Plumbers Face Unexpected Debris in Pipes
Several plumbers encountered unusual and unsanitary obstructions within pipes during installations or repairs, requiring immediate attention and posing hygiene concerns.
SOURCES (60)
“It’s grease, you need it hydrojetted with hot water and detergent, they can cut the roots out too while they’re at it better than a snake”
“Sounds like an owl in your drain. Realistically, like the other poster mentioned it's likely the water travelling through the turns and down the slope and you're hearing the noise of that. Is the water draining quickly though or are you having trouble with it being slow and hearing gurgling as well?”
“Yes. OP is gonna hate that pillar way less than he’s gonna hate rerouting that vent pipe”
While you’re up there use your leaf blower to remove the pine needles.
“Interesting that they needed a cap on the vent. I thought head pressure high enough was all that was needed for a test?”
“Take it off, it was for pressure testing, it’s your sewer vent. Do your toilets glug? Do your sinks stink because the traps are sucked dry? Any rain entering that pipe goes out the sewer.”
“Interesting listening and seeing all the different codes. Im from Ontario Canada. Out here we can wet vent a water closet with a shower as long as the shower drain tie into a pipe double its diameter. As well there has to be a continuous vent somewhere on the line usually on the lavoratory. Dry venting everything to me is perfect plumbing but sometimes unnecessary and a waste of material hehe from a business standpoint. Great looking work”
“No, the guy who did this is a lazy cunt wh doesn't want to fit 4 inch pipe. Having the waste away off to one side of the toilet isn't great to begin with though. Should be boxed in.”
“Yes, that is true. (I'M in the trade) Find the curb box and inlet of water in basement, then guess. Gas fully marked, always. Electric main, find inlet.Fiber, same. Sanitary and storm main, marked if in dig area.”
“They don't mark private lines though, so that wouldn't help in a situation like this. It exists all through the US and there are even requirements in some states but none of them mark private lines.”
“No plumber would go around and check every fixture for a main drain problem. That is completely out of the scope of work. If your main drain is clogged I unclog, test the lowest bathroom group and go from there. If other issues are brought up I'll happily address them. Customers may want this type of treatment till they find out how expensive labour is. Especially afterhours. The toilet bubbling is most likely a venting issue. This would involve climbing the roof and inspecting the vent and”
“Every house has a toilet, one person one hour, new wax rings are cheap. Not expecting that much from you knuckle draggers but if your company deems paying for a new sewer lateral every other house to be fiscally reasonable I'm not gonna stop you lmao.”
“Not all places have clear outs and asking us to do this for 1000s of houses is beyond impractical”
“He said it's not. After he finished unclogging the main pipe. I tested all the toilets, faucets and sinks. He has the camera, showed me the drain in the main pipe. camera. He has that thing, not sure if it's hydro jetting, this thing has a chain at the end to loosen the crust inside the pipes. I showed him the toilet on the first floor after the pipe was unclogged. Water was moving when second floor flushes. Then he said it has nothing to do with the clogged pipe. How could this be? It w”
“dry traps are the usual suspect but if the smell's sticking around after you've run water, a smoke test will show if there's a hidden leak in the vent stack or a cracked pipe letting sewer gas in.”
“Traditional litter hardens in your pipes similar to cement. Depending on the situation I’d say worst case is new pipes”
“If you get debris in a line you sometimes end up replacing the fixture. You can try flushing the hoses and reinstalling if it's Debris. but it doesn't guarantee that the fixture will function normally. I've replaced a few faucets with this issue.”
“Hi! For the past couple months I've had a terrible sewage-ish smell that comes and goes in my kitchen. It is coming from under my kitchen sink, not the drain/garbage disposal. Like if you put your face in the sink the smell isn't bad, but if you open the cabinets it's putrid. I have cleaned the disposal, and there are no leaks anywhere. I had my property maintenance guy come a few times, he said he had no idea, then he looked and saw what he described to be an "exposed sink exha”
“I have similar & basement has been flooded due to backed up sewer line a few times (each time maybe 1-2 gallon of liquid only). Do you have any suggestions as to how to remove the tiles? I'd covered 1/2 of them a few years back. Was thinking to cover the rest. TIA!”
“I absolutely would not leave it no matter the hassle it will not drain and it will stink, the only drains that are worse than kitchen sinks for smell are urinals in a bar. Cut it at the wall and turn a 90 degree ell straight up, then set a street san tee on top of that to accommodate the ptrap extend the upright as far as you can and install a studor vent. Worst part will be accessing the wall Connection.”
“How do you know? Pipe bursting requires two holes. One where the machine pulls the cable and the other where the bursting head and new pipe will get pulled through. I am having a hard time picturing a company dumb enough to not connect the line again”
“This guy pipe bursts. As someone that also pipe burst what do you think is the reason for the flood? I’ve never had an issue pipe bursting. The company should have called 811 and done their due diligence to make sure no other lines will be in the way.”
“Huh? Not familiar w that term From my understanding of the technique your new pipe is prolly packed full of clay. Why didn't they just dig it up or even sleeve it?”
“Not code in my neck of the woods. Also, if you had the walls open why not run the vent through the roof like it should be. This set up is lazy and unprofessional.”
“i assume these are stack vents/fresh air inlet pipes? but how was all that water getting in there? and would it have been causing backups inside the building? submitted by /u/reddit33450 [link] [comments]”
“Bro there’s someone on other side of that pipe having some serious concerns rn. I seen the post on this sub earlier.. everyone is literally blaming the goonies again.. https://preview.redd.it/usuw5wsrgvmh1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f4873a41c40307f88e5b6a7da45d5f1077e1649”
“Is sloth and chunk under your house rattling the pipes? Instantly reminded me of the goonies”
“I will take this to the building manager instead of DYI sealing it. I don’t know how it would cause damage to other units if its just draining into the pipe. I wanted to take out the sealant blob and see what’s happening but I don’t have anything to close it back up temporarily. I guess I will leave it as is and just deal with the small leak on my side. It’s good its just draining into the floor drain in the bathroom.”
“What is this? Should we freak the f out? Please help I am super concerned. submitted by /u/Ossypants91 [link] [comments]”
“Looks like lead or steel just on the other side of the boot that they had to use a liberal ammount of tar to make a seal for. Hopefully there's room in the attic to be able to get more pipe in there but that might be why it was left like that in the first place.”
“I tell my customers to do it, I have even called for a handful of my customers as well. To make sure you get the right hose they may ask you to email them a picture of your model faucet or connection style.”
“Depends entirely on how far the trench has to go and what the local inspectors are like that week honestly the physical connection isn't the slow part”
“Found in a sewer scope for home inspection, not done by plumber. Does this look like an expensive issue? Was originally 100% blocked but inspector was able to get camera through to main city line submitted by /u/InspectionKooky3446 [link] [comments]”
“Hi all - Hoping to get your thoughts. I had a company out today to clean the drains because the floor drain in my laundry room backed up. While here, I asked him to check the sewer line because they had done it 2 years ago when I moved in. When it was first checked, they said there was some corrosion and some standing water. Now, he is saying the pipes have dropped even more and there’s lots of standing water and the camera got “stuck” in places. He’s saying that the sewer line needs to be compl”
“Underneath my sink, above the P trap. Dont use hot water at this sink, no harsh cleaning liquids have been used. New home built in 2022. submitted by /u/FrostyCommon8159 [link] [comments]”
“I wish I took pictures but didn't and currently not home for few hours and would like to get home depot supplies before the week starts. My wife put a punch of potato shavings in the disposal and I'm assuming screwed something there. Now we have the sink for the disposal with water, and the dish washer has a layer of standing water. When turning on the disposal, it seems like it's actually working fine. Only thing done so far was attempt to use plunger on the sink which did not help”
“I agree with the Italian neighbour. Here in Greece we use the same style pipe and definitely the connection have to be on the opposite direction. With the years any water that sits on the bottom of the pipes and the constant water flow hitting the pvc glue they might start leaking”
“Well a plug, especially the one you provided won't do anything, it'll pressurize the system during a back up and shoot out of where it is and then you now have sewage on the walls and ceiling instead of just the floor. You're only option is to get the condo board on the same page to rectify the issue permanently.”