sewer / drain clean out

[MasterPlumbersKeymaster]

ok. the city ran some high pressure clean-out system on our neighborhood drains. Being one of the few two-story homes in my area, I began have shower and toilet trouble on my second floor right after the city was on my street! Coincidence? Now it’s the whole house!

a.) is my home any MORE likely to take the residual high-pressure clean out “crap” / debris because it is a two-story and the (what would seem) obvious lower pressure on the second floor vs. the main line on the street where the city had their high-pressure monster truck hooked on to the main-line, one house away from mine?
b.) now that i’ve found the two clean-out opennings in my front yard, do I snake one, both, or call a plumber?
c.) am i COMPLETELY “off-base” and the city had nothing to do with it and it’s another problem?

HELP!

[Retired plbg1Participant]

If the 2 CO. openning are about 12″ apart then they are fitting back to back , you can run cable to sewer for insde house and other one goes to main sewer. Does the first fl. back up.Sounds like they stopped up your line, call them and tell them what they did they should clean it out.

[troyfrazierParticipant]

thanks! I’m getting the run-around from the city… but, yes they are right next to each other (in-line about 10-12″ apart) ….. so, go ahead and snake both of them? fill them with water to see which one drains and which one doesn’t, cry, spit, move, what do I do now??? not real sure what to do? help!!! vcMZBs

[Robert Stephen MortonParticipant]

Troy. I cannot fathom the reason for you to put up with a blocked drain for days on end without calling a proffessional to fix the problem, is it the television pressure of do it yourself or a male ego thing?
Blocked drains are a health problem & should be cleared immediatly – then argue over the cause, I would suggest a camera inspection as final proof.
Bob

[nicktheplumberParticipant]

You seem to be describing what is called a “u-trap” in which the two c/o plugs are located at the “house” and “sewer” sides. These are sometimes called “building” or “house” traps. They are no longer used, but when they were used they were meant to be installed on the inside of the perimeter foundation. Sometimes they were mistakenly installed outside of the house. The modern fitting that serves the same purpose and works better outside the house is called a Kelley fitting.

NtP

[nicktheplumberParticipant]

Addendum on the previous post: If you have a u-trap in your sewer line, what probably happened is that crap was forced into the trap and clogged it. That’s why u-traps are not used outside the house and Kelley fittings, which won’t clog, are used instead.

NtP

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