Ever dug out your sewer line?

[Robb]

Oh, man, what I day I have planned....we think there's a break in the "waste" pipe between the house and the sewer main. So I'm diggin' to see if it's a problem I can fix.

Ask/tell me anything.:eyes:

[Maddy McCall]

1. No, but I had to dig up my septic tank a couple of weeks ago...

and believe me, it has to be worse than digging up a line. I won't even go into what was in there, but it was the most obnoxious thing I have ever done in my life.

I don't envy you :puke:

[trotsky]

2. Yoinks!

That could be a whole lot of diggin'. I've only had to have my main drain cleaned out a couple times, no breaks that I know of. Good luck!

[trof]

3. clues?

Odor?
Wet spot?
Any idea where to start?

[Rashind]

4. hope you have soft soil!

I'm betting your pipe is plastic, it's not going to be easy to get to it without destroying it, in any case, but with soft soil it might be possible. Dig gently when you think you're getting there.

[Robb]

6. Fortunately

...I can see the sucker go out the basement wall, straight for the main. I know right where it goes...

We're pretty sure there's a leak because of water coming into the basement from behind the basement walls. It doesn't flow all the time -- and I made a pretty nifty abatement system that catches it all behind the wall and drains it all to one place -- and for some time we thought it was ground water.

Weeellll, one afternoon Mrs. Robb is rinsing out a brush in the sink. Lots of red paint... about half an hour later, there's a reddish tint in my drainage water! You can see all the waste pipe underneath the house from the basement, nothing's leaking inside....

What I found fascinating was that none of this waste water I had flowing around the basement stank at all... filtered through several feet of earth, it didn't have any poop smell to it. But I guess the red paint couldn't be filtered out all the way.

Anyhow, that was the diagnostic. Now I dig. Sigh.

[populistmom]

5. We did something similar

We're putting in another bathroom in our basement and had to jackhammer the concrete floor to expose the main sewer pipe (heavy and iron, from the 50's), but then our plumber friend did the actual work on the pipe. Be careful, very careful and consider using a professional for the worst of it. Otherwise, your house just might smell like.....well, it will smell anyway.

Sarah

[Throckmorton]

7. The gentile term is "Sewer Gas",

and they have companies that will do this for you.

[jmcgowanjm]

8. Can city come in and help?

What's it's responsibility from Street?