Clogged Drain Lines
#1
02-28-06, 10:36 AM
Clogged Drain Lines
At this very moment there is water backing up into both toilets and tubs in my two bathrooms. This started about 15 minutes ago...I was running water in my kitchen sink, and my washing machine was on. Yesterday, as my bath water was draining, my toilet water was bubbling, and i forgot to mention it to my husband(oops) and he's now at the store getting Drano, but i was wondering if we should try to get a roto rooter type thing before all the stores close for Mardi gras...Any suggestions?
#2
02-28-06, 11:19 AM
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Location: KY/OH
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Don't bother with the Drano, it will not help in your situation. A drain cleaning machine is needed to correct your problem. I would access the drain near the closest location to where the clog is; this gives the cable machine the most usable torque to remove the clog.
Use a spear end attachment first; no need to go large with attachment ends until you first know what you are dealing with in the piping. Let us know your results.
Use a spear end attachment first; no need to go large with attachment ends until you first know what you are dealing with in the piping. Let us know your results.
#3
03-01-06, 11:40 AM
Thanks so much for your response. We rented a Roto rooter and used in the toilet that we assumed was the problem, as our 3 yr old uses that bathroom amd uses liberal amounts of paper, but it would only go about 6 ft. We are now trying it in the master bath which is closest to the septic tank. The problem is we have no idea where the clean out valve is. I'm assuming thats on the main line to the tank. But it's a very old house and septic system, and our local plumbing supply store told us we might have to put one ourselves, and we don't even know where to start! Everyone seems to think the best solution would be to roto the main line....Also, my husbans says there's water in the stink pipe on the roof, is ther supposed to be???
#4
03-01-06, 01:12 PM
> The problem is we have no idea where the clean out valve is.
It would be a plug (not a valve).
> But it's a very old house and septic system,
> and our local plumbing supply store told us
> we might have to put one ourselves,
Correct.
> Everyone seems to think the best solution would be to roto the main line
Have you opened and cleaned out your septic tank?
If so, you can clean out the main line from there (might add cleanout there or break off the elbow, if any).
> my husband says there's water in the stink pipe on the roof, is there supposed to be???
I've never seen this. You better hope he is wrong about this.
It would be a plug (not a valve).
> But it's a very old house and septic system,
> and our local plumbing supply store told us
> we might have to put one ourselves,
Correct.
> Everyone seems to think the best solution would be to roto the main line
Have you opened and cleaned out your septic tank?
If so, you can clean out the main line from there (might add cleanout there or break off the elbow, if any).
> my husband says there's water in the stink pipe on the roof, is there supposed to be???
I've never seen this. You better hope he is wrong about this.
#5
03-01-06, 01:43 PM
We cannot locate the clean out plug, so we just dug up the main line about 3 feet from our septic tank and we are going to break in and add a clean out plug after auger...Hopefully it clears out. But we most certainly do have water sitting in the vent(stink pipe) from the bathroom toilet on the roof. We were just thinking that the drain lines were so clogged that the water took the path of least resistance. I don't know what else we can do if this doesn't work. We just had the septic tank pumped less that a year ago, so i assumed we would call them as a last resort.
#6
03-01-06, 01:51 PM
Sorry, I forgot to add that our septic tank has 2 caps. One had an aerator thing on top and the other has the 2 pipes exposed under the cap. We took off both caps (like we would know if something was wrong) and the one with the aerator had a huge plug of roots and mud and other questionable icky stuff that we took out and we could see into the tank whick looks awfully full for having just been pumped this year. But which pipe would we use to "clean out" the main line?
#8
03-01-06, 04:45 PM
gravity defying water
Originally Posted by Kayley0910
we just dug up the main line about 3 feet from our septic tank
If you crack that line when the elbow into the tank is clogged, you'll have sewage squirting 10' into the air.
> we most certainly do have water sitting in the vent(stink pipe)
> from the bathroom toilet on the roof.
Of course, I've never seen a toilet on a roof either.
> We were just thinking that the drain lines were so clogged that the
> water took the path of least resistance.
The path of least resistance would not lead to someplace higher than the toilet.
> We just had the septic tank pumped less that a year ago
If there is an elbow in the tank, it could be clogged.
Did you look? You must verify that the line is clear into the tank before you open the drain line.
