My drains backed up and the roto-rooter guy that came out determined that the problem was large tree roots blocking the sewer line outside the house. I have a cleanout right outside the front of the house that he snaked a camera down and said that there is another cleanout right near the sidewalk that is just underground. He said that the pipe and cleanout were broken and needed to be replaced. He guessed that the concrete truck that put in our pool 7 years ago ran over it and broke it and it just took that long for the roots to find their way in. Personally, I would've thought it doesn't take that long for the roots to enter the pipe.

In any case, I was wondering what opinions the experts here had on whether it's a project that I could do myself. My first thought is that it doesn't seem like it should be that hard to cut out the bad part of PVC pipe and then put in a new pipe with a cleanout. However, I wanted to see what it was that I was missing because it just seems ludicrous to me that the roto rooter guy wants so much money to do the work. How much are the cleanout parts typically, and where might a homeowner be able to find the necessary parts?

Thanks,
Stephen

Two question before you start 1. how deep is the sewer pipe? 2. Will your city allow an unlicensed person to do this work? After you know the answers to these questions the project is pretty much grunt work. Lots of digging and probably some shoring. Cut the pipe, clean/prime the pipe and new clean out, glue it , install the no hub coupling. Every part you need can be bought for under $100 at Home Depot or Lowe's.