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mgfarmer · Jun 28, 2006, 12:40 PM

Sorry for posting another question so quick after you answered the first but I had something else I wanted to get your opinion on. This is my first house and I am still learning on how to work simple plumbing jobs. We have a clean-out on the outside of our house so you can access the pipe that runs from the house to the septic tank. About a week ago I decided to take the cap off the clean out to make sure every thing was flowing through the pipe properly, which it was. One thing I thought was odd was that when I took the cap off several little flies came out of the clean out. I mentioned this to a pest control guy and he said this was usually an indication that the pipe is broken. Is this true? I actually flushed the toilet on the opposite side of the house and checked the clean out to see if there was any drop off in water volume, but it was fine. I mentioned it to a local plumber and he said its possible that its and indication of a break but wanted to charge me $400 to run a camera in the pipe. Is it possible they can come in from somewhere like a vent pipe?

RickJ · Jun 28, 2006, 12:50 PM

You've definitely got an opening in the system somewhere - but likely a tiny one to not worry about. If you don't smell it and the drains all work fine I'd not worry about it at all.

And fyi, around here (central OH) the going rate for a cameraing of a drain line is $250. If and when you run into a problem with that drain line, go the snaking route first. I only run a camera when a problem is re-occuring; which usually means the line has collapsed or roots have grown into it.

Just my 1.5 cents worth...

mgfarmer · Jun 28, 2006, 01:13 PM

Thanks for the help. I think I may have found the problem. The clean out pipe outside is about 3 feet high about the ground and its connected to the underground pipe with what looks like a coupling. The pipe was actually connected a little loose so that may have been the problem. Luckily since the pipe come high about the ground it was easy to fix. I just pushed it in the coupling tighter.

speedball1 · Jun 29, 2006, 04:50 AM

". I mentioned this to a pest control guy and he said this was usually an indication that the pipe is broken. Is this true? I actualy flushed the toilet on the opposite side of the house and checked the clean out to see if there was any drop off in water volume, but it was fine. I mentioned it to a local plumber and he said its possible that its and indication of a break but wanted to charge me $400 to run a camera in the pipe. Is it possible they can come in from somewhere like a vent pipe?"

Let's use our heads about this. If I have a underground break in my sewer line how are flies or gnats supposed to fly under the ground to enter the break?
I would delete the plumbers number that attempted to scam me out of 400$ for a 250$ job that you didn't need in the first place.

"I think I may have found the problem. The clean out pipe outside is about 3 feet high about the ground and its connected to the underground pipe with what looks like a coupling. The pipe was actually connected a little loose so that may have been the problem. Luckily since the pipe come high about the ground it was easy to fix. I just pushed it in the coupling tighter."

I don't think that was it. Flies, roaches, birds and various critters get in through the open vents and with a septic tank they may breed in there and come up the pipe. If the water's running free past the cleanout your drainage system's working just fine. Good luck, Tom