Blocked sewer line.

[muppet]

Had a call from one of our tenants last night.
When bath water, toilet water, sink water etc was flushed away, it came bubbling back up the outlet outside.
Saw a plumber this morning and explained the situation.
I called around at the house this afternoon to see the plumber pull a long line of thin tree roots out of the sewer line about 30m from in the inlet.
What a mess.
A tree nearby had got its roots through the joins in the pipe and eventually nearly block up the pipe.
Anyway line all clear and now have a happy tenant.
Now await the account.

[Learning Landlord]

Costs

Muppet

FYI this is a semi regular occurance at a couple of my properties. I don't care if I get harrassed on this forum for saying this, but any 'long haired' tenant costs me in drainage fees to clear blocked drains.

That and 'feminine hygene products' that are not disposed of properly. One year I paid close to $1000 for drainage services. In ONE year.

Anyway to unblock tree roots from a drain, which has also been the culprit for me in the past, I have been charged between $100 - $150 incl GST.

Just thought you may want the heads up.

Now, where are all those bald tenants...

[Davo36]

Just curious guys, what sorts of pipes are these? The old clay ones? Or newer plastic ones? I assumed roots couldn't get into the plastic ones. Can anyone clarify this?

[Learning Landlord]

Mine were both, clay and plastic. The plastic lines in one property are not that old, they were installed in the last 10 years.

The drainage guy said when it comes to tree roots, human waste material and hair, there can be blockages in ANY pipe!

On a new build I am just starting I am paying a bit extra to ensure large diameter pipes, tree roots to be excavated completely and hopefully no calls from tenants re that in the future!

When a couple of blockages wipe out a months rent, it gets a bit Grrrrr...

[muppet]

About 35 yr old clay pipes.
And a big kowhai tree to be executed in the morning

[spurner]

I've had a number of these over the years. The worst one saw the chit blowing back up out of the toilet and flooding the floor. Thank goodness it was the neighbors property, even though it was my pipe blocked (didn't realise it was a communal pipe at the time, oops).

I've had many blockages from tree roots too. The roots can actually get into any kind of pipe eventually, but old clay pipes anywhere near trees are the most susceptible. You can unblock it, but you'll probably be unblocking it every 6-12 months thereafter. The only way to solve the problem is to dig it up and replace with PVC. Not the cheapest option, but certainly the best. Do it once properly and then forget about it (at least until the next section of pipe becomes blocked too).

I had a 6" sewer pipe block up dead center in the middle of a driveway to 23 units too, that was fun to dig up and replace.

Amazing things sewer pipes are.

[ambitious]

its a pain, easiest is to utilise cctv drainage people, who take a video, and use a laser to identify exactly where problem is.....then get plumber/drainlayer to dig that spot and replace.....rather then leaving them to take their time to find out problem....clay pipes are the worst, as, sometimes, there are gaps, and roots creep in, or it could have creacked....best to replace....from memory, around $70-$90/m is the cost of pvc piping fully installed. hope this helps. all the best

[Tan]

Now await the account.

Check if your insurance will give you a donation towards the bill. After having a particularly block-prone tenant & getting the drains fixed several times I saw this clause in the insurance - too late though!

"Special features include: Water or sewerage pipe blockage - $500 towards clearing pipes"

[graemeh]

its a pain, easiest is to utilise cctv drainage people, who take a video, and use a laser to identify exactly where problem is.....then get plumber/drainlayer to dig that spot and replace.....rather then leaving them to take their time to find out problem....clay pipes are the worst, as, sometimes, there are gaps, and roots creep in, or it could have creacked....best to replace....from memory, around $70-$90/m is the cost of pvc piping fully installed. hope this helps. all the best

We got the cctv people in first time but it was going to be very expensive to replace the drain (hard to get at).

Instead we had the tree cut down. It's only blocked once in the last 10 years since we did that.

[PC]

Had to dig up and clear a waste water pipe.
Turns out the tenants kids had been having a great time stuffing pebbles down the gully trap.
The little darlings!

[Perry]

What if one 'arranged' for a few
Kgs of caustic soda to be flushed
down the toilet, in cases where
there was some residual drain
flow? Might that work? (Not for
pebbles, but roots, hair, etc.)
.

[Ahar]

I believe caustic soda takes the nice shine off porcelain...so wouldn't put it anywhere near a toilet

Another thought re unblocking drains.....try the council first.

I have a property that regularily has blocked drains....in every case it's the mains that is blocked, so no cost to me.

[Perry]

I believe caustic soda takes the nice shine off porcelain...so wouldn't put it anywhere near a toilet.

That's news to me. Can do
with some metal surfaces,
but baked/glazed porcelain
should be immune, if fired
properly & devoid of cracks.
.