I have a sewer line that has been clogging up several times over the past 6 weeks or so, and I would like to be able to figure out exactly what's going on. I know one option is to pay someone to come out and do the video inspection, but I have heard that can be fairly expensive. Does anyone know of any less expensive ways that I can do this myself? For example, are there any tool rental places that rent the equipment to do a video inspection?
The actual situation with the sewer line is a little complicated and hard to explain. Basically, the line clogs at around 45 feet past where the sewer line runs out of the house. I know this from my own efforts at trying to unclog it and having a 50-foot snake that hits a clog at around 45 feet. I also had a plumber come out and clear the line twice in a two-week period, and both times it took about 45 feet of drain snake before they hit and cleared the clog. The town's sewer department came out and cleared the main line twice in two weeks after that, and they too agreed that the clog is out there somewhere. But everyone, including them, is unclear about exactly where my line goes and where the main line goes.
My property is one of 4 attached 2-family duplexes in a row. My proper is and end-unit duplex and my line appears to go out to the beginning of a main sewer line rather than tying into a main line that goes in both directions from where my line ties into it. My proper -- for some unknown reason -- does not have a curb vent. It is possible that it used to have a curb vent but the vent is now located under a roadway after the roadway was widened a long time ago. The other 3 attached properties have curb vents and appear to tie into the main line in a T-type fashion. The only maps the town has of where the main lines are pre-date when these buildings were built, so no main lines are shown on the map. The maps are from 1937 and the buildings were built after that.
I am not really posting this part to try to get people to figure out where the main line is, or even to try to figure out what the problem is. I'm just including that to give an idea that there is something goofy about the whole setup. That's why I would like to see if I can do some kind of low-cost video inspection of the line -- assuming that there is some way for me to do that.
And, yes, there is one tree about 40-feet down the street in front of another property and above where the main line goes. So, I suspect that is where the problem is. There are no other trees or bushes in the area.
So, the bottom line question is, does anyone know of any low-cost ways to do some kind of video inspection of the sewer line? I doubt that there is any way other than to pay someone to do it, but I thought I'd ask just in case.