer overload", which may actually be the County's fault. If there are too many cracks in the sewer system, the sewer gets overloaded with just plain water. If it does happen during/after storms, you may need to contact your county so they can survey it from the street side as it's happening.

Tree roots can also grow back quite agressivley and can mean costly roto-rooting jobs. Solutions are either new sewer line and/or chop down the offending tree. Maple tress just love sewer lines and are fast growing.

Just cleaning is just one issue. You may also decide to get your lines videoed for blockages. And don't forget to look at the vent stack.

The material that your sewer line is made of in the various ares might help make better educated guesses.

Something is wrong, but it MAY not be something that you are responsible for. If it happens when it rains call the county to come look at it during the rain.

The rain doesn't seem to have any effect on this problem.

I did go outside to look at the drain, but it has a lid on it that is bolted down and the bolts are rusted. I think that the plumber actually was able to twist the entire top lid off... so I'm going to try to track down a bigger/better tool for doing the job.

I also called my HOA, because they are supposed to be responsible for all exterior building surfaces, roofing, gutters, etc... I left a message and asked if they could send someone over to check the vents on the roof or if they are also responsible for the drain from out of the house.

Thanks for your prompt responses... I definitely appreciate it!

Any blockage beyond your fixtures is usually the responsibility of the POA, check with them. You may be spending your money on their issue.

Well, I talked to HOA and they said that anything outside of the townhouse was indeed our responsibility... I just don't know if that is accurate though, so I'm going to check into more. They did say that they could clean the vents from the roof though, so I'll see how that goes. Thanks, again, for everyone's feedback.

Outside, probably is a relative term. From house to street usually is your responsibility, but the problem could be at the street which would not be your responsibility.

With water, your responsible up until the outside shut off even though you might think that the water meter is the logical demarcation point.

Well, I got the lid off the drain outside and it burst filthy water and sewage it was so backed up, so speedball1 you were right! I got the maintenance guys to come over, they had one of those bladder things that you put on the end of the hose and sqirt pressurized water down into the drain. It seems to work at first: the water level in the drain went down, the bathtub went down.

Then, they said to run it about 10 minutes and next thing I know it's backing up into the bathtub again.

Still no one has cleaned the vents on the roof, do you think that would help?

The guys were nice enough to lend us the bladder until Monday, so do you think we should periodically pressurize that drain? What about pressurizing the actually bathtub... is that even possible?

Any advice is, as always, greatly appreciated!

Have a great weekend.

PS: Speedball1, are you Tom? If so, I read your bio/posting rules, and just want to wish you well with your health. I have two family members fighting cancer and I hope that they have as good of luck on chemo as you seemed to have... is everything OK now? I wish you well and hope you continue having good health... people should feel quite honored to have your help online for free considering your credentials and everything that you have been going through over the years.

Maybe I have this building picture wrong in my mind. This is a townhouse and is part of a POA or HOA. The POA owns the common lands around the building and maintains the exterior of the building, am I correct so far? If so then you don't own the roof or exterior walls just from the paint on the dryway inward. In this situation you are not responsible for anything beyond the pipe once it passes through the drywall. But then I did say maybe I have this wrong and there is no common property. Please get back to me so I better understand. Thanks

Thanks for the reply, ballengerb1. We have an HOA, but it is a townhome and they said that anything outside the house is our responsibility. But they are also responsible for the roof, the exterior (paint, garage doors, landscaping, gutters even), so I'm not sure why the plumbing outside of the house would be any different. It could be that the clerk who answered the phone just didn't know.

The maintenance guys came over anyway with the equipment, so why would they send someone over if it weren't their responsibility... I guess it could have just been a nice guesture.

Maybe I should check into Florida HOA laws or something similar?

Thanks, again!

I think there clerk is full of beans . They came because they own the drain line out to the street riser. If your toilet plugs you plunge it, it the drain plugs they fix it. In most cases the break pont between you and them is the surface of the drywall, they own that and you own anything you paint onto the walls. Remember that is you ever get a leak or wet spot on your wall or ceiling, it's their drywakk.

GRRR... we have roots! Roots in the line about 8 feet down from the drain. The plumber pulled a bunch out and suggested we get a product called root-x or rootEx that may help, but inevitably they will always come back. I have again called the HOA to let them know that this pipe will need to be pulled up and have the roots from THEIR palm trees out. Thanks for all the help, guys!

Do not be surprised if they decide to not take up the pipe. The roots will regrow but slowly and they may feel periodic rooting or Root-X is an inexpensive solution at $38. Root Doctor USA - The Online Drain and Sewer Root Surgeon

Thank you for the recommendation... you are the second person to recommend this product, so I think I will go with it! Do you know if you can find it at a local retailer and not just online. I searched Lowe's, Home Depot, even Wal-Mart websites to see if they sold it and I cannot seem to find it anywhere.

Again, thanks so much for your help!!

Lowe's, HD and Menards all sell a tree root killer but it may be another brand name. Actually the task should be the responsibility of the HOA to keep the drain line clean. You can do it but it just adds to your personal expenses unnecessarily.