This spring, my wife and I bought an older home (built around 1940) that had a half-built, half-bath. Basically, the water supply lines had been plumbed to this bathroom, but the waste/drain/vent plumbing had not been done. I was able to successfully install the waste/drain plumbing for this half-bath... in doing so, I connected into an old sewer hub in the basement that I assumed would be able to handle my bathroom's waste. That is, the sewer hub was big enough to handle a 3-inch PVC pipe. It's kind of hard to explain without a picture, but there is another (pre-existing) waste line coming into this general area that carries the kitchen waste.

Unfortunately, the floor drain in this basement started backing up, so I called Roto-Rooter to snake it out (I had used a snake previously, but I wasn't confident that I could do it right or safely) -- this was mid-May. He pulled out a rather large amount of tree roots, but nothing else of interest.

Everything was great until mid-August... when the floor drain started backing up again. Having watched the guy from Roto-Rooter snake it out in May, I rented a snake from the local big box store and did the job myself this time. I hit something relatively close to the plumbing that I had installed, but almost nothing came up (a small amount of slimy hair). At the time, I kind of figured that it was some old grease or something that the previous owner had incorrectly put down the drain that had dislodged and then got caught (the kitchen sink had been clogging a bit too).

Last weekend, I noticed that the floor drain was again backing up, which now has me worried that I have a bigger problem than I originally thought. This is three back-ups since May. I am going to try and snake everything out this weekend, but I was wondering if there is something else to consider.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim

p.s. I noticed that there is another thread that is similar to my question... so let me say that we put nothing down the drain that shouldn't go down the drain, although I can't make any promises as to what the former owner did in the kitchen

Camera the line w. an electronic sea - snake to pinpoint where the roots are protruding & if any other issues exist causing the line to back up & repair the line. Typically sewer lines installed in that time era were made of cast-iron and may be that they're leaching (rotting on the bottom inside of pipe).

Chris Hegarty

WWW.hegartyplumbing.com

Hello Tim,

As stated in the previous post, invest in Sewer Video Inspection. Here, you will see exactly what's inside the pipe causing the back ups. No guessing here.

However, I don't agree with your statement : "...he pulled out roots but nothing else of an interest ..." Roots are the most common cause of sewer back ups. Therefore they are sign of something going wrong.

Video will show you exactly where the problem it is. Have the service man to burn you DVD of the inspection. Do not rely on what he tells you...

Once you are done with Video Inspection, present it to few other licensed plumbers for second / third opinion. Also, come back and we will advise you how to proceed with repair.

Back to you... Milo

I may be able to help with your root problem.
If you wish 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 and thank you for rating my answer, Tom

Thanks for all of the responses!

To Chris: You are confirming my worst-case scenario fear... that I'd need to break up the concrete and replace the line. Thanks... I've already started calling plumbers about getting a camera down the line. I'm confident about what to do next; I just want to be sure of my diagnosis before proceeding with that much work.

To Milo: I meant that he found a bunch of tree roots but nothing else (i.e. no rags, paper towels, etc). Thanks for the DVD tip!

To Tom: I am very confident that I snaked out the line correctly in August and I found no tree roots at that time. After the first few feet (< 5 feet or so), in fact, the line was entirely clean in August. I bought root killer when I rented the snake in August; I haven't used it yet, primarily because I didn't find any roots in August. I certainly plan on using it in the spring (I'm in Minnesota... we're already experiencing sub-freezing temps).