Root clogged drain pipes
- Thread starter 6sunset6
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s219
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Let me ask this -- do you have a clue where the roots might be coming from? The reason I ask is that I have a few hundred feet of 4" black plastic corrugated pipe in my yard to drain from the gutter downspouts and several french drains. Everything has been working well for 12+ years, however, roots will enter the exits of the outlet pipe and gradually grow upstream into the pipe. I have to remember to yank the roots out every 1-2 years (and if I forget and we get a big storm, the newly forming lake in the front yard reminds me). It's a simple matter of grabbing onto the root bundle with a pair of vice-grips and pulling backwards. The longest root bundle I pulled out was about 25 feet long, perfectly formed to the inside of the pipe, so it looked like a pre-historic serpent. That took some serious yanking, and now I know to check and clean it out more frequently.
So, bottom line, check the exits and see if that is the entry point. If the pipes were installed carefully and have not been damaged or pierced, that could be the source of the problem. From experience, I can tell you that the roots don't look like much as they enter the pipe (you'd never spot them unless you knew to look) but they sure as heck balloon out once they get into the pipe.
So, bottom line, check the exits and see if that is the entry point. If the pipes were installed carefully and have not been damaged or pierced, that could be the source of the problem. From experience, I can tell you that the roots don't look like much as they enter the pipe (you'd never spot them unless you knew to look) but they sure as heck balloon out once they get into the pipe.
radioman
Super Member
I dont see enough info in this thread. Have you dug up anything yet and do some test holes in areas where you feel comfortable digging? you mentioned 4 inch tied to a main 6 inch and run 150ft. Have you started there and check for obstructions and check which way its plugged? If the 4 inch is only place plugged- I would attempt to backwash it and see if it only leaves/animal plugging it up and not roots. I would find out which 4 inch is plugged under your landscape, All of them cant be plugged up. I would do the trenchless pipe pulling underground technique under your sensitive landscaping areas and dig up the rest via BH and install solid pipes.
Who knows - you might get lucky and its only a debris plugging up the line. anyway - I think you really need to get a bare copper wire and thread it in in the pipe you CAN access. I wouldnt put copper in your gutters/downspout if they are aluminum. If they are plastic type then drop in the copper wire ASAP. it wont remove your roots if any- but will help to ****** anymore new growth and getting worse.
Who knows - you might get lucky and its only a debris plugging up the line. anyway - I think you really need to get a bare copper wire and thread it in in the pipe you CAN access. I wouldnt put copper in your gutters/downspout if they are aluminum. If they are plastic type then drop in the copper wire ASAP. it wont remove your roots if any- but will help to ****** anymore new growth and getting worse.
OP
6sunset6
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Have not done anything yet. Except pressure jet with 500psi . Cleaned out some. Checked rental places for 4000 psi machines and roto rooters and camera units. I do have 2 pipes at 20 -30 feet blocked about 4 ft from the end. Per the last note I should look at then for root entry. Those I can get a wire down.
You know when it does not rain I don't have a problem. We have no basement and the grade pitches away from the house so it really does not matter except for doing it right.
You know when it does not rain I don't have a problem. We have no basement and the grade pitches away from the house so it really does not matter except for doing it right.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
A 4000 psi pressure washer might easily go right through the pipe and cause more damage then you already have. The same thing might happen with a cutter head on a rooter machine. If the pipe is softer then the roots, it's unlikely that it will cut straight through the pipe, and will instead go off at an angle and cut right through the side of the pipe.
Eddie
Eddie
OP
6sunset6
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yeah I know that That's why I have not done anything yet. I had a nightmare last night about storm drains and sewer waste going into the same pump chamber and could not fix the storm drains with out dismantling the pump chamber. Way too much detail for a dream. I guess I got to do something before I start sleepwalking.
sdkubota
Platinum Member
You sound like an engineer...I know, I R 1.
Artisan
Veteran Member
The roots are not the problem, the problem is the broken pipe letting the roots in.
Many a man gives up w/ cable machines usually because the machine is not
powerful enough but mostly because of lack of experience+. I can not
count how many times I have arrived on site to see a beaten man whom
gave up w/ a Home Center POS machine sitting right there. I am not a
prodigy but I have been able to clear a LOT of drains others have given
up on, including "plumbers", all whom usually run those sled type machines.
The cable on my machine costs about $225.00 per 25' section, I have 5-
25' sections, a 10' anchor and a 2' leader. Do the math on what my cable
costs alone and you will have more money spent on a professional cable
then most men spend on a complete machine... Next is plenty of power
and tip selection. Few plumbers carry multiple tips and actually change
tips as experience dictates.
Not all drains are cabablable or clearable...
Many a man gives up w/ cable machines usually because the machine is not
powerful enough but mostly because of lack of experience+. I can not
count how many times I have arrived on site to see a beaten man whom
gave up w/ a Home Center POS machine sitting right there. I am not a
prodigy but I have been able to clear a LOT of drains others have given
up on, including "plumbers", all whom usually run those sled type machines.
The cable on my machine costs about $225.00 per 25' section, I have 5-
25' sections, a 10' anchor and a 2' leader. Do the math on what my cable
costs alone and you will have more money spent on a professional cable
then most men spend on a complete machine... Next is plenty of power
and tip selection. Few plumbers carry multiple tips and actually change
tips as experience dictates.
Not all drains are cabablable or clearable...
