Plumber or DIY? (San Antonio, Bowie, Anton: apartment, rent, how much)

[fierce_flawless]

Last year we had a blockage in the main sewer line causing the toilet to back up and nasty water to come up in the tub.

After trying various things, including a "snake" from Home Depot (small one though, hand crank), we gave in and called a plumber, or "rooter" company, not sure which.

This guy was clueless and my neighbor basically did his job for him and we paid $150 for the privelege and use of his snake/rooter thing. He found some small, flushable baby wipes and said that was the problem. I don't think so... but anyway, he offered to run the camera down the lines for another $200 and we declined.

Well here we are. It's been almost a year and we're having the same problem and I'm sure within a week or two it will be to the point where we must pay someone. I wonder if it's roots in the lines?

I'm not sure if we should again call someone, or try and rent an electric rooter (what's the technical term for it?) ourselves this time? I've heard they can be dangerous and hurt you or your pipes or both. Then again my mom has done it before and it turned out okay.

So WWYD? And if you are going to recommend a company to us, please tell me; do you think that what we paid for the last guy is average, low, or high? Feel free to DM me with recommendations. It was just so obvious that the last guy didn't know what he was doing, I don't want to call him again, but I will call a pro if it can't be fixed ourselves...

[Bo]

Sounds like you should plan on scheduling an annual visit by the Rooter company, because if you have tree roots in your sewer line, the roots will grow back every year unless you remove the tree(s). Even though it's equipment you could rent, I would leave it to the professional if I were you.

Consider it to be the price you pay for living in an older wooded neighborhood. Trust me, the annual preventive maintenance is 1000% preferable to a sewer line backup.

I have never had this issue in San Antonio, so I'm afraid I don't have a recommendation for you. I have used AAA Auger a few times for other plumbing work and have been very satisfied. I'm guessing from their name that this is a service they offer.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by Bowie

Sounds like you should plan on scheduling an annual visit by the Rooter company, because if you have tree roots in your sewer line, the roots will grow back every year unless you remove the tree(s). Even though it's equipment you could rent, I would leave it to the professional if I were you.

Consider it to be the price you pay for living in an older wooded neighborhood. Trust me, the annual preventive maintenance is 1000% preferable to a sewer line backup.

I have never had this issue in San Antonio, so I'm afraid I don't have a recommendation for you. I have used AAA Auger a few times for other plumbing work and have been very satisfied. I'm guessing from their name that this is a service they offer.

Do you think it's a good idea to pay for the "sewer cam" to SEE what's up or just assume it's roots?

My mom had roots in her lines and seems like she was always having someone come clear them but I know eventually she had to re-do all the plumbing and it was a LOT OF MONEY.

[smitty12]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

Last year we had a blockage in the main sewer line causing the toilet to back up and nasty water to come up in the tub.

After trying various things, including a "snake" from Home Depot (small one though, hand crank), we gave in and called a plumber, or "rooter" company, not sure which.

This guy was clueless and my neighbor basically did his job for him and we paid $150 for the privelege and use of his snake/rooter thing. He found some small, flushable baby wipes and said that was the problem. I don't think so... but anyway, he offered to run the camera down the lines for another $200 and we declined.

Well here we are. It's been almost a year and we're having the same problem and I'm sure within a week or two it will be to the point where we must pay someone. I wonder if it's roots in the lines?

I'm not sure if we should again call someone, or try and rent an electric rooter (what's the technical term for it?) ourselves this time? I've heard they can be dangerous and hurt you or your pipes or both. Then again my mom has done it before and it turned out okay.

So WWYD? And if you are going to recommend a company to us, please tell me; do you think that what we paid for the last guy is average, low, or high? Feel free to DM me with recommendations. It was just so obvious that the last guy didn't know what he was doing, I don't want to call him again, but I will call a pro if it can't be fixed ourselves...

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and get "Root Kill" it is copper sulfate crystals, and is a contact killer for roots, it will not kill the plant just the pieces of root it touches. It has instructions for if your drains are already going slow. I pour two pounds of the stuff every six months to keep the lines clear, works pretty well.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

Do you think it's a good idea to pay for the "sewer cam" to SEE what's up or just assume it's roots?

A good, experienced technician will be able to tell by the way the rooter machine is reacting whether it's cutting up roots or something else. Don't let them upsell you to the camera without a good reason.

I think I used to pay Roto-Rooter not much more than $100 for the annual service when I lived in the midwest. You could probably call around and get estimates over the phone for root treatment.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by Bowie

A good, experienced technician will be able to tell by the way the rooter machine is reacting whether it's cutting up roots or something else. Don't let them upsell you to the camera without a good reason.

I think I used to pay Roto-Rooter not much more than $100 for the annual service when I lived in the midwest. You could probably call around and get estimates over the phone for root treatment.

See yeah that was my concern. The guy is blaming baby wipes, seems to know nada about roots yet wanted to do the camera thing. Didn't sound right to me.

I guess I'll start calling.

smitty12: thanks for the tip. I know my mom was putting something down the toilet monthly, couldn't remember what. If there is a backup due to this then it might help it? I'm willing to try it first, since it's not quite "backed up" yet, just not wanting to flush without help right now which was the first "symptom" last time. We started having to plunge it, then it started the backup in the tub.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

See yeah that was my concern. The guy is blaming baby wipes, seems to know nada about roots yet wanted to do the camera thing. Didn't sound right to me.

Unless it was a lot of baby wipes, that's not likely the cause. We've lost a cloth wipe or two (small, very thing wash-cloth type things) down the toilet accidentally and haven't had issues there.

Roots sound the more likely cause.

[1StarRanch]

Curious how you could have roots in the line, wouldn't that mean there would be a hole in the pipe which would lead to a leak in the yard? Especially with our drought conditions I'm thinking you'd have one really green spot.

In regards to the baby wipes, I just built a house and when we were getting our septic installed, the owner told us not to flush baby wipes, he said some of the baby wipes are bad for the system.

Lastly, have you tried RidX, I never had but they advertise well..hehe

Hope my little info helps

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by 1StarRanch

Curious how you could have roots in the line, wouldn't that mean there would be a hole in the pipe which would lead to a leak in the yard? Especially with our drought conditions I'm thinking you'd have one really green spot.

depends on how much it's blocked. A couple of years ago we had a piece of concrete that got wedged into a pipe. There wasn't any leakage - at least nothing really obvious (no green spots, no soft ground, no excess water use). The pipe clearly had broken (it was one of the old sewer pipes we hadn't replaced...we replaced everything else! But the concrete wedged into there enough to block the water flow sufficiently that everything backed up...fortunately it was just the dishwasher/kitchen sink area. So not too gross.

Originally Posted by 1StarRanch

In regards to the baby wipes, I just built a house and when we were getting our septic installed, the owner told us not to flush baby wipes, he said some of the baby wipes are bad for the system.

Well, I wouldn't flush any baby wipes, but a few isn't likely to make a huge difference. I know more than one person who's accidentally flushed a cloth diaper down the toilet without major problems. Now, if you did it regularly....

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by 1StarRanch

Curious how you could have roots in the line, wouldn't that mean there would be a hole in the pipe which would lead to a leak in the yard? Especially with our drought conditions I'm thinking you'd have one really green spot.

In regards to the baby wipes, I just built a house and when we were getting our septic installed, the owner told us not to flush baby wipes, he said some of the baby wipes are bad for the system.

Lastly, have you tried RidX, I never had but they advertise well..hehe

Hope my little info helps

That's a good question. I have no idea, honestly. I haven't noticed any "green" spots but I don't have grass, I have dirt and weeds.

As for the wipes... we bought flushables, then told the kids not to actually flush them but put them in a covered can (bought the flushables though just in case the 5 year old forgot)... they were mainly bought for her to use and she seemed good about putting them in the trash.

Couldn't get anyone in the house to 'fess up and it was only 3 or 4 and they were small. So who knows if they were even the same ones? This was closer to when we'd first moved in.

I have seen plumbers pull things from sewer lines that I KNOW weren't mine... like in an old apartment/duplex we lived in, certain feminine hygiene products that were not mine ( let's just say I know what I buy and where it's disposed of!), were not the upstairs neighbors (as she was post-menopausal) and had to have come from previous tenants but we'd been there over six months as had the other neighbor. The landlady was REALLY mad and wanting to make one of us pay, but I swear, it wasn't ours.

Off to google RidX (I don't watch much TV!)