When it comes to having a blocked main drain, nothing can be as invasive and intrusive as having many different trades inside your home. It also causes distress because your plumbing simply does not work and causes what could accumulate to tens of thousands of dollars. DrainCom support team received a call regarding a “simple drain blockage”. Our team arrived to the customer shortly.
Here is the full story spoken by the DrainCom’s plumbers team leader:
With this particular job, nothing seemed to be easy. We arrived on site to what was reported as a simple blockage. I used my drain machine through the base of the stack as I normally would for this type of call and it seemed to have cleared the blockage. When I retrieved my cables from the drain, I found a large deposit of tree roots. On the lawn there were two large trees though I has thought that the drainage was running in the opposite direction it would appear that I had been deceived.
I decided to put in the drain camera to get a full set of eyes on the situation. I entered through the stack that I had snaked out previously and it seemed to be very clear for the first 20 or so feet. When I passed to the outside of the house though it was a much different situation. I have to say at this point that the drainage from the house was clay tile piping and 6″ in diameter.
The pipes were is terrible condition, and as we went further into the line the worse that it was. From the 20′ mark to the 80′ mark it was apparent that the drain lines were around 80% blocked and required immediate replacement. After speaking with the customer it was agreed that the replacement must be immediate. The following morning our experts arrived on site with a full dig crew and the needed equipment.
The first hours were spent digging with the backhoe and undermining the pipework to be changed. In it’s entirety the replacement was to be 60′ and in 6″ pipe. no small feat for any crew. We endeavored to keep working in order to get the system up and running the same day. After we had exposed the area and piping, smashing it out with a hammer was the only way to remove it as the roots kept it all together when it was cut with chain cutters. The refuse was taken and tossed into the bin.
The transition from the clay tile to the new plastic was simple and quick, laying the pipework with perfect fall was the difficult part. By code the minimum fall for a 6″ line is 1/8″ per foot. The replacement piping was completed in one day but the backfilling had to be the next day. The next morning we arrived on site to bury the service piping and to fully test the system.
To be thorough, I decided to camera the drain again. The camera was inserted in the same stack cleanout and run from the 20′ mark right through to the street level at 82′. All was clear and the inside of the piping looked pristine. The nice feature of the drain camera is that it is completely waterproof. We used fixtures in the basement to test the lines and it all looked perfect.
After another hard day of work, the drain lines were buried, the soil was tamped down into position and the sod was laid back into its former position. The job was completed and we had a very happy customer.
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