Plumber suggestion needed

[Stormin Mormon]

You can paint your room with the sticky plumbing tape that's sold on TV.

Agree, seems like a lot of resistance to replacing a screw tensioned drain plug.

[Lab Lover]

OK, I finally figured this out, you are yanking our chains, right? Flex seal spray? Please........

[bob haller]

bushes can clog sewer lines to. At first i dint believe that till i found the fitzer bushes roots wrapped around the house and went straight down top the sewer.

found the roots when rebuilding the retaining wall on top of the sewer line...

had to cut them all down.....

finally went t putting rock salt down the drain perodically. salt kills the roots but leaves the trees fine

[novel]

can only be treated in the basement where i can see the slanted pipe going down the main drain. In the past a plumber inserted a plug with a screw an d a flange and a rubber on one end. It works perfectly for water to get to the drain without dripping from that plug hole. Unfortunately, it has to be removed so now I could put my hose into it and unclog the clog...but now I do not want to replace a plug and heard that there is a certain type of se al tape, red or black, that would have the same effect as the plug. Can som eone recommend such a tape? Name and etc.?

Sorry, did not mean to offend anyone...Yes, it is the second link with the screw. ...and yes, it was the plumber that put a black tape on the pipe the first time. I questioned him about that and he said it would work only bec ause water is going down ( the pipe is slanted downward ) that is what I m eant it not being normaly installed..but that was done by the previous owne r...also that pipe is well towards the back. Sure if it was way towards the street curb, then roots could be a problem..but there are no bush's or tre es in front of my home, or my neighbors. The tape held up pretty well, but for some reason he decided to drill a hole into the pipe at the second visi t and installed the expansion plug which I had noted in my previous posts. I have a very big plumbing store with a reputible reputation and they were the ones that suggested a tape, which i bought..its red, not that should m ake any difference..but your right, i did not realize i would create a turm oil on a simple problem and would just replace the expansion plug. Thanks t o all and Happy New Year.

[DerbyDad03]

What is not typical about a drain pipe that is slanted downward? How else would the water go _down_?

My kitchen drain pipe is slanted at at least a 30 degree angle and enters the side of the main stack that runs from the basement up to the second floor...or should I say runs down from the second floor to the basment.

What do you consider "typical" plumbing?

[philoÂÂ]

I don't think anyone here got offended, I think we all just did not want you to end up with sewer gas or sewage overflow in your house.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, No offense intended. Two things; I don't understand how come kitchen sink drain is plugging up? What do you throw down the drain? Any solid wastes? No waste disposal unit? I had only one instance of drain clog, when DIL accidentally washed down a tea ball down the drain. And what is the big deal about plug? Is it so hard to screw it in/out when needed? That plumber was either lazy or did not have a plug. Maybe having a plug is code.

[micky]

Just for the record, roots by the curb that clog the main drain pipe there would also cause the water not to drain from the house. A friend was getting ready to replace his main drain pipe, under his front yard, when someone told him to call the county, and the county cleaned just the part of the pipe that the county owned, under the street and maybe a few feet under the lawn (which they keep in case they want to widen the street) and he had no problem anymore.

I had a drain pipe that was slanted upwards. Unfortunately the water went backwards and I couldn't stop it. The previous owner had connected the start of the pipe to the sewer too, so it worked out okay.

[TimR]

I'm not sure this makes sense.

When he said plug I thought he meant a cleanout. Those would normally have a threaded plug, not an expansion plug though.

But now he says the plumber drilled a hole?

You do need to cut into the pipe sometimes when you can't snake it from the usual locations. That implies the clog was pretty bad.

But you don't usually drill a hole. You cut it and install a y fitting. Look at this picture:

A plumber that uses tape, and then drills a hole? Kind of sounds like amateur hour here.

You still need to figure out why it keeps clogging. That's not normal.

[Daring Dufas: Hypocrite TeaBil]

can only be treated in the basement where i can see the slanted pipe going down the main drain. In the past a plumber inserted a plug with a screw an d a flange and a rubber on one end. It works perfectly for water to get to the drain without dripping from that plug hole. Unfortunately, it has to be removed so now I could put my hose into it and unclog the clog...but now I do not want to replace a plug and heard that there is a certain type of se al tape, red or black, that would have the same effect as the plug. Can som eone recommend such a tape? Name and etc.?

Don't get anyone licensed or unionized . They cost too much and are likely too expensive.

Go with the lowest bidder .