blackbull1
Member
We have recently experienced water backing up into the cleanout and our neigbor has been able to clear it by machine snaking. He is snaking to approx 60' and the drain just opens up. The snake never has any issues like binding up or sticking on anything, and when he pulls it back there is nothing on the snake head. Finally had 2 plumbers come out. The first put a camera thru the line to approx 90' without any binding or stoppage and he stated to get the line hydro-jetted, but if that didnt work we would of course have to get the pipe replaced to the tune of $17,000. He did this while the pipe was backed up fully and when I asked him if he was going to snake it, he said the camera cleared the drain. Instead of me actually looking in the cleanout before he left, I did it once he left and there was still 4" of standing water in the drain. My neighbor came by once again and cleared the line. He quoted $1600 on the jetting. He had claimed there was alot of grease in the line, but since my family owned the home since it was built in 1974 I seriously questioned this. My uncle used to always tell us not to put to much paper down the drain and was particular about his home, so the grease thing didnt jive. Following day I called for a second opinion. The tech came put a camera in the line and and between 13' and 35' from the cleanout I could actually see the pipe was full of water and once past the 35' mark the line was dry. He insisted that hydro-jetting would not work and he would be stealing my money. He quoted replacement 13' from the cleanout to the tap, (Which I assume is the sewer). He gave me a quote of $6200 for that work. What troubles me is he never put the camera all the way thru to see what other issues might lie further down. So he doesnt know how far the line actually runs, nor did he bother to map out the line to see just where that pipe ran. Unfortunately they are going to have to bust up concrete that runs from the cleanout to about 40' and then its all a sand and dirt yard. So because he didnt map the line, he has no idea if it runs under the shed in the back or all the other obstacles back there. And what if the line runs off the property? Then what do you do? Anyway this is a 3" pvc line. The crazy thing is I can go to the cleanout, put a hose in there full blast and the thing drains immediately, no slowups or backups. So since we dont have the money we are resorting to putting toilet paper in a bag and tossing it. Like we use to do with the old septic systems before septic safe toilet paper. Between the 2 techs coming out, it cost me $500, yea free estimates, bullcrap, but once they put a camera down the line, now we charge you. He called the problem a back pitched pipe. So i guess my question is, when he says that the pipe will be replaced, (to the tap) does that mean all the way to the sewer? And what happens if the pipe runs off property, then what happens? If the pipe runs under the shed, than what happens? And how does 1 charge 17k and the other a little over 6k? I dont know who to trust nor what else to do. I am also running the hose daily into the cleanout to maybe help push things along. In addition, and probably most important, is this house is a sinkhole property, so I assume pipe replacement is valid? Any ideas out there?
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