Clay tile sewer line

[Tom7227]

One of my daughters is looking at an early 50's house is SE Minneapolis. The seller says that she has to get the sewer line cleaned yearly due to roots. This doesn't seem right to me and I suggested that the line be checked by video. I suspect that the line has clay tile and likely hasn't been replaced. The kid says that spending $150 a year is a lot cheaper and doesn't see that as necessary.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your time.

Tom

[B-man715]

Three options:

1. Roto root it everytime it backs up

2. Dig and replace

3. Have a liner installed in the existing pipe

[delcecchi]

And make sure it is isn't broken or have a gas line through it.

(The gas line thing happened to some houses in twin cities. Be worth a video) My family lived in houses with tile sewer lines in St Paul and rarely had root problems. Every year is way too often.

[311Hemi]

Got a 50's house in Mounds View that I need to do this every few years. My buddy has a camera and we ran it down and saw no issues, just a lot of roots coming through the pipe seams.

[pushbutton]

I used to live an an old house on an old city lot and just paid it yearly as well..... in order to fix it you were looking at at either a lot of work on my part or a lot of money. Would have lost a hundred year old tree as well. Suppose it ultimately would depend on where the breach is, and how long you plan on living there.

[Tom7227]

Any idea what a video would cost? Can you put a liner in a 5 or 6 inch clay tile pipe? Cost idea on that?

[CAMAN]

I owned a house that had clay pipes and needed roto root to come out once a year. The roto guy said he sees it all too often. Thankfully I only lived there 2 years.

[forcedtowork]

I would suggest a camera, cost should be around $150 to $200, better to be safe and know what you are in for, versus having it collapse and $10k down the drain (no pun intended). This just happened to the house across the street from me, they bought it and within a month after they moved in, it collapsed and had to be replaced.

[jentz]

No liners!!clay tile is most likly 4 inch,a liner will make it to small.Roots are so invasive they will crack the tiles and more roots will enter.Directional boring is the cheapest way to go.A backhoe can't dig under the structure and that will require more labor costs,along with concrete cutting to connect to the main drain.Forget the cost of cameras,off the clay tiles and get a bid on directional boring. Those clay tiles aren't end sealed and roots find their way in,THEN they will crack the tile allowing more roots to invade.Get a bid for directional boring,then decide the cost of the house with the bid included.Leaving the tiles is nothing more than putting off the inevitable replacement.There so old now and weak it just aint worth putting it off.

[WWW]

I would second on looking into getting it replaced or bored. That drain is living on borrowed time. They dont last forever. Get a new one put in and dont worry about it again. Just a standard repair that needs to be done to a older home.

Stay away from Roto Rooter. There are some good independent guys in the area. Steve's Plumbing. He is out of the Ham Lake area but does most of his work in MPLS and St Paul. Inner City sewer and water is out of hamel but does the same. They are both on the MPLS list of service providers for this type of work. You may also want to check into getting this assessed on your property taxes. Easy way to pay for it as they just add on a few bucks ever month.

[MJBaldwin]

I have lived in my house for 4.5 years now and I have clay pipes out to city sewer. This was my first house and didn’t know much about it until I noticed water coming up our floor drain downstairs. I called the local plumber to have him fix this issue he snaked the line and we didn’t have a problem. I asked the exact thing you did about replacing the line said it would be around 10k all said and done, then proceeded to ask me how long I plan to live there he said what’s cheaper a 10k or me coming out every other year at 200 bucks.... Needless to say I haven’t gotten it fixed.

Just my opinion though

[WWW]

If you are going to pass the buck onto the next homeowner better disclose the issue to them or you could open yourself up to some legal issues. Problem with dis-closer is they might just want some money off the property to fix it.

So when is the right time to replace a main sewer line? I know many that just wait until they completely fail. Seems to me that this route you have years of paying the drain cleaner, dealing with the mess, hassle and expense clogged drain lines cause and then still paying to get it replaced. Get the old line replaced now and you end up only paying for one of these three issues.

[Powerstroke]

MJ explained it perfectly. Owning your home comes with lots of things that need maintenance. Sewer lines are one of them. Some homes don't have any root issues, some have major issues. It sounds like a pain, but no one complains about cleaning their gutters. Its the same thing, except the average Joe doesn't clean their own sewer line. They can, but you need to know how to run a larger drain snake.

Like MJ said, you have the option of paying to have it rootsawed yearly or every other year at a cost of $150-200. You can maintain your sewer that way for many many years.

Lining can help solve this problem if the rest of the line is in good shape. They can line any size pipe.

[The_King48]

I work in a sewer and water dept for a city in the metro area. I wouldn't camera your line unless you want to waste money. At best every year cleaning is very normal. Some need twice a year. DON"T HIRE R&R. They will upsell you every time. If you get a quote of 10 G thats WAY to much even if they have to dig in the street. Piple lining works but its about 100 per foot. Sewers contractors are dicey. Take the time and do your homework or PM me and I can lead you in the right direction.

[Tom7227]

Thanks to all for the advice. The young lady seems to be willing to ignore my advice on this issue. The good part is that the homeowner is unwilling to do anything with a number of the problems and in fact raised their counter offer. Seems like it is a dead deal.

[Powerstroke]

For others who happen to find this thread, I'll offer my advise after working 6 yrs in underground water and sewer.

-Getting a camera inspection is money well spent if you are unsure of the condition of the line. Usually this will cost about $200.

-Regular sewer cleaning is a very viable option as I said before, IF roots are your only problem.

-Depending on the defects or root intrusion, getting your sewer lined is also a perfectly good option. Lining adds less than a half inch to the diameter of the line. If you've got items greater than 3" in diameter heading down your sewer lines you should eat more fiber and drink more water. Lining is an excellent spot repair compared to digging an open trench.

-Almost no one needs an entirely new sewer unless you are choosing to upgrade during a capital improvement project or your sewer is of a subpar material like Orangeburg. The greatest expense in a sewer repair is replacing the section of road that was dug up. Other cost enhancers is how deep the line is. Other than that, most sewer services can be replaced for much less than $5000. This includes digging down next to the foundation and hooking up to the cast iron or whatever material was used for your main drain. This is very common despite what someone else said before. In fact, sewer repairs are very common in this area due to foundation settling on older homes.

I'm not sure how you would directionally bore a sewer. The grade of the pipe has to be done right so it drains properly. Any sewer service I've seen done is an open trench and replaced or repaired with PVC pipe. Boring is commonly used to replace water lines.

Be sure to get more than one quote and more than one opinion before deciding on a service. Call the city and ask for information. They cannot "recommend" a contractor per se, but they can tell you who has done work in town before and maybe point you in the right direction for people who have done work before.

I would also be happy to recommend a contractor is someone was interested. The person I use work in the west metro. They do underground repair as well as lining. Water or sewer.

[nobody05]

try copper sulfate down the drain as directed