We have a pretty old house that was built in 1928. About 4 weeks after we moved in, we noticed that we were having a backup in our sewer drain. After a few days, the whole house had a nasty sewage smell and we had to call Roto Rooter out to rod the line. They were able to rod it to 75 feet and were able to clear up the problem. 3 weeks later, we experienced another backup and we had to call them out again, luckily free of charge since the first rodding was guaranteed up to 6 months. They rodded it again and everything was tested and no backups. 4 weeks after that, we had another backup, which we were very frustrated at this point. We had Roto out a 3rd time, which we had to pay another $290, and it cleared it up. 3 weeks later, you guessed right, another backup. We decided to buy an auger machine ourselves since it would be cheaper to do it ourselves. We used it about 6 times until the motor went out on us. We decided to get Roto Rooter out again and camera the line. The noticed a small collapse in the line about 10 feet out from our house and stated that the section needed to be replaced at a cost of $5,000. They felt that tree roots contributed to this problem since we have cast iron pipes for a sewer line. We decided to hold off since we did not have the money. The strange thing is after all of this, we went 8 months with absolutely no backups. About a month ago, we started having backups again. We decided to call the city and have them camera their end of the line. We thought this was a good idea since we have a manhole in our backyard. When they came out, they stated their end was fine. The day after they came out, the backup cleared up on it's own. We could wash clothes, wash dishes, take showers, no backup. 1 week after that, we had a backup for 2 days, then it would clear up for another 2 weeks. My question is if there really is a collapse in the line, wouldn't we have a backup constantly and not periodically? I really think we don't have a collapse and it is something on the city's end. Please advise. Thank you!!

This might not be the route you want to hear, but I think you might need to dig some holes in your yard in several places to expose the pipes so that when you get the back up, you can better pin point where the problem is happening. This might be a lengthy process and will require safety measures so no one falls in or gets hurt. I also don't know your soil type or how deep things are, or if there are any electrical lines. You'll have to find out that stuff as well as if there are any laws about digging etc...

The $5000 would scare me into wanting to dig a new trench myself and replace it with new so that I would know what was under the ground.

Do you have a septic tank that might have an inlet that is higher than your line at the tank causing the water to have to go up hill at the end of the line? It might work periodically but when more water is in the ground and tank, you would not have good flow possibly causing the back up you describe?

I'm not a professional at this, but have replaced or solved problems on about 20 septic systems on different homes.

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My question is if there really is a collapse in the line, wouldn't we have a backup constantly and not periodically? I really think we don't have a collapse and it is something on the city's end.

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You're correct! If the line were even partially collapsed solids would build up behind it and clog the system. If I had to guess I would guess that you have roots that paper and solids hang up on but get flushed away on occasion so the line opens up again. And I wouldn't be so fast to take the citys word that there's no problem at the city raiser,(where your sewer connects to the street main.) That's where I find most of the breaks that allow roots to enter. I would definitely give some attention to the city raiser.
In the meantime to control 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.
Hope this helps Tom

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Originally Posted by speedball1

You're correct! If the line were even partially collapsed solids would build up behind it and clog the system. If I had to guess I would guess that you have roots that paper and solids hang up on but get flushed away on occasion so the line opens up again. And I wouldn't be so fast to take the citys word that there's no problem at the city raiser,(where your sewer connects to the street main.) That's where I find most of the breaks that allow roots to enter. I would definitely give some attention to the city raiser.
In the meantime to control 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.
Hope this helps Tom

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Thank you for your input!! I will try this and get back to you to let you know the outcome. Thanks again!!

I have a question that doesn't make sense to me. Your 3rd back up was 7 weeks into your 6 month guarantee so why were you charged another $290? I would demand the Roto boys to explain that to you. Unfortunately you will be digging to fix that collapse even if they rodded 100X.

First I would hire a homeless man on the street before I would have rotor rooter to my house, they tried to cheat me so back about 8 years ago, with the same story,
My stoy is this, I was not in town, so my wife called them, they came out and only had a small machine, did not use the clean out under the house, or the vent stack, but took the toilet out to run their line, making a mess of our bath. They had to be called out the next day and did the cameral and said it was colasped, and yep, they would dig it out for so many 1000's of dollars. I had the city out and paid them some money while there to dig up the pipe, guess what, in perfect shape, just a few roots, that a bigger machine could have taken care of.

They lied and tried to cheat me and still cost me a lot of money, lucky I had written them checks, I stopped payment on everyone rotor rooter got and never have paid them to this day.

So yes it is very possible they were running a scam on you, adding charges and trying to get a big charge, I have heard this about them time and time again and as noted had it happen to me personally.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

I have a question that doesn't make sense to me. Your 3rd back up was 7 weeks into your 6 month guarantee so why were you charged another $290? I would demand the Roto boys to explain that to you. Unfortunately you will be digging to fix that collapse even if they rodded 100X.

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The problem with Roto Rooter is they only guarantee it once if it backs up within a 6 month period of them being out. They are a bunch of crooks if you ask me. I will never use them again. I purchased some copper sulfate to flush down my toilet and hopefully this will work. I just don't have $10,000 to throw around to replace a line that probably is in good shape. Thanks

I think we are all in agreement about those folks. The copper is great at killing off roots but it takes a very long time to get them to decay and stop being a problem. Copper sulphate is better at preventing rather than curing root problems. Through a pound down the drain every 6 months once you get your lines open.

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Originally Posted by speedball1

You're correct! If the line were even partially collapsed solids would build up behind it and clog the system. If I had to guess I would guess that you have roots that paper and solids hang up on but get flushed away on occasion so the line opens up again. And I wouldn't be so fast to take the citys word that there's no problem at the city raiser,(where your sewer connects to the street main.) That's where I find most of the breaks that allow roots to enter. I would definitely give some attention to the city raiser.
In the meantime to control 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.
Hope this helps Tom

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Tom,

I know it's been a few months and I want to thank you for your advice. I purchased some root treatment that contained copper sulphate and we have not had any backups since then! YEAH! The only thing is that this stuff I purchased is really expensive. If I do the treatment every 6 months, we are looking at $80 each time, which is only $160 a year if you think about it, but we are on a tight budget. You have mentioned that we can call around to garden supply stores and ask for fine grain Copper Sulphate. I have searched online and found nothing and some of the stores I called around Illinois does not carry anything like this. Can you give me a tip as to who to exactly call? I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks again!

Gina

[QUOTE]I have searched online and found nothing and some of the stores I called around Illinois does not carry anything like this. Can you give me a tip as to who to exactly call? I would greatly appreciate it.[QUOTE] 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. Are you saying garden supply stores don't carry fine grain Copper Sulphate? Well if you can't find it in your town then click on; copper sulphate Buyers - copper sulphate distributors, copper sulphate Importers, copper sulphate agents, copper sulphate Wholesale buyers, resellers copper sulphate to buy on line. Good luck, Tom