Hello, I am almost afraid to ask... does it mean my pipe going out to the cities sewer system is broken if there is thick goopy mud coming up from my basements drain?
Some backround... I have had root problems in the past. We have had to use an auger through my main drain about every 2 years to keep water from backing up in my basement(no sump pump). It does not normally happen with rain. More times than not, it occurs when the city is doing sewer work within a few blocks (although they always tell me it is a coincidence).
The other night I did get a bit of water in my basement, not even an even inch... just some. Now the basement is dry and I can flush toilets, run the dishwasher etc... BUT, I did 2 loads of wash today and watched water (too dirty to really see much) come up to 4" from the floor. When I went to check on it a few hours later to see if it went down...the water had gone down...no water to be seen, but thick goopy dark muddy"ish" with white ick mixed in is still there about 4" from the top. I got a spoon to see and YES, it is SCOOPABLE and the thick stuff goes down at least 12" (the length of the spoon I have). NOW, I use the word mud, I do not know if it is mud. It looks like at least part mud.
THIS has never happened before. This is the only drain I have, my houses waste also backs up a bit when I get water backing up here. I don't know if that matters, I am just trying to give full information.
I have heard about peoples drain tile breaking... is this what has happened? If it is, can a strong handy homeowner (tradesman) handle fixing it without actually being a plumber? If so, please give us any tips you can!
THANK ANYONE SO MUCH FOR HELPING!!
Jan

These are not things a home woner wants to hear but you have a major issue . You can rent most of what you need but your skill set may or may not be a good match. You need a SnakeEye camera and likely a 2" cutter sewer rodder. If roots got in before then they can do it again. The snake will help you see if it's a collapse or just a seam but they are getting inside. The cutter will cut them out similar to a plug of hair, then the snake will help you see more clearly. A collapse would be best to replace the whole run but a bad seam may only need to be dug at that one point. You could try using periodical copper sulphate treatments to kill the roots but it's a bit like sticking your finger in a dike. Looking for copper sulphate for roots. What happens in the sewer pipe

Totally agree with, Bob, but I believe the FOAMING ROOT treatments are more effective than the copper sulphate treatments as they treat 360 degrees of the interior pipe whereas copper sulphate only treats the bottom half... see image below.

Check it out at:

ROEBIC FOAMING ROOT KILLER CASE LOT OF 12 - KILLS ROOTS | eBay

Good luck!

Mark