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dennishall · Sep 18, 2007, 04:13 PM

We have lived in our house for 5 years and 2/3 times a year we have had backup. We have had Roto Rooter and several plumbers run a snake, each time they have ran into nothing. We do not have a septic tank. What can we do at this point?

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2007, 04:49 PM

Did the plumbers send a camera down the sewer line to check for cracked and broken pipes? They must have found something if you had a blockage before they came and everything drained when they left. What am I missing here? Tom

kp2171 · Sep 18, 2007, 04:55 PM

A friend just had this happen. City apparently has some problems with two houses on a line... they think there's no problem from house stub to sewer, that from the sewer stub to the sewer the city used the wrong something-or-another... basically the wrong connection to the sewer line or the wrong installation.

The house next door has the same problem. They are in process of forcing the city to fix or be sued. Not the mention the previous owners who didn't disclose and not they have evidence it happened before.

Not an expert here, but I'm with speedball. It wasn't until a cam was put into my line that they saw standing "water" for 20 feet. We hadn't had a backup, but many in our area have or have had lines replaced, as the orangeburg is busting up all to heck.

speedball1 · Sep 18, 2007, 05:01 PM

Sounds like someone has a problem with back fall in the lines and from what you tell me it sure sounds like the city. How many neighbors are affected?
Have you all considered a class-action lawsuit? Cheers, Tom

RustyFairmount · Sep 18, 2007, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by dennishall

We have lived in our house for 5 years and 2/3 times a year we have had backup. We have had Roto Rooter and several plumbers run a snake, each time they have ran into nothing. We do not have a septic tank. What can we do at this point?

I believe I have the same issue with my house. Here's what we found to be the problem in my home:

If your house is old like mine, with lots of trees in the neighborhood, your mainline may be infiltrated with roots. A simple snake will not fix the problem. In fact, you might not even notice a problem when running a regular snake. You'll need to hire a plumber to use a cutting bit to break through the tree roots. Every 6 months thereafter, you should use a foaming root killer to retard the growth of new roots into the line.

The cost is about $75 for the plumber to do the job. And the foaming killer is about $15 from your local plumbing store. As somebody else suggested, you could hire a plumber with a camera to inspect the line. Chances are good you'll see small cracks in the mainline where the sections are glued together and roots are growing through.

Good luck, and let us know if this works out for you.

RustyFairmount · Sep 18, 2007, 07:48 PM

BTW: Less likely, but possible problems include:

The snake used may not have been long enough to reach the problem. A long chopping snake, followed by a long camera to show you everything is clear down to the sewer might be useful

There could be a problem where your crock meets the city sewer. Call the city and ask them to review the video tapes of where your home connects to the sewer. There should be no charge for this. Who knows, this could be a city problem, and not your problem.

Finally, it is possible, but improbable that you and your neighbors all share a single crock leading out to the city sewer. I've heard stories that cheapskate contractors would pay off city inspectors so they could avoid doing the job the right (expensive) way. The camera would help prove this unlikely scenario as well.