SNAKE – Stuck – way down there
SNAKE – Stuck – way down there
Got any ideas for removing a snake stuck way down the line – aside from laying a new line? (It may come to that, but not this week.) It’s cast iron from early ’60s. Probably the dirt is holding it together. Dig it out and then try to find some that doesn’t crumble. Not a nice image.
I hate old drains. I hate them even more when they are mine and there is a 1/2 snake stuck about 80′ down the line. The thing went down the line just fine. Nothing interesting. Getting down to four or five turns in the drum and it finally hit something. The brown water in the cleanout went out.
However, the snake won’t come out. Forward, reverse, etc., etc. Go a few feet in either direction and then a kink starts. Stop the snake, let it spin in the opposide direction, try that direction. Been keeping water in the line for flushing and pressure. Assume something extensive in roots. Got some out of a lateral.
The ToolBear
“Never met a man who couldn’t teach me something.” Anon.
Replies
Send a trained rat down to nibble those roots away? :)
reveese the snake..
brute sready pull...
rvese..
pull...
as often as you must..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Your house, or someone else's? If the latter, has the HO gotten a good look at you? Does he have your business card? Is your name on the end of the snake where he can see it? Is it time to visit your cousin in Poughkeepsie?
Oh, I see it's yours. Well, them's the breaks.
Roto Rooter did that here. My problem was a 3" main into a 4" lateral. Anyways, the snake was bound up in roots in the 4" lateral, and had to be pulled back through a 3" line to the clean-out. The little guy was beat and called in the bear. This dude was so tall he had to duck the joists in the basement, and had something like a 60" chest. He was going to just pull it out. Uh uh. After 8 hours or forward and reverse, they finally pulled it out.
Shortly after I cut down the silver maple yard tree. Good riddance.
After 8 hours or forward and reverse, they finally pulled it out.
There goes Sunday, after the Saturday from Hell. I have limited travel fore and aft until it wants to throw a kink either way.
Had a comealong on it, but Mike suggested that might split a pipe. Probably. It's mostly rust at this age.
The sewer is way down in the alley here.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Last time my plumber got a snake stuck in our drain, he ran the end out of the window and hooked it on his pickup truck to pull it out.
Last time my plumber got a snake stuck in our drain, he ran the end out of the window and hooked it on his pickup truck to pull it out.
Did it work? Must have been fun having all that black ooze flying around.
How old was the plumbing?
I've got cast iron into clay.
Had comealong on it and finally got it to slowly move. Then I tried to reverse it and it bound up again. @#$%The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Oh, it definitely worked. When I got home that day the guys had been trying to pull it out with a come-a-long for a couple of hours. They were hot, tired, and unhappy. And I was paying $80 an hour for them to piddle around with the thing.The pickup truck was actually my suggestion. I showed 'em where they could back in around the trees and back up to a basement window. When they pulled it loose, it broke out a small section of the cast iron pipe. But it wasn't enough to worry about.We ended up digging in a new sewer line, at a cost of over $5,000.
If we are here to help others, what are the others here for?
We ended up digging in a new sewer line, at a cost of over $5,000.
Yes, that's the fear. Could use one. I do think it's the HOA's sewer beyond the edge of the building. However, the city sewer is way, way down. The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
It's pretty clear that some digging will be required in the near future. At this stage it's a question of whether it has to begin tomorrow or can wait a few months.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Our sewer problems are indirectly tied into the curse of the "Spec House from Hell". We needed more room for our growing teenaged Sons. Our old house was a small 2 bedroom with no place to add onto easily. We had occasionally had sewer backups, but only once a year or so. I attributed it to DW using HUGE wads of toilet paper.The SHFH was still on the market, but no luck in selling it. We finally decided to move into it and rent out the old house. I left the old house vacant for a few months while I worked on some kitchen updates and such. So the house sat basically vacant for a while.As soon as we had a tenant move in the sewer started backing up on the basement floor. We tried everything, but no luck. After the plumber got his eel stuck ing the sewer, he said he wasn't putting one of his expensive roto-rooter thingies down there again. So we sent his camera down instead. What we found was that the sewer pipes had broken somewhere under the garage. There was maybe an inch wide space for all the sewage from the house to go through.I decided it was best to plan a new sewer right then instead of waiting until it plugged up permenantly. So I started checking into easements and such.We ended up going about 180' right down the middle of a city street in order to get to a sewer main. It was a nightmare to get through, and was obviously expensive. But I'm sure glad it's done. The new sewer was put in well enough that I'm hoping it lasts longer than I do. If you're in a similar spot, I'd suggest planning it out now, rather than waiting until yours gets plugged permenantly too. It's bad enough that you have to do it. It will only be worse until you wait until it has to be done NOW.
I have the body of a God. (buddha)
We ended up going about 180' right down the middle of a city street in order to get to a sewer main. It was a nightmare to get through, and was obviously expensive. But I'm sure glad it's done. The new sewer was put in well enough that I'm hoping it lasts longer than I do.
If you're in a similar spot, I'd suggest planning it out now, rather than waiting until yours gets plugged permenantly too. It's bad enough that you have to do it. It will only be worse until you wait until it has to be done NOW.
I was on the HOA subcommittee on drains. Nothing ever happened, but the best solution was a party line 6" drain that would collect from a number of units and make one connection to the sewer. The plumbers would love to sell individual hookups.
The sewer is about 40' away, in the alley, but half way to China. About 12-15' straight down. Of course, my unit rear opens on a retaining wall and the street is about 4' up, so we are closer. Big dig with shoring to be legal. Class A contractor?
I think we better consider setting another cleanout on the line in the space between condo and wall. Have no idea how to work clay tile. The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Is it out?
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
IT'S OUT!
Yes, out, out, out - and what do we have to show for all this?
Well, the cutter is buried under a nice smelly ball of small roots bound with dental floss and followed by the material eternal - a baby wipe. Those wipes are steel felt.
We are curious where this comes from. Only wife and I here. Both are sailors and know that nothing goes in the loo unless it came out of you, plus a bit of toilet paper. Once you have taken a marine head and plumbing apart to recover a baby wipe, it suggests a new awareness.
Wonder if the drain connects to my back-back condo neighbor way down the line. How do they plumb these things?
My boss got it out at lunch today. Very nice of him. He has BTDT and gotten in the kink of a 3/4 snake, stuck a few, etc., so he has street cred. I got to study snaking technique.
He mostly kept both hands (heavy leather gloves help) heaving up on the snake while he ran it in forward, some reverse. He would run it to the kink point and stop to let the drum unwind, then do it again. Finally it began to move up the line, faster and faster.
This is good. DW was beginning to Share Her Thinking with me. When the line plugs, we immediately shift to Camping Mode. Limited or no flushing. No solids. Paper plates. Nothing that produces a stream of waste water.
From that viewpoint, this is a great campsite. Heated. Lights. Furniture. Original art on the walls, TV, phone, internet. Just don't flush 'cause you'll see it again.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
think: weekend company or even joe and sally stopped by friday night,don't just think they have to have a baby,some people use the baby wipes to"clean" .
at my cabin that has a ejector pump is a sign"if it don't start with a P it don't go in the toliet"
also i have a rental in a townhouse [aka 4 plex] all the sewers join together at some point before it hits the main.that way there is only one sewer tap to pay for. code approved because they are under one roof.
if you don't have anything to do this weekend why don't cha run the cable down there just to make sure .lol larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
any luck?
you know after reading your post again,are you slipping in the drum and can't get it to spin? if so you can pull the cable out of your machine and attach another 25' on it ,wind it back in the drum and that will stop the spin in the drum. how come the plugs are always right at the end of your cable???
i've got a sewer machine and this is my worst nightmare,i think what your doing is all you can do work it back and forth.they tell me whatever you do don't let the line kink up in the main,it's bad news. i've had mine stuck for 5 mins. but never real bad like yours. pretty soon what evers on the end has to wear out don't it? larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Edited 4/17/2007 12:27 am by alwaysoverbudget
pretty soon what evers on the end has to wear out don't it? larry
I keep thinking that what is wearing is the clay tile. :-(
@@@
BTW - anyone ever do a drain in PVC? Does it work?
We use ABS here, but the boss notes that he is seeing 20 yr old ABS that is failing down the seam line. Not good. Got +40 out of this stuff. The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.