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Message started by stewmills on 10/31/14 at 07:17:21

Title: My house was constipated
Post by stewmills on 10/31/14 at 07:17:21

My plumbing backed up last night. Snaking the cleanouts with a 50' snake did nothing. Had to remove the toilet closest to the septic system and pour drano in it and let it soak for a couple of hours. After plunging the snot out of it the combination of drano, hot water, and repeated aggressive plunger pressure finally broke it loose and it released a nice, long, soft "whoooooooshhhh".

I could feel the house smiling in a sigh of relief...It was a tough one.

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by Serowbot on 10/31/14 at 08:27:59

Told ya' not to dispose of your used oil down there... ;D...

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by Drestakil on 10/31/14 at 10:04:27

Wouldn't have been easier to dump in a box of ex-lax for gentle overnight relief?

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by stewmills on 10/31/14 at 11:29:05

172136202732383A3F62530 wrote:

Wouldn't have been easier to dump in a box of ex-lax for gentle overnight relief?

Would have been far less intrusive, but not when the wifey needs to potty and do her bedtime routine
:o

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 10/31/14 at 22:21:20

Really? Plunged the Snot out of it? I don't think it was snot,,

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by ToesNose on 11/01/14 at 06:33:50

Good job Stew, imagine the bill if you had to have someone 'Rescue' you.

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/01/14 at 09:38:59

Okay,, I have a bigger keyboard now,,

How far is it from the clean out to the tank? I guess the question is, maybe you dont know, but why didnt the snake get it? And cant you get a hose in the clean out? Seems like Ive seen an inflatable kinda deal that ya poke in a clean out and get it aimed down the line, inflate it so the water cant go but one way and turn it on a little,, not to try to blow it up,, its DWV, not usually even glued, usually 4" PVC is just hit with Purple Primer and jammed together,, So,, gotta be gentle on the pressure,,

Did you ever figure how far from the toilet the clog was?

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by stewmills on 11/01/14 at 18:38:54

good questions. the only cleanout is on the west side of the house by the
master and laundry. the guest bath is on the east side. the tank is in the rear east of the house. i snaked 50` from the cleanout and hit nothing. i snaked about 30` from the spare bath (with toilet removed) and hit an elbow before i hit the clog. i have one of the water bladders you are referring to and i tried it but it did not work. reason is because i
the pressure has to build up to be effective and the other house drains are a pressure relief.

so, i dumped the drano in as noted and had a heavy duty plunger that sealed on the closet flange and allowed me to hit it with repeated gusts of pressure until it broke loose. although some pressure was relieved elsewhere, this worked since i was pushing water not air, and enough pressure was in each big gust that it rattled it loose. i believe the clog was at the tank inlet or very close too it, otherwise the snake woulda got it.

dirty work, but thats why we collect tools...so we can take care of things when the need arises...and save $$$$

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by Trippah on 11/01/14 at 20:16:15

Speaking of plumbing and fun stuff, how do you disconnect the white PVC connections that are glued? Saw them use a fancy insert heater dohingy on This Old House, but for us normal folks. Can't simply cut a section back and redo, its all elbows etc heading to the great outdoors. :P
It is a very small leak so I'm not loosing sleep, a small bucket is under it - but as we may be moving next Spring, it's on my "Bucket List." ((to misuse a modern colloq.)

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by stewmills on 11/01/14 at 21:50:09

7E58435A5A4B422A0 wrote:

Speaking of plumbing and fun stuff, how do you disconnect the white PVC connections that are glued?

I've had to do some trickery in the past. can you post a pic of the piping and where its leaking? have an idea but need to see what you're dealing with.

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by Dave on 11/02/14 at 03:17:23

0C2A3128283930580 wrote:

\

Sometimes you can have success by cleaning and drying the fitting as best as you can, and then apply PVC glue along the joint. I had a fitting up in my ceiling that was leaking and would have been a real job to take apart......so I cleaned and epoxied the outside of the joint and it worked fine.

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by stewmills on 11/02/14 at 06:34:57

Quote:

Sometimes you can have success by cleaning and drying the fitting as best as you can, and then apply PVC glue along the joint. I had a fitting up in my ceiling that was leaking and would have been a real job to take apart......so I cleaned and epoxied the outside of the joint and it worked fine.

yep, that'll do it. if you are concerned about the pvc glue working, jbweld is some pretty good stuff...but you still have to mske sure the surfaces are clean and dry.

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by stinger on 11/02/14 at 10:48:59

Three years ago my septic tank and alarm was hit by lightning and I was gone on vacation. When I cam home the smell all most knocked me over. Went down stairs and stepped in about a foot of crap that overflowed from the toilet. Over 500 gallons of the tank backed up thru the toilet. Good thing for home owners insurance because it cost over $39,000 to rip out walls, doors, all wood workings, linoleum, walls, cabinets carpets. Took a couple of weeks for these machine to get all of the bacteria removed. Never ever let your toilet overflow cause it ain't pretty!

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/02/14 at 11:12:48

67607D7A737166140 wrote:

OHHH HORROR! How long was it before you you were able to leave your house for more than a day without worrying,?

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by old_rider on 11/02/14 at 14:13:48

LOL, speaking of smelling like toilet overflow...
I just had to replace my garbage disposal in the kitchen (city sewer thank gosh) and when I disconnected the line for the automatic dishwasher (yup I have a manual one [wife] and an automatic one)
it smelled GAWD AWFUL :o
I immediately turned on the fan and opened the window.... wow.... and I still had to keep my head under the sink until I got it all removed and replaced.... sheesh..... glad I hadn't eaten anything before hand, or I would have had to clean that up too. :-[

Title: Re: My house was constipated
Post by stewmills on 11/02/14 at 21:11:34

696E73747D7F681A0 wrote:

Yeah, that's pretty brutal. Glad your insurance took care of things.