12/12/07

Disgusting!!

Many years ago, probably twenty (I could go back and look in my old check ledgers to find the payment, but because it was before computers it would take me a while), I had a problem with the sewer system in the house. There was a cleanout plug in the basement that was never sealed tightly and when the water began to back up in the main line it came into the cutout in the concrete floor. No damage to anything, but an alert that there was a clog of some sort. At first it would only back up if two toilets flushed at the same time, otherwise there was enough time for the water to trickle by the clog to the street line. But eventually a cleanout by RotoRooter was needed and a small amount of roots were found. Leap ahead twenty years. As I do on an irregular yearly basis, I checked the flow of the line a couple weeks ago by filling up the sinks, then running through the house flushing both toilets and pulling the drain on the sinks and running downstairs to check the flow. There was some backup but not that much, but I knew it would only be a matter of time that someone used too much paper and it clogged more, so I called RotoRooter again. He came out. I ran water for him. He listened. Then he said he didn't see any reason to clean it out because he could hear the water emptying into the main street line. I said, no, I would like it cleaned out anyway. So, he did. During the cleanout I stood there and he said it seemed clear as the motorized snake went in and didn't hesitate at all. I knew that I was doing it for my peace of mind so I didn't care. Then he pulled the snake all the way out and as the shearing end of the snake came out of the cleanout hole I tried to figure out when I had flushed a shirt down the toilet. What came out is what is in the accompanied picture. ROOTS. He was as amazed as I was. It was disgusting. But now I am worry free, at least for a few more years.

4 comments:

Kevin said...

oh my goodness!!!
that was in there???? it's amazing any toilet paper or stuff made it past that.

was there an odor?

ray said...

I would assume it wasn't that shape inside the pipe. The spinning action of the snake would have grabbed the roots along the pipe and spun them together into the shape shown. And yes there was an odor, not an extreme odor, but one that made me gag up close.

Lauren Clerkin said...

Wow, that is gross. How would we ever know if we had a problem?

ray said...

You would only know when either your shower or tub began to back up. Those would probably be the first to back up because of the height of the drain. But on the positive side you have no trees in your front yard.