Trying to help out a neighbor here. He is the third or fourth owner of this place down the road, so he has no idea how the pipes are run. He has a shop that has a toilet that somehow connects to the septic tank on the other side of the property about 100' away. We know that the drain pipe leaves the shop going north, but the tank inlet is NNW. We're looking for a cheap and relatively easy way to trace the line so that he knows where he can dig without hitting the pipe. We know the pipe is PVC. There are no permits or plot plans required in this county for what was done from the shop (non-occupied building). Ideas?
Take two pieces of metal coat hanger wire, about 18" long. Bend them into L's with a 12" and a 6" leg. Hold one in each hand by the short section, each in a very loose fist, with the fronts of them dropped at the slightest angles forward. You want them to be loose, and turn in your fists. Make your fist as though you were holding something the size of a broom stick. You want the wires to be really loose in there. The ends can go through the opening in the bottom of your fist, but the tops can't rest on your top finger or they won't turn.
Try it out. Go where you know where there is a line and get the hang of it first.
Have some red flags, or pieces of cloth in your pocket to mark with as you go.
You say you know generally which way the line runs. Go out twenty feet, and walk like you would run into the pipe at a right angle. When you are over the pipe, your two ends will come towards you to make a straight line left to right in front of you. Mark the spot with a flag or rag. Go farther out and repeat.
Exceptions; this will only work when passing over a line at a right angle. If there are overhead power lines, they can cause the pointers to act haywire. And, you will find every line in the yard, so you might have to do some reasoning to decide which one is the one you're looking for.
If you can't master the touch of holding them lightly, go to the 99 cent store and buy two small bottles of hot sauce, the ones shaped like Tabasco bottles. You want the wire to be long enough to hit the bottom and swivel with its weight on the bottom of the bottle. If all you can find is tall bottles, make your short legs longer. They can't rest on the top lip of the bottle, and must rest on the end of the wire on the bottom of the bottle.
I have found lots and lots of pipes this way. I have also found survey markers, large pieces of buried metal, old tin cans, anything metal. And YES, it does work on PVC pipes, too. Naysayers will say it can't be done. If you live within 25 miles of me, I'd drive over there and guarantee you $100 to a cold beer I could find it.
If you have troubles, post here, and I will tell you where I can send you some helper pictures.
I had a sewer line problem recently. A local guy that specializes in that stuff put in a snake with some sort of transmitter and could follow it from above. I pinpointed the line within an inch or two. I don't know what he'd charge just for that since it was part of a much bigger job. I'd guess it world be a minimum of $100 to come out though.
Well, then don't use it. Go out and hire a guy and pay him whatever he wants. The man asked for ideas. I gave him one. It was free, and thoroughly worth the price. If he wants to try it, great. There is no obligation to do anything I suggested.
As I said, I have used it, and it has worked for me countless times, and left more than one person scratching their nuts and commenting, "Golleeee." I'd bet a hundred dollar bill against a cold beer that I could find the line.
I'm trained in science, and know a hundred reasons why it can't work. But, I grew up in construction, and have SEEN it work multiple times. I try not to think about it- makes my head hurt.
I have seen it so many times. People who can't take in what they see, confused so much by what they know.
I have heard it as "educated beyond capacity."
Drug companies went to jungles and asked old shamans what they used for headaches, for diarrhea, for menstrual cramps, for sleeplessness.
The old ones took them to herbs and roots. When analyzed, they had some ingredients that were helpful to the specific complaints. Kind of like modern medicine poo poohing the ideas of acupuncture, acupressure, and holistic medicines in favor of spendier brand name cures.
We are all hard wired. When we go against instincts, things we can see, and instead go for things we have been indoctrinated in, there can only be conflict.
I turn on the switch. The light comes on. Do I need to fully understand the process?
Eat some radioactive material, then take a crap in the toilet. Flush the toilet and have a friend with a geiger counter follow your turds as they pass thru the pipe.
I'd just dig and fix whatever got hit. It's just PVC. On the other hand, how do you know the toilet is connected to the main septic tank? You might find another tank down there somewhere.
Knowing its connected to the one septic tank is real easy as he had a blockage in the house septic line last year and it backed up into the shop! It starts out only about six inches below grade at the shop. He wants to dig a new foundation for an outbuilding somewhere north of his shop and doesn't want to reroute any sewer lines. Wants to know where the line is before he starts with the backhoe. Being a retired engineer, I kind of like the rf emitter approach. Being cheap, I like the rod approach if the ground was softer. May try the snake and use a metal detector, rather than the geiger counter idea. My father was a dowser, but I didn't seem to inherit his "gift."
Thanks one and all for your suggestions. I certainly got more than I "paid" for.
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