We have an older house. The cellar drain goes off to a (presumed)
drywell somewhere. All that goes down there is a couple of loads of
laundry a week. (We have a screen over the drain to catch lint from
the wash.) This drain has been gradually slowing down. It still
drains, just kind of slowly: if I slow the flow from the washtub, the
drain can keep up.

A snake initially got some roots out, but now just occasional mud.
The snake gets far enough to be out past the cellar wall. It seems to
be running into something solid, as best I can tell. I ran a hose
(with a pressure nozzle) down, to no avail. Digging up the drywell
would be expensive.

I'd be interested in anyone's experience/ideas WRT this situation.

TIA,
George

You can try a Drain King http://www.g****erproducts.com/drain.html They are
great, but I doubt if they will solve your problem. You can rent a power
snake from your local rental place, or hire a plumber who has one. Sometime
roots inside a pipe can seem very solid, and sometimes roots can crush a
pipe. A good plumber can tell you if it has to be dug up.


"George" wrote in message
...
We have an older house. The cellar drain goes off to a (presumed)
drywell somewhere. All that goes down there is a couple of loads of
laundry a week. (We have a screen over the drain to catch lint from
the wash.) This drain has been gradually slowing down. It still
drains, just kind of slowly: if I slow the flow from the washtub, the
drain can keep up.

A snake initially got some roots out, but now just occasional mud.
The snake gets far enough to be out past the cellar wall. It seems to
be running into something solid, as best I can tell. I ran a hose
(with a pressure nozzle) down, to no avail. Digging up the drywell
would be expensive.

I'd be interested in anyone's experience/ideas WRT this situation.

TIA,
George

You can always mix rocksalt and hot water, to kill tree roots in any
drain, but probably not a septic system!

Dry wellls always gradually fill up with crud

Can you temporarily dump it thru a hose outside, or down the septic
just untill its fixed?

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:14:49 GMT, George
wrote:

We have an older house. The cellar drain goes off to a (presumed)
drywell somewhere. All that goes down there is a couple of loads of
laundry a week. (We have a screen over the drain to catch lint from
the wash.) This drain has been gradually slowing down. It still
drains, just kind of slowly: if I slow the flow from the washtub, the
drain can keep up.

A snake initially got some roots out, but now just occasional mud.
The snake gets far enough to be out past the cellar wall. It seems to
be running into something solid, as best I can tell. I ran a hose
(with a pressure nozzle) down, to no avail. Digging up the drywell
would be expensive.

I'd be interested in anyone's experience/ideas WRT this situation.



You're probably going to have to do it anyway.

You need to get your washer hooked up to a properly-designed septic
system or sewer.

In the mean time, you could have the washer dump water on the ground
outside in an area away from your house that won't cause problems in
the way of killing nice plants, erosion, etc.

the sewer cleaning plumbers seem to do a wonderful job, much better
than any snaking i ever did. in buffalo ny we use and recommend
Aquajet:
Aquajet Sewer Service Corp
(716) 877-1534
402 Vulcan St
Buffalo, NY