tree roots in sewer line???

[1jjpop]

Gone A few days,carpet wet in basement when we got home.Water come up floor drain in basement , called roto-rooter, we have tree roots in our sewer line Rotor -rooter cut out .How do we keep from having this happening again ??? Lived here 25 years- no problem before .Ruined 70 yards of carpet & pad. Plus other damage. Anything to kill roots in line ? Our drain around the house dumps into sanitary line [we don't have a sump pump].

 

[Billy Jack]

Had that problem in my house also. After having it snaked clear, I would dump a container of root killer from the local plumbing supply house annually in the house trap. I'd always do it as the last step before the family left on vacation, so it wouldn't get flushed from the lines too soon to be effective. Never had to call for a plumber again, until the big ash trees died 15 years later from the ash-borer infestation in my area.

Bill

 

[RivennHewn]

Have an epoxy liner installed

 

[Stuart in MN]

What is the age of the house, and what is used for the drain line? Modern houses typically use PVC which is pretty resistant to roots since there are fewer joints and they're all glued, while older houses with drain tiles are more prone to root intrusion since the mortar between the tiles deteriorates over the years.


You should have a plumber run a camera down the line to check for damage or cracks in the joints.


I talked to a couple plumbing companies about getting the drain line at my house lined, but it would have been as expensive as replacing it with PVC. I ended up just getting a section replaced where the worst root intrusion was happening.

Our drain around the house dumps into sanitary line [we don't have a sump pump].

Are you talking about a drain for water getting up against the foundation? Most areas require separation of sanitary and storm sewers these days. This could also be contributing to the root damage.

 

[mikeceli]

cOPPER sULFATE for killing roots. pour a cup down the toilet and flush a few times, when residents have retired for the evening.

 

[4xdog]

CuSO4 helps, but in my experience there are some trees that are just gonna find water. Silver Maples (Acer saccharinum) are one of the worst at this. After having my drain cut free every two years for ten years (with copper sulfate in the meantime) I ended up taking out a Silver Maple in my back yard. Problem solved, and in fact the landscaping is better now, too!

 

[1jjpop]

Our house was built 50+- years ago. Didn't have sump pumps back in them days.

 

[alexb2000]

Have an epoxy liner installed

+1 Just fix the problem.

 

[tdkkart]

Our drain around the house dumps into sanitary line [we don't have a sump pump].

Didn't say where in Iowa you live, but in most municipalities this is illegal, and if you're outside the codes zone it's just bad practice. Why would you insist on feeding your sanitary system more water than you have to?

Besides chemical treatments for the roots, and taking down the offending trees, you need to fix your drainage issue.

 

[Ilikeike]

Cracked or slipped joint in your pipe.
Keep putting bandage on it or fix it.

 

[GarageGuy89]

This is very common, and not just in sewer lines. The problem with roots are they start out the size of hairs and once they find a crack or opening they grow themselves into it. I've seen these tear apart iron pipe over the years. The problem stems from a leaking line, which puts out a point source for the roots to feed or drink off of. Take away the food source and they have no need to grow into your pipe. Having a sealed up pipe will act as a preventative measure but does not guarantee anything.

Not much you can do other then constant inspections and maintenance. Putting chemicals down your system only pollutes things downstream of you.

Time frames do not matter either. A root can grow within a couple months or take several decades.

There are many articles on-line to read up on if your interested.

 

[58Yeoman]

I had problems in my last house, and the roto guy told me to get the foaming tree root killer to dump down my drain. Don't remember the name, but it's in hardware and big box stores. Runs about 20 -25 bucks.

 

[Rustybolt]

Some older lines have root problems. Here's some I pulled out of PVC pipe

 

[longez]

Root-X down a toilet or cleanout short term; long term save up $$ for the epoxy/fiberglass liner.

https://rootx.com/

 

[The Cobbler]

I would get the line video'd so you know what you're dealing with. 1 spot bad or the entire run, or something in between. then it's easier to figure out a plan

 

[pcmeiners]

Sulfamic acid....

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...H0.Xsulfamic.TRS0.TSS0&_nkw=sulfamic&_sacat=0

copper sulfate...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Copper-Sul...wQAAOxyYSdTASnZ:sc:USPSFirstClass!10306!US!-1

 

[ddawg16]

Roots will happen...........

The best solution depends on the type of line you have and how large.

Instead of guessing and taking short cuts, have a plumber run a camera down it. It might be a simple small area of roots. The rooter of them might be good for another 10-20 years.

If you have clay pipe, you need to know if it's cracked, of the roots came in through a joint. If cracked, your only real solution is replacement. Sleeving the inside may not be possible....and it not cheap.

In my area, a camera snake is about $250 for a typical 100' of sewer. They give you a copy of the video when done.

So....since you know you have roots....and it's cleaned out for now....as time permits, get the camera shot. That will tell you have much time you have. Plan accordingly.

 

[yeldogt]

So, I'm assuming it rained and the rain off the roof backed up into the house because of the clogged drain?

Early sewer systems actually used roof run off as a sort of flushing system -- many did not have high flow and would clog if not occasionally flushed with rain. Around me it's been required for them to be removed -- at least 40 years since the new sewage plants went in.

The roots will come back --- do you have an obvious tree? The plumber should have been able to tell you where the blockage was using the length of line needed to reach it. As others have said ... if you plan on being there a while ... fix it. Depending on insurance -- backups are covered -- although basic policy are typically low. Cheap to raise should it happen again.

 

[nadogail]

We had a similar problem with a rental of recent construction. the plastic sewer line under the front lawn was plugged with grass roots.

IMHO, The cause of the blockage was the builder running heavy equipment over poorly compacted fill over the new trenches, causing cracks to irrigate the roots. It took a few years for roots to become a problem.

Problem diagnosed by plumbers video.

Had to dig out the old line and replace.

 

[Spareparts]

$0 yrs we had a really dry summer and the sewer system in an old subdivision had the clay tile sewer lines throughout. Always having problens with it backing up, the city engineer suggested using Copper Sulfate, so off came the man hole covers and a couple of gallons into every one. Well about a month later the sewer was flowing good, but trees started dying all over the place. Tree services were blaming the Dutch Elm Disease for that but every variety of trees were dying, a lot of tree services were making a lot of money for that mistake.

 

[Homerr]

We've had problems with roots as well, just had our old concrete section pipe sewer replaced via pipe-bursting method.

We used Root-X previously but it still seemed like we'd have water on the floor of the basement at least once a year from a backup caused by roots (epoxy floor so easier to clean up, but we avoided putting anything on the floor). Kind of an issue when on a first name basis with your rooter guy. From having the line scoped 3 times in 5 years I can tell you the roots grew fast. Our sewer ultimately had one pipe section also get out of alignment so we decided it was time to fix the issue.

The sewer guy said rhododendrons were terrible around sewers and have aggressive roots. So, while he was on site with his digger I had him pull out the several rhodys we had adjacent to the house and sewer line. Line is 8-9' deep; had to have 3 pits to go along side of house, turn front corner, and diagonal across front yard to city connection; around 50' length; had to demo a concrete porch over where the line came out of the house (3-steps up, was 10" thick plus rebar); replaced weak and corroded stack inside basement; total cost was $11,500 plus tax.

 

[redmondjp]

$0 yrs we had a really dry summer and the sewer system in an old subdivision had the clay tile sewer lines throughout. Always having problens with it backing up, the city engineer suggested using Copper Sulfate, so off came the man hole covers and a couple of gallons into every one. Well about a month later the sewer was flowing good, but trees started dying all over the place. Tree services were blaming the Dutch Elm Disease for that but every variety of trees were dying, a lot of tree services were making a lot of money for that mistake.

That is an awesome story; thanks for sharing!