Home Owners I need some advice...Tree Roots in my drains

[Swfttwoeightone]

well sucks to be me.... we just bought the house and before the second time showering in our "new" house (built 1961) we had a flood in one of the bathrooms, the bathwater came up from one of the toilets.

to make a long story short, we have roots in our drains... apparently between the house and main drain and between the main drain and the sewer. the plumber suggests we have a camera go down the pipes to pin point the exact problems... and then a possible fix... i know this wont be cheap so before i pay anymore money to anybody i want to try and fix this myself...

anyone know a better way to fix this? even if it is just temporary as long as i dont have to worry about it for a few months without causing more damage i am willing to try it. i am going to pick up some drain cleaners after work tonight and start there...

[des50]

Go to home depot tool rental or another rental store and rent a 100 ft powered snake , go through the cleanout in the basement and once you find the bloakage use the cutting attachment . the snakes are less that $75.00 to rent for the day . If you go onto the website for General drain cleaner (general is the maker) they have a full tutorial on how to clean your drains and cut roots out . Good luck

[X-1Mach1]

Unfortunately a snake wont work. If you truly do have tree roots in your pipes the only way that you can fix the problem is to dig down and fix your pipes. This is because those roots will have broken your pipes. Leaky pipes equals erosion just washing all the dirt from under your house! And that can spell nightmares to your foundation if you just put a band aid on it. My suggestion is bit the bullet and have the pipes fixed. It sucks but it's just part of the wonderful world of owning a house

[03mach1]

Depends on how bad, but the snakes that have the cutters on them will work, if done slowly. Also, depends on what type of drain lines you have, if you have the clay tiles, the roots get into the joints. I just had mine done back in the summer, but only had a few small roots in it, actually had a crushed tile under the street that was causing the problems. (ouch).

Also, the use of ROOT-X (Like Rid-X) can be put down the drains every so often to prevent build up of roots, it kills the roots. It some type of copper sulfate or something that kills the roots, but does take time.

[birdman941]

Gotta start watching "Holmes on Homes" on HGTV.
(Or Holmes Inspection)
They have a plumber on there that does stuff for that.
For homeowners, that show just rocks!

Here's a link to a few shows online.
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv-holmes-on-h...eos/index.html

[Schmokn]

You can probably rent a push camera for about 60 bucks. Push it up to the intrusion mark it. If it is too bad to use a root cutter or root-x mark off above ground so you can dig down and replace the bad section.

[shadowmaker]

Originally Posted by Swfttwoeightone

well sucks to be me.... we just bought the house and before the second time showering in our "new" house (built 1961) we had a flood in one of the bathrooms, the bathwater came up from one of the toilets.

to make a long story short, we have roots in our drains... apparently between the house and main drain and between the main drain and the sewer. the plumber suggests we have a camera go down the pipes to pin point the exact problems... and then a possible fix... i know this wont be cheap so before i pay anymore money to anybody i want to try and fix this myself...

anyone know a better way to fix this? even if it is just temporary as long as i dont have to worry about it for a few months without causing more damage i am willing to try it. i am going to pick up some drain cleaners after work tonight and start there...

Did you get a home inspection? If so, you need to get in touch with the inspector. Not sure if it will but it may fall under your home owners insurance too.

[Swfttwoeightone]

Originally Posted by shadowmaker

Did you get a home inspection? If so, you need to get in touch with the inspector. Not sure if it will but it may fall under your home owners insurance too.

yes i did get a home inspection... what should i ask the inspector? he didnt do a very good job obviously...


and i do have a home protection plan that is supposed to cover plumbing and electrical for anything connected/plumbed into the house... but the insurance said that since it is going out to the main drain that it is not covered...

thank God for M1R... plenty of helpful people on here!! I appreciate the suggestions!!

[Swfttwoeightone]

Originally Posted by LOOKnGO

Dont guess. Take time and research a good plumber in your area. Call and get prices on there fees for a camera inspection. A camera will locate the issue and show the obstruction. You may be able to have them just repair a section or even or have it snaked by a real machine, not available at rental stores. The last camera inspection I paid for was $200 1 month ago on a customers house. Inferior and under sized snakes can break inside the drain, leaving you really screwed.

this is probably what i will end up doing... if i am going to fix this it has to be done right... the new dining table and sofa will have to wait, she wont be happy...

[rcode99]

Quite often the sewer line is covered out to the public street. I thought so anyway. Good luck.

[un gm]

Originally Posted by LOOKnGO

Dont guess. Take time and research a good plumber in your area. Call and get prices on there fees for a camera inspection. A camera will locate the issue and show the obstruction. You may be able to have them just repair a section or even or have it snaked by a real machine, not available at rental stores. The last camera inspection I paid for was $200 1 month ago on a customers house. Inferior and under sized snakes can break inside the drain, leaving you really screwed.

^ Can't say it any better and I've been a plumber since the 80s.

[WalkrTexasRngr]

Pay a professional plumber to pinpoint and fix the problem right the first time. I'd ask friends or neighbors to recommend a good one. Having sh!t in your house once is one time too many...Oh and welcome to home ownership. When I purchased my house my foot almost went through the floor in the upstairs bathroom after dropping my first deuce and the sewer pipe was leaking in the wall down into the basement.

[2k4mach]

Originally Posted by LOOKnGO

Dont guess. Take time and research a good plumber in your area. Call and get prices on there fees for a camera inspection. A camera will locate the issue and show the obstruction. You may be able to have them just repair a section or even or have it snaked by a real machine, not available at rental stores. The last camera inspection I paid for was $200 1 month ago on a customers house. Inferior and under sized snakes can break inside the drain, leaving you really screwed.

ding ding best answer in this thread. my best friend is owns a plumbing company so i hear all the stories about him having to go fix all the ****ups and see all the un-neccesary work others do when they can do a camera inspection and get the problem the 1st time.

[24kmach]

http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/ Is your friend.

[shadowmaker]

Originally Posted by Swfttwoeightone

yes i did get a home inspection... what should i ask the inspector? he didnt do a very good job obviously...


and i do have a home protection plan that is supposed to cover plumbing and electrical for anything connected/plumbed into the house... but the insurance said that since it is going out to the main drain that it is not covered...

thank God for M1R... plenty of helpful people on here!! I appreciate the suggestions!!

The home inspector I would think shouldve caught it.

Depending on where the roots are, it could also be the city problem. Are you on septic tank and well water or public? We had a problem and they kept telling me it was on my end of the house. Took over a yr and them coming out dozens of times to clean the **** out of the front yard and snaking the pipe at the clean out. Finally, they realized if it was making it to the road, it was common sense it was on their end.

I agree on getting someone to fix it right but before I spent any money I would make sure you were the one that had to pay for it. Especially since you havent been in the house that long. Also, if I m not mistaken, the previous owner could be held liable for part of it. Guess it depends on local laws etc etc. Might want to consider talking to a lawyer as well since the insurance is jerking you around.

[birdman941]

It depends on how good the home inspector is.
Once again, watch Holmes on Holmes or Holmes Inspection on HGTV.

[311-420]

If there's roots in the line, then it's broken and needs to be fixed. They'll be back again before you know it if you just clean it.

I can't tell you have many times I've cleaned drains and by the time I've done it 10-15 times, I could've replaced it with schedule 40 and theyre problems wouldve been over with forever. People just want the quick fix....

We charge $150 an hour for a scope and pin pointing. Usually only takes an hour, sometimes two depending on the situation.

[blown03Mach1]

If the previous owner new about it and failed to is close this, they can be held liable. The hard would be proving they knew about it.

[Azure Blurr]

I get lines TV'd at work pretty often. Have them burn you a copy to a DVD as well. Just insurance for later down the road if they F something up.

[Swfttwoeightone]

Originally Posted by 24kmach

http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/ Is your friend.

LOL thats what my coworker suggested also...

Originally Posted by birdman941

It depends on how good the home inspector is.
Once again, watch Holmes on Holmes or Holmes Inspection on HGTV.

watching TV isnt gonna get the roots out... but the show is pretty interesting

Originally Posted by 311-420

If there's roots in the line, then it's broken and needs to be fixed. They'll be back again before you know it if you just clean it.

I can't tell you have many times I've cleaned drains and by the time I've done it 10-15 times, I could've replaced it with schedule 40 and theyre problems wouldve been over with forever. People just want the quick fix....

We charge $150 an hour for a scope and pin pointing. Usually only takes an hour, sometimes two depending on the situation.

yeah im contemplating replacing all the pipes so i never have to worry about this again...seeing as we have the clay type pipes, i might have to sell my car just to get that done though...

Originally Posted by blown03Mach1

If the previous owner new about it and failed to is close this, they can be held liable. The hard would be proving they knew about it.

thats where we messed up since we bought the house from an investor who never lived in the home... i did however find another cleanout behind the house (it was buried) so the insurance is going to send the plumber back at no charge for the same problem...

Originally Posted by Azure Blurr

I get lines TV'd at work pretty often. Have them burn you a copy to a DVD as well. Just insurance for later down the road if they F something up.

so far i've had two plumbing companies estimate $250 and $390 for camera work... i think i need to hire 311-420

[311-420]

As long as you have an accessible cleanout it should be quick and easy to do.

Get that clay-tile out of there when you get the chance.

If you're not afraid of a shovel, you could dig the line up and remove it yourself and have the plumber lay the new one down. That will help on the bill tremendously.

[Swfttwoeightone]

so the home warranty insurance company called my house and left a message stating the technician who came out the first time said the problem is we have roots in our main pipes and until that gets fixed by US they can not come out and do anything for us... i think they are just ***** us around..

should i ask for my money back? (from the plumbing company) since in reality they did not fix anything, only told us that we have roots in our pipes and that they cant fix it since they do not have the machine to do so...

[Swfttwoeightone]

Originally Posted by 311-420

As long as you have an accessible cleanout it should be quick and easy to do.

Get that clay-tile out of there when you get the chance.

If you're not afraid of a shovel, you could dig the line up and remove it yourself and have the plumber lay the new one down. That will help on the bill tremendously.

so i should call a real plumber to get the roots out for now (having guests for the big feast thursday) and then after that start digging up the pipes to lay down some new piping?

[311-420]

Call another company and tell them your situation. Have them cable it out to get you through.

If you think you've got money enough to replace it then get some estimates. Digging it up, breaking it into sections with a heavy hammer (wear safety glasses and latex gloves) and removing it will make the plumbers job take only a fraction of the time.

[o4 Mach 1]

Trees in the front yard suck! The inspector could have flushed the toilet 50 times and it would've been fine, 51 would have shown the back up. Plus he would have been flushing fresh water , unless he was due for the craper after a good size lunch.
A good auger will typically last 4-6 months before the symptoms show up again. When you choose to have it replaced, consider outside cleanouts for a few extra bucks.
JMO.

M!ke