Sewer Back-Up: Vent Stack or Lateral Drain?

I had some back up into a shower stall and toilet in the basement. I had a plumber snake the sewer line and he told me it was full of roots, that I should hit it with the root eating chemicals which I did that day. Now 30 days later we ran the washing machine and two showers in the morning. Guess what? Back up rears its ugly head again. I called the plumber again and they have the previous service call on file and they state that it’s going to need a lateral line replacement. While awaiting his arrival for an estimate on the dig I went to the roof to check the vents. Shine my light down the first tube and it looks good. But the second, WHOA!! OBSTRUCTION!, about five feet down the pipe. Looks like leaves. So I grab my manual snake and send it down, turning and pushing. I bore a hole through this mess and send the snake all the way down(50ft maybe). Pull it up and the end is all wet. Yet I was only able to penetrate the obstruction with the snake drilling action, so there really only is a ¼ inch hole in the vent. It seems to be decomposed leaves/dirt like substance. I thought when I went downstairs I would have drainage, but there was still standing water in the shower stall.

It drains very slowly, maybe a little under a gallon an hour.

Here’s the question: Do you think it’s the lateral connection (13ft supposedly) to the main clogged with roots or could it be that I need to give that vent stack a proper clean out?

Reply to
orange
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Reply to
keith messer

here are the facts:

1) your not a plumber and you don't have a clue o what your talking about. 2) your house sewer is plugged. 3) you need a second opinion from a real plumber and let him tell "you" what the problem is, thats means keep your mouth shut until after he gives you his professional opinion. 4) only an idiot would excavate on one persons opinion unless you had a past history with this guy and trust him totally, and we know this isn't the case because of all the dickin around your doing.

kenny b

Reply to
kenny b

"kenny b"

Why'd you take it so easy on this guy?

Reply to
Mike Grooms

snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.net (kenny b) wrote in message > here are the facts: 1) your not a plumber and you don't have a clue o what your talking about. 2) your house sewer is plugged. 3) you need a second opinion from a real plumber and let him tell "you" what the problem is, thats means keep your mouth shut until after he gives you his professional opinion. 4) only an idiot would excavate on one persons opinion unless you had a past history with this guy and trust him totally, and we know this isn't the case because of all the dickin around your doing. kenny b Kenny B- Thanks for the reply, glad I could be your whipping boy. 1) I know I'm not a Plumber, but I've been reading the boards and the net and I have an understanding of some of the basics. That's why I'm posting here for some possible ideas and conclusions. 2) Yes, I mentioned that there was some back-up. 3) I agree I haven't gotten the second opinion yet, but I'm having a hard time getting replies back. My first real Plumber stated that there were roots in the line and I managed to keep my mouth shut the whole time. 4) No dickin around going on, just looking for more OPINIONS on the web. Sewer backed up yesterday, I had a guy out to the house to give me an estimate that day. The same guy who came out the first time to use a root cutter on the lateral. I do trust him, have had a good feeling about him since the first visit.

Reply to
orange

Too long doing service plumbing kenny? :-P

Reply to
The guy in the Helga hat

"keith messer"

If you are a plumber, then please learn the proper use of the apostrophe and how to capitalize proper nouns. Otherwise we'll just think you're a moronic sheet-metal man or drywall hanger.

Reply to
Mike Grooms

Hey man I'm sorry, but I had a real bad day. I've got a homeowner thats trying to play general contractor on his own place and he dosen't have a clue. The concrete guy pouring the garage floor ripped out one of my pipes, filled the sewer with stone and stated it was like that before he poured even though it was just inspected. In addition I just installed the building sewer/tap approx 8ft., now the idiot expects finish grade and seed the next day even though the contract states "not responsible for finish landscape". His response was he trusted me so he never read the contract, Duh!. In the meantime of course I'm out even more because everyone on my end gets paid. All this before my second cup of coffee. It was not a good day, sorry again.

Reply to
kenny b

kenny b- No problem man, we all have bad days. And speaking of bad days/weeks, I'm biting the bullet and throwing 3,000 greenies to have the pipe replaced. I had a second guy come out and confirm that the pipe has got to go. This pipe is original equipment that is 70 years old and passes by a group of swamp maple trees that have infiltrated every square inch of my soil to a depth of five feet. Unfortunately, this is going to have to pass as the Christmas gift to the wife, we'll be high fiving each other as we happily flush our toilets!! Sad, but true.....Hope your job turns out OK!!

Reply to
orange

Yep! looking forward to hunting season again.

Reply to
kenny b

Thanks and ditto's on the sewer.

Reply to
kenny b

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