Sewage backup in basement, Cliffside Park (house, buy, living)

[ukinnj]

We moved into our house in the beginning of November. All the plumbing seemed fine. Slowly after Christmas our toilet started flushing slow. When we do laundry it comes up through the drain holes in the basement. We finally called a plumber who came and snaked the drain. At first we were told it was just grime in the pipes. After snaking further he held up a wet papertowel and said this was causing the clog. It is 2 weeks later, we do a load of laundry and it is coming up the drain again. This morning I took a bath and on the way out of the house to go to work I peeked in the basement to see the bathwater with suds came out of the drains.

HELP!!! We paid $228 for the snaking and don't want to repeat this if it wont fix the real problem.

Does anyone have advice on what we can do ourselves or recommend a GREAT plumber in the Cliffside Park NJ area?

[Marc Paolella]

Sounds like your main sewer pipe has a rupture, possibly a tree root has destroyed it, or just age. If you have an older house, this could be the problem. If it is, you need a new pipe. 5-10 grand and god forbid the pipe runs under a patio or your driveway.

Or it could be accumulated grime, in which case you need a power flush - about $300-$800. That will buy you 1-2 years.

The only way to know is to send a video camera through your entire waste pipe. That should reveal the extent of the problem.

Plumbing waste problems - the worst! You pay hundreds or thousands and simply get the right to flush your toilet.

[joe moving]

OUCH.

Do you have a "clean out" opening?

[BobKovacs]

As Mark said, you've probably got tree root problems- especially if it's an older home with clay pipe underground. The problem is, they snake the line, remove whatever is clogging it, and then either more debris falls in through a break, or another root further down the line just starts snagging debris. Some of the sewer services offer a 30-day re-snake policy- check your receipt. If it ends up being a recurring problem, you can either:

a) continue to pay a few hundred $$ a few times a year
b) buy a power snake and just do it yourself everytime the problem occurs (probably pay for itself in two years)
c) spend $4-6,000 to have the front yard torn up and the line replaced to the street

I'd opt for either a or b, unless you plan on living there for quite a long time- option c has a pretty long payback period.

[ukinnj]

Thanks for the advice all we'll try to find a reputable plumber to advise us

[doghead]

You can try ServiceMagic.com to find a plumber. They give you the best ones, supposedly.

[tomscarpt]

Every year we had the pipe snaked and the roots chopped we had the clay pipe that fitted together.Luckly it was at the first few feet from the street and the sewer company covered all cost.They even sent in a video camera.Same spot every time we had the tree cut down for other reason's and no more problems.Call it just luck