Plumber in the House?? - Unblocking a Crapper

[101RRS]

For some time now my toilet has been a bit slow to drain away and then gurgles.

A while back I had a plumber out with an eel and they were able to clear the sewer pipe downstream of the access vent but there is a partial blockage (tree roots) between the toilet and the access vent where the eel cannot get too.

The plumber indicated I should dig the lot up break the pipe and clear the blockage - they indicated it was something that I could do but I hate digging and I know I would stuff it up. Of course they will do all this for a price.

Before I either pay or dig does anyone know of a product that actually works that can go down the toilet to clear plant roots. I know the products available in the supermarket such as Rootex to not work but would be interested in stronger products.

The pipe is not totally blocked so I would like to fix it before it finally does block up.

Thanks

Garry

[austastar]

Hi,
I'm not a plumber, but had years of 'blocked pipe' syndrome in the house till I got sick of it and couldn't live with getting the eel in every year or so.
The problem occurred every time one family member came to stay, I suspect they used heaps of toilet paper and clogged the system.

I hired a plumbing firm with a camera to look down the pipe, and the inspection was videotaped and showed the length unwound from the cable reel on the screen.
Thus I had a good idea where the camera was e.g. just passing the toilet, just passing the laundry etc.

The camera went into part of the pipe full of 'liquid and other bits' and with a bit of pushing and pulling, suddenly the fluid ran past the camera and the pipe was clear again, except for a root ball.
It was this that was catching the reams of paper and blocking the system when overloaded.

With the inspection now recorded, I then carefully watched the distances and the pipe entrances that I could identify and knew the locations of to work out exactly where the blockage was.

I suspected it was in a very difficult position, and had been reluctant to dig there with out any confirmation that I was not wasting time and effort.

The camera and measurements gave me the confidence to remove quite a bit of earth works to get to a very awkward section of the pipe.

Once exposed, I could see why I had a problem, there was a pencil sized hole in the top of the pipe that the original plumber had covered with a bucket of cement.
A root had squeezed between the pipe and cement over about 5 years and was causing the problems.

It was then relatively cheap to get a plumber in to cut and shut a new bit of pipe and add an inspection point at the same time.

I would recommend getting it properly repaired, otherwise you will be revisited by the problem in the future.

cheers

[101RRS]

thanks - yep I do expect to have to dig in the end but if there was a "flush" solution that would be easier. My pipes are the old terracotta ones and I have to get them "eeled" about once every two years but this is the first time I have an issue with this section of pipe.

Cheers

garry

[Blknight.aus]

My neighbours kids used to love flushing toys down... theyd get just past the junction of my section and his then block both systems.

After the MTh call out the plumber simply asked me if I was a mechanic.... upon replying yes he said its simple....

Flush yours till the system backs up then empty a battery down their toilet and flush it...

if its organic stuff that the problem it'll clear it up.

Not to sure if the OH+S side of thats legal and I never tried it. but sealing up my toilets and blowing the air shooter into the system made enough mess in his to convince him maybe he needs to pay for the plumber once in a while.

[uninformed]

if you like poo keep looking for the easy way out. If you want to your toilet to drain properly do it right. I know which way id be going. BTW its not just a dud toilet, but if its leaking close to the footings of your house it can be causing the soil to heave and then do some other stuff.....oh and termites love damp ground

[Witchdoctor]

As a plumber, i would go with dig up & repair. Other wise other problems will raise there ugly head & cost loads of coin.
While you have a machine on site remove all the old terracotta pipes & replace with PVC.

Cheers
David

[Tombie]

We had the same issue years ago.

Got a company called APMS (Advanced Pipeline Maint Svs) in.

The ran a camera, Found the root blocking the pipe and blasted it out using a special hydrajet system.

The then sent in a device which spins a lining into the pipe and re-seals it.
Something was also sprayed before lining it to kill the roots and stop them pushing back in...

Cost about $400.00 and no digging or removal of the concrete above!