Is this a drain cleanout?

[kathryn]

My drains are backed up and overflowing, but the plumber hasn't been able to locate a main line cleanout to clear them. The attached photo is of the main stack in the crawl space. The plumber said not to use that one, as it would cause a huge mess. The ground in the crawl space is mostly bare soil.

He's saying he needs to install a new cleanout for $1250. Before I agree to that, I wanted to check with you experts.

Is it normal not to have a cleanout, or might we be missing finding it (looked in all the usual spots)? The house is on a slope, in Oakland, and built in 1962.

Is installing an expensive new cleanout the best option? Don't use the one on the main stack?

Thank you in advance!!

 

[Geofd]

have him remove the toilet and snake from there most drain cleaning co would have a snake with a 100ft cable not sure how far it is to the street

 

[RenewDave]

A clean out? Where? Under the house? Tell him to get on the roof and jet it out. Easy peasy.

 

[MASTRPLUMB]

YOUR PLUMBER IS CORRECT BELIEVE ME YOU DO "NOT" WANT A BUNCH OF RAW SEWAGE UNDER THE HOUSE, HAVE HIM INSTALL THE CLEAN OUT OUT SIDE, THEN IN THE FUTURE
IF IT BACKS UP YOU CAN OPEN IT TO RUN INTO THE YARD WHERE YOU CAN BURY IT !

 

[MASTRPLUMB]

BACK IN THE 50's,60's&70's They did not require a outside clean out that one under the house was for testing the sewer pipes for Inspection,

 

[Rossando]

What’s the proposal? Digging and tapping into the main pipe? How far down is the pipe in the ground? Maybe a two way cleanout so you can get both sides of the pipe.

 

[kathryn]

Thank you for all the responses! After agreeing to the plumbers expensive proposal to remove concrete to fix the clog then install a cleanout, I looked one last time, and was able to find a cleanout right around where they were planning to install it! They were able to just use that instead, and removed many clogs all the way down to where it connects with the city sewer line. Yay! Unfortunately, it looks like it was roots causing it, so I'm going to need to replace all of that pipe. I'm getting estimates to do the pipe lining option for that.