Any DU Plumbers

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I know some of my brethren are salt of the earth types so there might be a plumber amomg us. This morning one of my toilets was overflowing. I said to myself "no big deal" But then when my other toilet was overflowing I knew I had trouble. Anyway I called a plumber who I knew socially (an acquaintance but not a friend) and he came out and snaked it . The blockage was outside my house on the pipe that goes to the street. He charged me $300.00 for that snaking and snaking a blockage in one of my tubs.


That sounds like a decent price (for a weekend).


Did I get a good price and will the ptoblem come back. It was a root.

[Suich]

1. I'm not a plumber but I'm a homeowner.

$300 doesn't sound that high to me, considering the fact that it's the weekend. How long was he there?

I don't have a problem with roots, but I think the conventional wisdom says to have your pipes snaked every couple of years or so (not sure how often) to avoid the problem. Can you get rid of whatever has the intrusive roots?

btw, more than anything else, I HATE plumbing problems. If anything ever happens to my drain, they'll have to dig up a 2' wide sidewalk on the side of my house to replace it. Big $$$!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Two And One Half Hours

Plus he snaked a clogged bath tub which was the least of my problems as I have more than one.


It was a mess. I was freaking. Water was coming back into my tubs.

[Suich]

3. Nothing like water backing up to get the blood pumping, huh?

It sounds like you got a very good deal on the price!

Hope you don't have any more problems!

[Turbineguy]

4. My (elderly) neighbor

had a plugged drain. It was outside the house. The plumbing company ran a camera down the drain and spotted it. They charged $7500.00 for this.

They called the water and sewage company who came out to fix it. It turned out that the installers of the optical internet system ran their machine through the drain line and it collapsed. The contractor paid the costs to my neighbor and said they would take it up with the Plumbers.

[Blue Diadem]

5. If you don't mind the mess, it is possible to do it yourself.

You can rent those big sewer snakes from most tool rental companies. We used to do our lines every couple years ourselves when we had tree root problems. We had the root problem when we lived in the city and found the roots will keep coming in, I'm told at any joints in the pipes. Then we found a product(sorry I can't remember the name of it) that we would flush down the toilet and let it sit overnight before using any water again. That would kill the roots that were in the line.

I can't really say about the cost. It sounds reasonable to me, but we are an avid do-it-yourself family so we haven't used a plumber in probably close to 30 yrs now.

[Steven_S]

6. I was a plumber for 27 years...

You got a bargain. AFAIK I'm still the only plumber here. If you want more info just ask.

[Orrex]

7. Why is it that no matter how many times I replace and regoop the pipes under my kitchen sink

They still leak?

[Steven_S]

10. You're not doing it right

I know - no kidding!

Using nylon or neoprene washers can be a problem unless they line up perfectly. Using ball wick (a stranded string) with compound is better. Cheap plastic tubing for kitchen drains is a problem because very hot water causes them to expand, and then leak.

[stupid server]

9. I have a question

Is there some kind of problem with powdered dishwasher (machine) detergent? That seemed to be the substance that had clogged my sister's kitchen drain - it had formed a thick white past that seemed to have settled in a slight low spot in the line and built up to a full-fledged 18 inch long mass.

I've seen a similar substance in my drain at home before, too - only it could have been a couple other substances (flour, comet) in my case. In my sister's case it seemed to be the only possibility as that is the only stuff like that going down her drain regularly.

doesn't the stuff dissolve?

[Steven_S]

12. That thick white paste may be grease

that builds up along the bottom of the pipe - especially low spots. Powdered stuff doesn't do that.

[stupid server]

13. I don't think so - it dried to a crumbly chunky powder.

I have spilled water in detergent and the texture is very similar - heck there is a box here that got wet from the drain. I kept a sample for her. They eat pretty healthy and don't use much grease anyway. We thought it was going to be roots because there are mulberry sprouts and a big old tree nearby. Not a root anywhere, just the ~18 inches of thick white paste - I took some pix but they are on the computer at home - I can post them later or I might be able to do one of the sample I kept for her here. That will have to be tomorrow.

[stupid server]

8. another do-it-myselfer here but I had a recent experience wit the issue

My sister had a clog in her kitchen drain, she panicked and called some kind of rotorooter company. They charged her $200 to run a snake from the kitchen to the clog, didn't open it, broke a fitting on a water filter and made the side drain leak. Came back the next day with a camera and said it was clogged but they didn't know what it was - gave her an estimate for another $600 to dig it up and fix it. I told her we'd do that for beer.

It took a couple of hours (damp clay soil, thick clog) to dig, cut out part of the clog and clean out the rest, put in a couple of couplings and fill it back in.

The stupid water filter fitting will be fixed with epoxy, I guess because I can't find a replacement (the whole filter is $40 on e-bay, might be worth it - ha) I haven't looked at the drain yet but it is all cheap plastic and should be an easy fix.

I can't see paying a ton of money for plumbing BUT if you don't know where the clog is or it is under flooring it could be worth paying somebody to do it. It was worth a few bucks to have "ours" located - saved trenching 30 or 40 feet, but not sure it was worth the whole 200.

[denbot]

11. I rent drain snakes from home depot.

It costs about 70 a day, including tax and damage insurance. For roots used Ridex root treatment every 6 month and you won't have to worry about root clogs again. 300 to fix a clog on the weekend is about market rate. I just don't pay plumbers if I can avoid it.