[masraum]

Originally Posted by Gogar

If you're bored and wanna blow 20 or 30 bucks you could buy a camera for your phone and run it down there. I have this one and it's worth $25 anyway

Very cool! And for $25, it would nearly be disposable after I ran it through the houses poop chute, LOL!

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I had this situation, and it kept coming back. So I replaced it all with plastic. THEN the darn roots started growing into the join between the plastic and the old pipe and concrete septic tank. I got a medical bandage and soaked it in copper sulphate then wrapped it around the plastic to ceramic pipe join and no problems from that point on.

Yeah, ours is PVC from ~1990 or so, I'm fairly certain. But good to know about a copper sulfate wrap to protect it from roots!

Originally Posted by KFC911

If renting is that inconvenient ... and you can buy one for $300 .... I'd buy one.

Or mebbe just pay a plumber that much every 3 years

You could get the missus a Roto-Rooter for Christmas!

That's what I'm leaning towards, calling a plumber. I just hate to rely on others.

Originally Posted by Magyar Kiwi

Hi
For a permanent repair suggest you dig up and replace the section of pipe with the hole the roots are entering thru.
If pipe is in poor condition consider replacing the complete section.
Hope this helps.
Cheers

It's 10-15' of PVC, so should be fairly easy to access.

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

For some reason I have impression that he has an older home that could have clay tile. If that’s the case, the solution is either buy a root cutter and use it every year, or dig it up and replace it with plastic.

Yeah, I think all of the plumbing was replaced around 1990 so everything is PVC. THat's one of the nice things about this place. The house is old. I'm sure there wasn't plumbing or a bathroom originally, but after the original owners/builders died, I think it sat empty and then a family moved in around 1990 and replaced all of the wiring, HVAC, plumbing, windows, added insultation, etc... so I'm not having to deal with weird old plumbing or knob and tube wiring etc....

Originally Posted by Noah930

My plumber recommended root destroyer crystals every 6 months. Can be bought for $20 at any Home Depot/Lowes/etc.

We lived in our house for 16 years. We had roots in our main sewer line. Probably from a magnolia tree on the sidewalk in front of our house. Our house (1938) had a sewer line made from 16" clay pipe sections put together like Lego pieces, so plenty of opportunity for root ingrowth. When we first bought our house, every 2 or 3 years we'd have a clog which would necessitate a plumber snaking the sewer line of roots, but that was way cheaper (1/10) than replacing the whole thing. The last time we had it done, the plumber recommended root destroyer crystals. The only sewer line clog we've had since then has been due to "flushable" body wipes, but none more due to roots. I also used it in an outdoor pool patio drain system (where I could see the roots) at my parents' house with good success.

Since we're on a septic tank, I'm not sure that there's a root killing chemical that's bad for roots but wouldn't also be bad for the function of the septic tank.

Originally Posted by jyl

I had a forty feet of old clay sewer line re-lined. The process is called Cured In Place Plastic (CIPP). The liner is (somehow) saturated with resin and unrolled into the line, then a balloon is (somehow) unrolled into the line and inflated, pressing the liner tight against the existing pipe. The balloon is withdraw and the liner cures.. In the sewerscope, it looks great! Smooth, seamless, sexy. I’ve never been so turned on by a sewer line before. They can send a tool down to cut openings for connections. Cost $8,000. I expect would be less in most areas. The bid to excavate and replace was $26,000 including closing the street. I’ll be doing my house’s sewer line next. Old, clay, sections separated.

Wow! Crazy. It sounds cool, but thank goodness it's (clay pipe) not something that we have to worry about.