Several months ago the mainline backed up (flooded the basement laundry
room and bathroom.) Called roto rooter to clear out roots and that
fixed the problem.
After a few months with no problems, while taking a shower in the main
floor bathroom, both the laundry room and basement bathroom flooded
again.
I called to have the mainline scoped again. The plumber said there was
nothing blocking it and the water was draining fine. He found nothing
with his snake.

So the question is... what could cause 2 different basement drains to
flood while taking a shower upstairs at 7am, but at 10am there is no
blockage in the sewer mianline and water is draining fine?

Any thoughts?

" wrote in message
oups.com...
Several months ago the mainline backed up (flooded the basement laundry
room and bathroom.) Called roto rooter to clear out roots and that
fixed the problem.
After a few months with no problems, while taking a shower in the main
floor bathroom, both the laundry room and basement bathroom flooded
again.
I called to have the mainline scoped again. The plumber said there was
nothing blocking it and the water was draining fine. He found nothing
with his snake.

So the question is... what could cause 2 different basement drains to
flood while taking a shower upstairs at 7am, but at 10am there is no
blockage in the sewer mianline and water is draining fine?

Any thoughts?

Yes; the problem is beyond the reach of the plumber's snake.

We thought of that, he snaked in 90 feet. It is only 75 feet from the
house to the sewer line. Not to mention the fact that he didnt hit
anything in the sewer line but things were flowing fine.
Thanks

Yes; the problem is beyond the reach of the plumber's snake.

" wrote in message
oups.com...
Several months ago the mainline backed up (flooded the basement laundry
room and bathroom.) Called roto rooter to clear out roots and that
fixed the problem.
After a few months with no problems, while taking a shower in the main
floor bathroom, both the laundry room and basement bathroom flooded
again.
I called to have the mainline scoped again. The plumber said there was
nothing blocking it and the water was draining fine. He found nothing
with his snake.

So the question is... what could cause 2 different basement drains to
flood while taking a shower upstairs at 7am, but at 10am there is no
blockage in the sewer mianline and water is draining fine?

Any thoughts?


Did they in fact scope the line? A scope is a camera that is feed into the
line so that they can see on a video monitor what is inside the line.

If he ran the line, How big a cutter did he use on the line. If he didn't
use a large cutter, the snake may have just passed thru the opening created
by the last drain cleaning. Tree roots can be a timely endeavor to clear
from the main taking several passes with cutter of increasing size. There's
a new main sometime in your future even if you find a company that is
willing to spend the time to clear roots properly.

" wrote in message
ups.com...
We thought of that, he snaked in 90 feet. It is only 75 feet from the
house to the sewer line. Not to mention the fact that he didnt hit
anything in the sewer line but things were flowing fine.

There are two possibilities: not enough fall from your home to the main
line or the main line has a problem.

Charles Schuler wrote:

" wrote in message
ups.com...
We thought of that, he snaked in 90 feet. It is only 75 feet from the
house to the sewer line. Not to mention the fact that he didnt hit
anything in the sewer line but things were flowing fine.

There are two possibilities: not enough fall from your home to the main
line or the main line has a problem.

My vote is for a restriction further down the main line. The problem
occurs in the AM when everyone in the neighborhood is taking their
shower and with the restriction the main line can't handle the flow
rate. Later in the day there is less load on the main line so everything
is fine.

Pete C.

the sewer company will check their end from the nearest manhole. also
check neighbors on both sides.
look into your vent[s] in the lawn and see if the traps have a tree
stick or dirt dropped into them by kids. a garden hose with the
squirting balloon end gizmo may be of some assistance for flushing
this, but we have had good results also with a plumber-made lawn vent
stack plunger and plenty of garden hose water plus a gallon of spray
nine to get any grease or oil moving.
fix the sewer but double-check check the family's and visitor's
feminine "flushable" discard habits. paper towels and tampons have been
main sewer blockers here.

wrote:
Several months ago the mainline backed up (flooded the basement laundry
room and bathroom.) Called roto rooter to clear out roots and that
fixed the problem.
After a few months with no problems, while taking a shower in the main
floor bathroom, both the laundry room and basement bathroom flooded
again.
I called to have the mainline scoped again. The plumber said there was
nothing blocking it and the water was draining fine. He found nothing
with his snake.

So the question is... what could cause 2 different basement drains to
flood while taking a shower upstairs at 7am, but at 10am there is no
blockage in the sewer mianline and water is draining fine?

Any thoughts?

Is your blockage somewhere between the drains that are backing up and the
clean-out where the plumber ran his snake?

A crude test to see about how far out the blockage might be to let the water
drain out for as long as possible. Then run the water until you it starts
backing up. If it takes several minutes then the blockage is further down
the line. If it is backing up quickly the blockage is closer.


" wrote in message
oups.com...
Several months ago the mainline backed up (flooded the basement laundry
room and bathroom.) Called roto rooter to clear out roots and that
fixed the problem.
After a few months with no problems, while taking a shower in the main
floor bathroom, both the laundry room and basement bathroom flooded
again.
I called to have the mainline scoped again. The plumber said there was
nothing blocking it and the water was draining fine. He found nothing
with his snake.

So the question is... what could cause 2 different basement drains to
flood while taking a shower upstairs at 7am, but at 10am there is no
blockage in the sewer mianline and water is draining fine?

Any thoughts?