Bubbling Basement Toilet

May 25, 2008 24 Replies

How far away from the pipe should I be concerned with the trees?

The only tree within 30 feet of the pipe is a small dogwood that is about 10 feet away from the problem area and belongs to a neighbor. I could probably prune the roots back a few feet and still stay on my property.

The roots that he pulled out were very fine, kind of a stringy mess.

Depends on the tree I guess. Not all roots are equal. A ficus will seek water and invade the pipes. An Oak may just lift the pipe.

Prune them back, especially if they match the roots pulled from the sewer pipe. I suspect the dogwood tree is doing very well! Enjoying the gray water/ moisture from the pipe.

I don't think a small pruning of the dogwood roots would harm it.

What color flowers and how big is this dogwood ?

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  1. BTDT. Shoulda done a side deal with the contractor doing the work for the city, and replaced all the way through your basement wall. Yard was messed up anyway, etc, and some things are best done once and gotten over with. In my case replaced all that old nasty iron and orangeberg (don't ask, you don't wanna know) with nice slick PVC, and it was like night and day flushing the toilets or running the washer. Any friends or relatives with similar problems, I tell them 'pay now or pay later- you'll end up replacing it all anyway'.
2, As to the floor drain the other fellow was asking about- around here, those DON'T go into the sanitary sewers, they go into wherever the sump pit and foundation drains go. Drywell or daylight drain, usually.

-- aem sends...

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re: 2, As to the floor drain the other fellow was asking about- around here, those DON'T go into the sanitary sewers, they go into wherever the sump pit and foundation drains go.

No sump or foundation drains in my house. Sandy lot on top of a hill. Never an issue with ground water or anything like that.

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