I had a shower tray backing up when water was drained out of the bath tub next to it. Plumber came by and used one of those little hand held motorized drain augers. He was able to pull up enough hair and ROOTS to get the drain working again. But would this little auger do as good a job as one of those $500 1/34 horse power drain machines with the C-shaped cutter (like this one https://contentgrid.homedepot-static...er-100x5-8.jpg )?

House was built in 1956 so I'm assuming that it's cast iron pipes down there. Right?

After talking to neighbors and the top leak detection expert in my area I've decided for now to try to just control the roots with foaming root killer, I took out a suspected plant that may be feeding the roots, and I could do preventative drain cleanings. Any thoughts?

I was thinking about buying one of these machines. What attachment would I need?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-1...2363/206405033

 

I would suspect clay pipe if you've got root problems. The pipe is fine, but the mortar joints fail.
Clay pipe was typically installed in 3' sections so has a tendency to develop bellies.

The criteria that I've used is to deal with it to try the methods you've outlined, and when you find yourself clearing it more than once every 6 months, start thinking about replacement. You could look into getting a liner installed.

The machine you're looking at would probably clear small roots, but you can hurt yourself with it if you aren't careful.

 

Instead of spending the money on a machine to fix the symptom. I would put the money towards curing the disease (fixing the problem).

 

id the Plumber give you an estimate of how many feet downstream he found the congestion ?

"Hair" sounds like a local bathroom blockage . . . . while "roots" sounds like invasive vegetation somewhere out in your yard.

Does this backup affect only the Shower . . . . or all of the drains in the entire house ?

If the Plumber sent a snake/auger down just a few feet; that's probably an internal disposal issue . . . . but if he went out 30 feet; then that's something outside. Only you and the Plumber know where the (seemingly) resolved issue was located.

That would give you a clue as to what was done and what kind of tools will be needed to keep that same problem from recurring.

 

The blockage was 5 feet out from the shower tray. He explained that the crack in the pipe could be right there or could be many feet down the line.

I have already replaced the pipes outside, which were clay. It's now ABS all the way from the house exterior out to the city line. But does that mean that the pipes under the house would be clay too? The angles that run up to the toilet look to be cast iron.

Also this bathroom is about 25 feet from where the line exits the house and meets the ABS part of the line. The shower tray line is a mere 4 feet from a sidewalk which is next to a 5 1/2 foot wall where there's a terrace of ivy. Here's a pic ( https://imgur.com/a/3pD6tPr ). 5 more feet onto the terrace I did remove a bougainvillea plant which could have been the source of the roots. The roots of this plant smelled just like the roots that the plumber pulled up. Do all roots smell alike? It still seems like a LONG way for roots to travel... down 5 - 6 feet, under a sidewalk and then another 5 feet under the house.

I will dig around where the ABS meets the house line and see if there's any roots entering. There's palms trees and shrubs there. It would seem unlikely that they'd travel 20 feet into the pipe before causing a backup.

I guess my question is would running just a small little handheld machine going through the little shower tray opening be able to pull up roots as effectively as a big machine with one of those C-shaped cutters sent down through a clean out? The power gadget he used looked a little bit like this. https://jet.com/product/RYOBI-ONE-18...CABEgKSuvD_BwE
I am contemplating whether I should have another plumber come out with a BIG machine.

 

Does your plumber have a camera? Might be worthwhile to see what's going on down there....

 

The top leak detection specialist recommended just waiting to see what happens. He said he was unsure whether he'd even be able to provide any useful information if he ran the camera. Now that I've ripped out this plant, the roots should stop growing. The smell of these Bougainvillea roots are exactly the same as what the plumber pulled up. None of the other plants around the house have this smell.

 

It sounds like you don't have a basement where a waste pipe "cleanout" could be located ?

Is there a cleanout located in the yard ?

Using the Shower drain as a cleanout seems too restrictive as to what you can do.

 

I too would just wait and see. Hair is a typical issue in bathroom drains and was probably 90% of your problem anyway. If you don't continue to have an issue, I wouldn't spend more money to diagnose it.

Though if you start getting backups again, I would first try to get hair out of the trap - then I would get the line camera scoped. Then you can really see what you're dealing with and how to solve it. No use trying to fix a problem you don't really know if you have anymore!