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    ScottyG00GT's Avatar
    ScottyG00GT Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Oct 23, 2006, 06:49 AM
    Sewer Plumbing Issue
    Several years ago, at great expense, we replaced our 60-year-old root-bound outside sewer line with PVC. That solved a good portion of our problems, but it they are not over.

    Our house has a sun room that was built on what used to be an outdoor porch with a textured concrete floor. Running for about 13 feet underneath this room is a section of old cast iron pipe that has bowed about 3-3.5". Of course it collects grease and sludge so that every year or so (sometimes less) we have to have it jetted out, which costs money I'd rather spend elsewhere. The pipe is probably three to four feet below floor level. I don't know if it is buried in dirt underneath the concrete or not (very likely).

    We are looking for a long-term solution, and we absolutely do not want to excavate the floor due to the mess and expense. The plumbing company that helped us with our outside line is looking at two options:

    1) Hook up a macerator pump in a sump pit that would grind and then jet our sewage out through a 1.5" PVC pipe that will run through the old pipe, expelling everything into the main line where it should be but at warp speed compared to the old gravity-fed system (an added benefit I see here is that given our outside line is 200 feet long and has many twists and turns, we should never have a clog again because it's all liquid going out)

    2) re-route the sewer system inside the basement (it's very accessible), going through two concrete block walls and ending up outside about six feet away from the main sewer line, and then trenching out to the main line and hooking in; we'd abandon the first eight or so feet of pipe coming out the old exit point. Advantage - no sump pump. Disadvantage - pipe would no longer lie against the wall in the basement - it wouldn't affect headroom, but it would hang down from the ceiling a good foot or so at points in the middle of the cellar.

    Two questions:

    1) Are there any other options that we should consider that we are not thinking of and
    2) Is either of these two methods preferable? I am looking probably at $26-2700 for the sump setup and I am not sure about the re-routing (more expensive, probably).

    Thanks!
    iamgrowler's Avatar
    iamgrowler Posts: 1,421, Reputation: 110
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    #2

    Oct 23, 2006, 07:34 AM
    I'm partial to solution number 2, provided you have enough height at your starting point to properly grade the line to it's tie-in point.

    Pumps and macerators are mechanical devices, which can fail, or fail to work properly, and are in my opinion a last ditch solution when there are no other options.

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