No one is an expert at everything, and if you were, you probably wouldn’t be reading this. You wouldn’t diagnose a family member’s ailment and prescribe a remedy, and it’s the same with some plumbing situations. If it were easy then everyone would do it and the “P” section in the phone book would be much thinner.
Work with any of your mainlines (water and sewer) is also best left to the pros. Just the process of turning the water off at the street ( “curb box” in plumbing lingo) -requires special equipment. A long rod with a special tip, called a street key, is used to shut off service to the line.
As for the main sewer lines, snaking can be done by a confident home owner. For around $50 you can rent a sewer snake for four hours, which should be enough time to clean tree roots from the line, but it doesn’t guarantee that everything will be fine in the line. If the line continues to back up calling a plumber is the only choice, as it means that there is something else wrong with the line. It could be broken or back pitched and licensed plumbers should be able to detect the problem and suggest a solution.
As with anything, whenever you feel uncomfortable using equipment or unsure of the proper way to complete the project a professional should be called. They can usually quickly assess the situation and resolve it. They will also notice any foreseeable problems and suggest resolutions.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Friday, October 15, 2010
When to call the plumber about a blocked drain
Photograph of the waste line where opened in the basement during drain blockage diagnosis and cleaning.
When plunging the toilet made no difference, and because we already suspected a main drain or system problem (all drains were slow), we knew we needed a plumber to help with further diagnosis of the drain blockage.
We suspected a blockage between the house and the septic tank because the septic tank and seepage pits were pretty new and unlikely to be blocked themselves.
The plumber obliged with the next two steps in diagnosing our drain problem: first he opened a convenient coupling in the waste line in the basement. You can see where we made this opening in the photo at left.
This would give an easy access to the drain line nearest to the toilet itself in case the blockage was nearby in the home. Opening this connection was diagnostic for a second reason as water spilled out of the coupling as it was disassembled. This told us that the waste line was blocked sufficiently to hold a large volume of water backing all the way up into the home.
Photograph of backup drain spillage clues on a washer drain.
That diagnostic fact explained why we saw evidence of drain backups coming out of the open top of the clothes washer drain line where it spilled onto and disturbed dust atop the main waste line nearby. You can see evidence of drain overflow on the washer drain piping in the photo just above.
By simple visual inspection, following the pipes in the home, we could see two interesting facts: first a main drain and cleanout were located in the house rear foundation wall, and second, the toilet drain passed separately through the same rear foundation wall just a few feet away.
While we never bet big on where buried drain lines run, the geometry of the basement of this home made for a small, cramped space.
It seemed likely to us from the angle of the pipes and the ultimate destination of the piping (a septic tank downhill in the rear yard), that the two lines joined outside the home, near the house rear wall, using a wye connector. (That later proved to be the case.)
When plunging the toilet made no difference, and because we already suspected a main drain or system problem (all drains were slow), we knew we needed a plumber to help with further diagnosis of the drain blockage.
We suspected a blockage between the house and the septic tank because the septic tank and seepage pits were pretty new and unlikely to be blocked themselves.
The plumber obliged with the next two steps in diagnosing our drain problem: first he opened a convenient coupling in the waste line in the basement. You can see where we made this opening in the photo at left.
This would give an easy access to the drain line nearest to the toilet itself in case the blockage was nearby in the home. Opening this connection was diagnostic for a second reason as water spilled out of the coupling as it was disassembled. This told us that the waste line was blocked sufficiently to hold a large volume of water backing all the way up into the home.
Photograph of backup drain spillage clues on a washer drain.
That diagnostic fact explained why we saw evidence of drain backups coming out of the open top of the clothes washer drain line where it spilled onto and disturbed dust atop the main waste line nearby. You can see evidence of drain overflow on the washer drain piping in the photo just above.
By simple visual inspection, following the pipes in the home, we could see two interesting facts: first a main drain and cleanout were located in the house rear foundation wall, and second, the toilet drain passed separately through the same rear foundation wall just a few feet away.
While we never bet big on where buried drain lines run, the geometry of the basement of this home made for a small, cramped space.
It seemed likely to us from the angle of the pipes and the ultimate destination of the piping (a septic tank downhill in the rear yard), that the two lines joined outside the home, near the house rear wall, using a wye connector. (That later proved to be the case.)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mountain View Plumbing in Salt Lake City, UT
Mountain View Plumbing Licensed Plumber in Salt Lake City UT has been successfully serving Salt Lake City and Sandy with our fast, reliable and quality plumbing service. We will cover all your commercial and residential plumbing needs when it comes to plumbing work. Mountain View Plumbing prides in our low prices and reliability, so go ahead and call us for a Free No Hassle Estimate for your plumbing service needed.
Call Today For a Free Estimate
(801) 892-0382
http://plumberinsaltlakecity.info/
Call Today For a Free Estimate
(801) 892-0382
http://plumberinsaltlakecity.info/
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