Sewer Lateral / Interior Waste Pipe Inspections Part 1
For most people, the idea of inspecting their pipes doesn’t really enter their stream of consciousness unless there is an existing issue or they have an astute Real Estate Agent who encourages / orders a sewer lateral inspection at the time of Sale.
If you are experiencing an issue in the pipe. The first logical step would be to address the issue with maintenance and or repairs. But often times, the person hired to come out and perform a repair will simply use a mechanical means of cleaning the pipe (often referred to as “Snaking”). Perhaps the issue will be addressed via hydro-jetting. But the bigger issue may be what is actually going on in the pipe. Sometimes just the act of cleaning the pipe can cause more damage. To get a better idea of what the issues may be that could be affecting the plumbing within a house or outside the residence (the sewer lateral), we should list some of the more common issues in plumbing and how those issues may affect the more specific plumbing configurations we tend to find in San Francisco.
Slow Drains.
This is perhaps the most common issue that everyone has experienced at times. But most people do not know that the cause can vary depending on the size of pipe, as well as location of where the slow drain main be coming from. Soft blockages tend to be the most common occurrence in each of these scenarios, though the type of blockage will be dictates by location. Lets first break this down into the two most common sizes of pipe in the house, 2 inch and 4 inch pipes.
Your sinks and showers as well as laundry connections will be services via 2 inch pipes. In the two inch pipes, you will most often experience slow drains at the shower and bathroom drains. Slow drains and back-ups in the two inch drains at these locations is most often associated with hair or build up of shaving stubble ect. Over time this will create a natural choke point within the pipe (this is typically found within 3 - 10 feet of the drain). Removal of this type of soft blockage build up is common and while annoying, can be tackled by most people with a few simple tools.
However, sometimes the issue just won’t go away. You may have cleared the issue and find the water build up has drained but that the drainage is still slow, or worse yet, it may start to back-up again within a few days to a weeks. If this is the case, you likely have not fully cleared the original blockage in the pipe. The most likely culprit in this scenario is a mixture of a soft blockage coupled with an object that may have fallen or been inserted into the pipe via the drain. In bathroom sinks this could be an earring, toothpaste cap or similar sized object. In shower drains it may be a similar small sized object that has found its way to the area where hair is collecting and become wedged into that point creating a much harder blockage to clear. If this is the case, it may be time to bring out bigger tools, or call a professional.
Kitchens
Kitchen lines are often 1.5 to 2 inch pipes as well. The issues most commonly seen in kitchen lines will be operator error. This means they are caused by homeowners / tenants. The issues tend to fall into two categories, but they are share one commonality, “items placed into the plumbing”.
Category 1 is items that are poured into the drain. Fats', Oils, and Grease (most commonly referred to in the industry as “FOG” is one of the most prevalent issues in multi-dwelling units in San Francisco. Fats, Oils and Grease when poured into the plumbing through a drain, will be a liquid after cooking. But upon cooling it will coagulate into a solid (this can be within several feet to 10 - 20 feet or more). This may not happen at the first use of “FOG” into the pipe, but over time it will build up along the pipe walls and will eventually limit the inner diameter of the pipe which will inhibit its ability to carry water and waste effectively from the sink. Another item that is often a culprit in clogs found in kitchen sinks is soup. Soups are tasty, and we all love them, but a thick soup is basically a semi-solid liquid and when it cools, it can have a similar effect as “FOG”, (though we have seen a clog happen from one large bowl full of clam chowder poured into a sink drain before). Other items poured into the sink may be small objects, toothpicks, small bones, ect that make their way into the P-trap, or further down the plumbing to another bend, and become lodged. In these cases, the first step would be to clear the area under the sink, place a properly fitting empty container under the plumbing fixtures and remove the P-trap ect to see if the clog is within this section of the pipe. If this section if blocked, rinse it out with a hose outside or from a the tub faucet. Once the pipe section is cleared you can reinstall the section of pipe and check to see if the plumbing is draining at the kitchen sink. Be prepared, as the blockage may be downstream of the P-trap and may require additional tools, such as a sink auger. If this doesn’t work, you may need to contact a professional.
Category 2 are items that are placed into the garbage disposal. People will often place all sorts of food scraps into their garbage disposal from leftovers, to items not finished off their plate, to unused portions of the food they used to prepare their meals. What people fail to realize is that, while the garbage disposal is breaking all of that material down from a solid mass, via grinding it down. The result is still a semi-solid that ends up having to pass through a 1.5 inch hole (slightly larger than a 50 cent piece). (We have seen clogs immediately occur after someone placed full carrots and another time a full potato into the system). This can directly impact your plumbing system. In this instance, you will need to take the same steps as outlined above (removal of P-trap to clear it, check to see if issue is further down the pipe, trying a sink auger to remove the issue, and or calling a professional).
Toilets (your four inch pipe)
Toilets are quite possibly the most dreaded of clogs / issues to encounter. We have all been there, you go to the bathroom late at night or early in the morning and you use the toilet and flush, only to find that the water filling the bowl isn’t stopping and the foul waste that you just relieved yourself from, is now rising out of the bowl and onto the floor around you (hopefully not onto your socks). Perhaps you got lucky and it rises to just below the top of the bowl but then it just sits there. You now have a problem. Ideally, you will have a plunger nearby to address this issue and it might be a simple task of plunging the toilet for a few minutes to clear the issue. (We all hope for that). However, at times this may not be the case , or you may find that the issue isn’t totally resolved. You may find a slow drain, or another blockage a few days later. Or worse, you may find that the next bathroom downstream of the first affected toilet, is now having an issue. This can be a tricky issue to identify and resolve. The most basic off issues is likely a soft blockage from excessive toilet paper. But we often find other culprits can be to blame as well. At times it will be “sanitary napkins”, or possibly that someone ran out of toilet paper and used paper towel. The largest offended is often “baby wipes” as well as “cleaning wipes” of various brands. Make no mistake, non of these are safe for use in your plumbing (even though some will make that claim) and all of them have been found to cause blockages in pipe, if not within the house, at times downstream of the house, into the sewer lateral or even into the sewer main.
Issues in Toilets / 4 inch pipes
Other issues that may be affecting your four inch plumbing within the house may be :
Items flushed into the toilet. small children may flush toys or objects into the toilet that can cause clogs. (we have removed a toilet to find hundreds of “Q” tips that were flushed into the toilet and got caught at the base of the flange).
Roots in the pipe, even inside the house, if there is a break, or offset. Or, depending on the age of the home, there may be clay pipe under the house which may be full of roots.
A break in the pipe. This isn’t the most common, but it can easily be the most costly in terms of both damage as well as repair.
Contacting a Professional
When contacting a professional, be sure to given them the most details pertaining to this issue that you can. This might include if you’ve attempted to clear the issue, if it’s still not draining and the interim between trying to clear it and the current blockage, but most importantly, the size and location of the drain (it will also be helpful in San Francisco, to identify the floor as well as suggested parking area). We would also recommend giving them details of other access points they may need such as crawl spaces or interior access points. Keep in mind, these services are charging a rate per hour for their time. Any work you can do to cut down on their total time spent will save you in the long run.
Need a Camera Inspection?
In some instances, you may still experience an issue with your pipes even after you’ve had a professional come out. Or you have called a professional out to take a look at a clogged sink, only to have them recommend the whole sewer lateral be replaced, (and you paid $1000 for the initial service call). It may be time to contact a professional for a camera inspection. Depending on the size and location of the pipe and the issue present, a camera inspection may identify if the chronic issue is a damaged pipe, or possibly due to careless use, or perhaps an unknown cause that is unique to the residence and it’s plumbing configuration.
When contacting a camera inspection company, keep in mind if they offer repairs, or can reference a company for repairs. Also, as we mentioned before, it is always best to give them the most information you can prior to their arrival (pipe size, location, access point if you know, and conditions present) so that they can schedule the best time and equipment to tackle your specific issue.
