My significant other's house is having serious plumbing issues...

[SacredCow]

Long story short, it appears that the original clay and/or cast iron lines may have collapsed or are sagging, and they may have to chip out sections of his slab to fix it (and consequently, rip up the expen$ive bamboo floors that he had installed less than a year ago). There's a possibility, though, that they may be able to re-route the lines to the back (where the newer sewer lines are located) which would only require chipping out slab in the garage and covered patio...

He's NOT a happy camper this morning. The joys of home ownership!

[NJmaverick]

1. They can do a fiber optic check on the original lines to assess their condition

before doing anything else.

[SacredCow]

2. He called his insurance company....

It's possible that they might do that before proceeding.

A while back, he had a plumber come out to run a snake down the kitchen drain (one of the mega-heavy-duty snakes) and when they retracted it, there was mud on the bit. The plumber said that that was generally a sign of a breach in the wall somewhere.

[NJmaverick]

3. I have seen mud come back, with relatively intact lines

that had bad root infiltration. I say relatively intact, because obviously the roots were getting in via open joints or a crack.

[SacredCow]

4. Clearly you have experience with this!

Roots may be a problem- there are a lot of trees in the area.

The home had an addition in the 80's, and all of the plumbing from that (a bathroom, and a laundry room) actually drains to a newer system at the back of the house, while the original structure (where the trouble is) drains to the front. Depending on where the trouble is, they may be able to just divert everything to the back.

[NJmaverick]

5. Well I had a sewer line that had bad roots and there was mud

got the same speech from the plumbers. Did the fiber optic thing (after cutting through all the roots) and found the pipes didn't have to be replaced. Although I did have to put root killer down the drain every 6 months or so. In the end even with the root killer the pipes became clogged with roots again. Fortunately the sewer line was accidentally dug up while replacing a retaining all. Looking at the roots in the pipe I was amazed any water was getting through. I am gland the pipes were replaced and the roots were no longer a long term headache.


I am just letting you know that the line may not be collapsed. In the end you will have choices to make.

[SacredCow]

7. I see....

Well, it won't be my choice to make, thankfully! I'm still a renting kinda guy!

:hi:

[no name no slogan]

6. The clay pipes to the street at my previous house collapsed

We had the camera done from the house to the street, and the 60-year-old clay pipes had basically collapsed.

We ended up having it all ripped up and redone, from the house to the street, during a cold February in Minnesota. They had to get the scoop out to tear up the yard, including digging through a foot of frozen ground.

It ended up costing us about $30k at the end of the day, and played a significant role in the dissolution of my marriage.