In ,
Charles Bishop typed:
In article ,
Charles Bishop wrote:

A friend of mine is having sewer pipe problems, with root intrusion
and blockage. The plumber has come out and cleared the blockage. He
is now telling her that a large section of drain pipe (50') should
be replace to prevent future problems.

This section is made of Orangeburg pipe, which, from Google[1], is a
fiber pipe strengthened with pitch. There are small areas of root
intrusion there (shown by camera inspection) but nothing that looks
like full blockage. He is saying that it's not good to use a snake
to clean this pipe of roots since the snake would likely cause
damage to the pipe. He is trying to sell her a more costly solution
of lining the pipe while it's in place.

Followup - A Thrilling Saga

Well, the work is almost done, but there were delays here and there as
new evidence came to light. Here's a brief list of what happened and
was done.

1. There was a blockage in the sewer line, and "stuff" backflowed
into the shower when the toilet was flushed and plumged.

2. Plumber called - Plumber 1

3. Plumber 1 found a cleanout in the front yard, and water came
pouring out when the plug was removed. Deduced that the plug was
downstream of that, and he tried to snake it, with no success. He
said his snake head was catching on joints in the pipe. No charge for
this.

4. Plumber 2 - He also couldn't snake the line, but was able to use a
jetter (high pressure water) to clear the blockage. He inspected the
line with a camera and showed the homeowner many areas where there
were roots coming into the pipe. He suggested opening up the line at
the curb and checkin there as well.

4.1 Opened a 4 by 4 by 6' hole and found clay pipe (ABS at the
house) and broke it open and found an additional clog or two. He had a
proposal, in three, parts 1) Replace the Orangeburg pipe in the ground
from the street to the house, 2) line the pipe from the curb to the
main, and then replace the cast iron drains in the crawlspace under
the house. All for $15K to $17K.

4.2 Homeowner took some time to look over the proposal and talk to
others. Had decided to only replace the Orangeburg pipe between the
house and street.

4.3 Plumber 3 gave a quote of $2000, if someone dug the hole at the
cleanout at the house. (The homeowner would still have to pay Plumber
2 the $3800 for the work they did, hole and curb, camera work, &c).

4.3.1 I dug the hole 4 by 4 by ~3 to show the drain from the
house, the cleanout tee and the drain away from the house. It turns
out that all of this pipe is ABS, no Orangeburg to be seen, to where
it joins the clay pipe from the curb to the street. So, Plumber 2 was
mistaken when he said there was Orangeburg pipe there.

There never was any Orangeburg pipe there. The original line was clay,
and this was bypassed some while back by a homeowner who installed the
ABS from just outside the house to the curb.

I think lying might be close to what he was doing since
he was a very high pressure salesman, bobbing and weaving when asked
questions, with every question answered with, "but you'll have new
pipe" and you should do it.

5. Plumber 3 was a little disappointed to learn that he wouldn't
have to do the work but was helpful anyway, and ran a camera where
Plumber 2 did, and didn't see any roots in the lines where Plumber 2
said there were some (In the ABS you wouldn't think to see any)

6. Plumber 2 now has to repair the clay pipe broken to allow access
to the street pipe (He saw lots of roots there and kept insisting that
it needed to have a liner put in),add a cleanout for future work, and
backfill the hole. The homeowner has yet to talk to him to discuss
this change in plans, so that should be interesting as well.

It cost more than she hoped, but less than it could have been if she
had listened to the Plumber 2.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions - it was a learning
opportunity since I haven't worked with drain lines for a while.

The cameras are cool.

Thanks for the follow-up. Interesting information.

If there really is no root problem, then my idea of signing up for the sewer
line protection plan that I had suggested may not be needed.