Not sure if I have a busted pipe or a main line clog.. help
Hello, I need help/ advice with these plumbing issues I am having in my home.
Here's the story:
Last Sunday I was washing dishes when my husband told me the toilet was clogged. We started to plunge the toilet but I noticed the water raising in the toilet so I went to bail some water in the tub and when I pulled the shower curtain open the tub was full of water and more water was coming in from the overflow drain. My husband snaked the line from the toilet and then the tub (2inch lines) then he went out to the garage (where it's a 4inch main). Finally we decided to call the plumber. He brought a larger snake and snaked only from the garage. Everything seemed to open up as the water went down and it seemed like we were back up and running. Then 3 days passed and we everything backed up again. We called the same plumber back out and this time he took the toilet out and snaked the line. He ran the camera down the line as well (don't think he went all the way to the street). He showed my husband that there was still debri in the pipes as he couldn't use a larger snake since it was a 2inch line. He quoted us $1800 to do a 4inch clean out. We didn't do this as we already have a 4 inch clean out but it's under the house and they won't take their equipment down there, use an extension or use the vent on the roof as "it's a liability." After the 2nd time out the plumber went under the house and said there is sewage under the house and I needed to get it cleaned right away he called out a hazardous clean up company and not that's another problem I have, they're trying to charge me $1200 for clean up. I said NO, I went under the house to see for myself and yes, there is water which I guess is technically "sewage" but there is not feces or food or debri of any sort it appears to be water to me. I don't see any pipes leaking, any bubbling in the puddles of water (indicating a busted underground pipe). It has now been over a week since this has started and I just don't know what to do or how to find out what the root cause is (by the way, I have no trees near my house, not even the neighbors... no trees). And then, I was talking to my neighbor and he was telling me that something similar happened to him a few years ago and since our homes are so old (built in 1954) during war time instead of pipes they used something called orange pipe paper which over time unravels from the inside (this is the pipe that would go from the house to the mainline sewer). He said he had to dig down 4 feet and replace it. Could this be it? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. Take Care.
