Hillsborough County: Who is responsible for sewer line from house to main? (Spring Hill: fence, best)

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Spring Hillian

Depending on the age of the sewer pipe from the house to the main and depending on the material it is made out of, it is sometimes better to replace the line. Once roots make holes in pipes the sewage is going to exit from those holes an cracks once the roots are gone. If the roots are in the line you get slow drains and backups. Older houses have cast iron pipes or clay. Both give out over time. Replacement cuts out headaches down the road.

Good to know if you're buying an older home. Looks like they're replacing it with some sort of aqua color plastic pipe. I would think clay or cast iron would last longer, but what do I know?

Must be expensive to replace the pipe, though. They're into the second day, still not done and it's just a small place, wow. The former owners were renting it out to snowbirds and the last renter was there when there was a backup. Must've been bad, because he just split to go back up north early and he did not look happy. After that the owners put it up for sale. I don't know if sewer pipes are something that home inspectors get into, or if the new owner even had an inspection done. I have to think that being on the downward slope where all the runoff water is, had something to do with it. One of the folks two houses up from the place with the tree also had a backup, I told them about Root Kill, I don't know if they used it, though.

Anyone around here so much as gets a hangnail, they blame that tree, but have no problem parking in its shade when it gets hot.

[HWTechGuy]

Originally Posted by CHASLS2

My meter is in the mans yard next door. Talk about strange.

I've got the meter pit right on the property line, about 12 feet in from the street My meter is on my side of the imaginary property line through the pit, and my neighbor's meter is on the other.

[bentlebee]

New manage a lot of properties and we have had a lot of issues with older homes with large trees placed way to close to the slab that caused concrete driveways to look like puzzle pieces and in need to be replaced, slab leaks due to roots issues and sewer pipes and even toilets that were lifted and roots were growing out of the pipes.

Insurance companies are ordering owners to cut tree branches back or having trees removed or no insurance will be provided.

We took a couple of Oak trees out and replaced them with Palm trees and part of the reason was the roots of the trees growing so close to the sidewalk and knowing what I know now due to the experience we know what the cost of repair/replacement will be.

For a Magnolia tree we had the roots already growing visible under the slab and that within 10 years which makes you wonder if either The County or the architects and/or the builders don't care or don't have a clue or don't care about the issues that occur down the road for home owners.

Due to my experience I will for any future home if it is a new build home immediately after closing move the trees further from the house and/or replace them right away with other trees that will cause less damage.

Our entire street had all the Oak trees taken out of the easement so we won't have to deal with cracked sidewalks as we have seen in so many communities and aside from that the work from trimming them twice a year, mess from stuff falling out and excessive cleaning of the mail box, etc. makes it worth wile to have them removed.

We have paid thousands of dollars on behalf of owners for tree trimming for Oak trees that are huge or owners who have the. Trimmed twice a year.

Many owners under estimate the cost and work and it isn't always old homes but nowadays even 10 -15 year old homes can be seen with issues due to roots.

Just today we took hedges out and we were shocked how big and long the roots were and we didn't even take them out completely. We only took out approx. 10 feet of roots for one hedge....we wondered how much more will be in the ground.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

New manage a lot of properties and we have had a lot of issues with older homes with large trees placed way to close to the slab that caused concrete driveways to look like puzzle pieces and in need to be replaced, slab leaks due to roots issues and sewer pipes and even toilets that were lifted and roots were growing out of the pipes.

Insurance companies are ordering owners to cut tree branches back or having trees removed or no insurance will be provided.

We took a couple of Oak trees out and replaced them with Palm trees and part of the reason was the roots of the trees growing so close to the sidewalk and knowing what I know now due to the experience we know what the cost of repair/replacement will be.

For a Magnolia tree we had the roots already growing visible under the slab and that within 10 years which makes you wonder if either The County or the architects and/or the builders don't care or don't have a clue or don't care about the issues that occur down the road for home owners.

Due to my experience I will for any future home if it is a new build home immediately after closing move the trees further from the house and/or replace them right away with other trees that will cause less damage.

Our entire street had all the Oak trees taken out of the easement so we won't have to deal with cracked sidewalks as we have seen in so many communities and aside from that the work from trimming them twice a year, mess from stuff falling out and excessive cleaning of the mail box, etc. makes it worth wile to have them removed.

We have paid thousands of dollars on behalf of owners for tree trimming for Oak trees that are huge or owners who have the. Trimmed twice a year.

Many owners under estimate the cost and work and it isn't always old homes but nowadays even 10 -15 year old homes can be seen with issues due to roots.

Just today we took hedges out and we were shocked how big and long the roots were and we didn't even take them out completely. We only took out approx. 10 feet of roots for one hedge....we wondered how much more will be in the ground.

In Hillsborough, the county has to give a permit to take down oak trees, if they're live oaks especially. I personally like them and think it would be much better to learn to live with them then just cut them down and leave the cookie cutter subdivisions baking in the the sun. After all, how dare the roots interfere with the pipes and concrete? I'm not a tree hugger by any means, but cut down all the trees and it reduces air quality and shade and drainage.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by kmarc

In Hillsborough, the county has to give a permit to take down oak trees, if they're live oaks especially. I personally like them and think it would be much better to learn to live with them then just cut them down and leave the cookie cutter subdivisions baking in the the sun. After all, how dare the roots interfere with the pipes and concrete? I'm not a tree hugger by any means, but cut down all the trees and it reduces air quality and shade and drainage.

We replaced them per County requirements each for 2 Palm trees. We didn't need any permit since they were not big enoug and only needed HOA approval. To everyone's suprise we didn't need anyone's approval for the easement and even a neighbor called the County on us for the easement Oak tree removal but to the county employees suprise and the neighbor we were right and our community for whatever reason doesn't need easement County approval which almost every community needs to get.

For the previous mentioned reason we don't have a cookie cutter or hardly any trees and we still have two Oak trees in the back where we have most of the sun each day so lots of shade.

Personally we like the Palm trees better since it feels more like Florida for some personal reason and we still have the difference of Oak trees in the back and Palms in the front.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

We replaced them per County requirements each for 2 Palm trees. We didn't need any permit since they were not big enoug and only needed HOA approval. To everyone's suprise we didn't need anyone's approval for the easement and even a neighbor called the County on us for the easement Oak tree removal but to the county employees suprise and the neighbor we were right and our community for whatever reason doesn't need easement County approval which almost every community needs to get.

For the previous mentioned reason we don't have a cookie cutter or hardly any trees and we still have two Oak trees in the back where we have most of the sun each day so lots of shade.

Personally we like the Palm trees better since it feels more like Florida for some personal reason and we still have the difference of Oak trees in the back and Palms in the front.

Good to know. You're right, under a certain size there's no permit needed.

[gypsychic]

The biggest issue is not really the trees, but the disintegrating of old pipes over time. Our house was built in 1954, on a slab. We have had several pinhole leaks in our pipes, last year when they blasted my kitchen floor open to fix, they discovered our sewer pipe had disintegrated. So we had to replace that plus sections of leaky pipe. We are having pinhole leaks AGAIN and have decided just to re-route and put in new pipes above the slab. Huge hassle (and expense)

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

The biggest issue is not really the trees, but the disintegrating of old pipes over time. Our house was built in 1954, on a slab. We have had several pinhole leaks in our pipes, last year when they blasted my kitchen floor open to fix, they discovered our sewer pipe had disintegrated. So we had to replace that plus sections of leaky pipe. We are having pinhole leaks AGAIN and have decided just to re-route and put in new pipes above the slab. Huge hassle (and expense)

I agree that trees are not necessarily the issue. Your house had a 60 year run with the pipes and that sounds pretty good to me. Somehow, I don't think the pipes that have gone into homes over the last 20 years are going to last that long. I give 'em maybe 30 years, but I'm not an expert.

What are you replacing your old pipes with, if you don't mind saying? Do you think they'll be as good as what you're replacing over time? One thing I've always found interesting and a hassle is how the old pipes are under slab in much of Florida and you have to bust up the slab to get at them.

[kmarc]

Also, all this is really good to know if you're buying an older home, something to take into consideration when making an offer.

[kmarc]

Anyone have an opinion on the best material for replacement sewer pipes?