Frequently asked questions and plumbing tips - Leading Construction and Building Group

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                           

Jetting equipment cleans sewer lines better than snakes. Jetters use varying degrees of water pressure to cut through grease and other debris that build up in drain pipes, especially in restaurants, and draw it back where it can be vacuumed out, providing a more thorough cleaning. Enzyme-type sewer and drain cleaning and maintenance products can be automatically injected into the line to help keep grease and food waste from building up in the line. The enzyme eats the grease and turns it into a liquid, which washes away with water, preventing most backups.

When investigating sewer problems, there are all kinds of ways to plug a pipe below ground. We have test balls that can be inserted through a clean-out and then blown up to stop the flow of water. This allows the water to be pumped from the pipe and so it can be inspected with a special camera to determine any required corrective action. Most of our plubing contractors have equipment necessary to detect and solve underground pipe problems.

When you have run a main line cable down your drain and it is still backing up, it is time for a camera inspection. Many times when people rent sewer and drain cleaning equipment, they break through the clog, but don't remove all of the roots. It takes an experienced technician to do a thorough job. The roots simply grow back again or fall back into place because they were just moved aside by the cleaning equipment and not cut out. Pipes need to have all of the roots scraped off of the full interior diameter of the pipe and pushed out to the sewer main. It is possible that the city sewer is backing up but not as likely as what I've described above. In addition, if you have roots in your piping, I would have a professional run a video inspection camera down your line and the two of you can examine the condition of the piping by looking at the video monitor. Many people resist paying the extra money for the camera inspection, but you will learn the exact condition of the piping, any damage caused by roots and how much longer your pipes will last. Just remember the sewer line in your yard is your responsibility, it doesn't belong to the city. An inspection by a Dial a Contractor plumbing contractor will show you if the problem is inside the house or out in the yard. The camera will also measure the distance between clean-outs and even locate missing clean-outs you didn't know were there. With a camera, you can see the vertical riser for a clean-out coming off the pipe and locate it exactly with the radio transmitter on the end of the camera head.

Hot water will not work to remove grout. Unfortunately, concrete and grout are what we use to make larger sewer lines. Since grout sets up under water, you may have to get a licensed plumber with powerful sewer and drain cleaning technology our to try and clear the line. If the line is plastic, you may be able to break up the grout and push it down to a larger line. But if your pipes are steel, then it may be impossible to get the grout out of the line, unless it is a very thin layer. If it is a lot of grout, it may break loose and go down and clog another line. Sometimes it's necessary to break up floor drains and other lines. Unfortunately there is no easy solution for this drain problem. Try snaking the line after removing the trap for the bath tub. If that doesn't work, a few feet of the line might need to be replaced.

Before you have the drain cleaned, try using branded drain maintenance products. These products are designed to remove the usual build-up of soap scum, grease and hair. We also have a product to inhibit root growth in your main sewer line.

When the drainage from one fixture backs up into another, it means that the two lines are connected on one branch line before it enters the main drain. Water always seeks its own level so it will come up in a lower fixture or another sink at the same level if the branch line connecting the fixtures has a blockage after the connection. Sink lines get filled up with lint, grease and soap scum from the fixtures. As the water goes down the drain, a film is left on the inside of the piping, eventually building up so thick that they reduce the internal diameter of the drain and slow the water flow. A hand snake is designed to open minor clogs in small traps or branch lines. A hand snake can punch a hole in a clog, but it is often like punching a hole in gelatin. The sludge builds up so thick, when you pull the snake back the sludge just fills back in. Hand snakes are not designed to open piping under the floor, so if the clog is there, you'll need a professional plumber. Once the line is cleaned you can use an enzyme-type drain cleaner to eat away biological material and prevent it from sticking to the inside of the piping, which keeps the line open and flowing.

Once you get to a point where the water is backing up in multiple fixtures it means either the main sewer line from the house to the city sewer or septic tank has a blockage. Once these lines get filled, a small hand snake is ineffective. The same with chemical clog removers. You're way past that point. Right now you are at the stage where you need a professional to solve your sewer problems.

Over time, galvanized pipes fill up with calcium and minerals, and there is no code-approved way to clear the line. Calcium and minerals are leeched out of the water and bond to the inside of galvanized pipe, it forms a rock-like substance. These minerals begin to choke off the inside of the pipe and slow the water down. As water slows down, more calcium is removed from the water. Eventually the inside diameter is reduced so much that water does not flow freely. The best solution to this drain problem is to replace the line with High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, which will provide better pressure and will not accumulate calcium and minerals.

If the water is coming in from the outside and it is coming in from the city sewer line or the septic system, you can install a backwater valve on the line inside the house or just outside of the house. A backwater valve has a flapper that only allows the water to travel out of the house, but shuts down when it tries to reverse. If the problem is occurring because you have water coming in from the outside alongside the foundation from the rain itself, then you need to waterproof your foundation. This often requires installing a sump basin and drain tile around the foundation to collect the water and pump it outside to a low area where it can run away from the home. In addition, you should raise the landscaping around the foundation so the water runs away from the house and not towards the house. You may also want to install rain gutters to collect the water and run it to a lower spot in the yard. If the water is coming in from any other source you will have to determine the cause and then repair it to prevent infiltration.

We recommend an enzyme-type drain cleaner. The natural enzymes eat the grease and hair and keep the pipe from filling with sludge. Used as directed, these products turn the sludge into a liquid that will flow out of the pipes into the main sewer. Use a product with natural bacteria to breakdown deposits, so it's safe for the environment. When used as directed each month, build-up can be prevented for up to 30 days.

When a black ring starts to appear around the base of a toilet under the linoleum it generally means the wax ring that seals the toilet to the floor underneath is leaking. The color is coming from a black bacteria, mold or sewage. The only way to fix this is to pull the toilet off the floor, remove the toilet’s wax ring and replace it with a new wax ring gasket. I would also suggest making sure the drain line is cleared under the toilet – as long as you have it off the floor. If the toilet cannot flush properly, then the water will build up and put pressure on the wax ring causing it to leak. If you're not accustomed to this kind of work, you might save yourself a lot of headache by calling an experienced plumber to check for toilet leaks and to get the job done right the first time.

The sound you are describing is usually caused by a toilet fill valve that is slowly leaking. To locate the leaking toilet, remove the lid of each toilet tank and adjust the fill valve mechanism until it stops. Once you have found the noisy toilet, repair or replace the fill valve.

This is typically the toilet's fill valve. When the diaphragm gasket inside the top cap of the fill valve goes bad, it loses elasticity and becomes hard. When it tries to shut off, it bounces in micro vibrations sending a shock wave back into the piping. You can test the fill valve theory by removing the tank lid and lifting gently on the fill valve float arm. If the noise stops, you've found your problem and should proceed with replacing the fill valve.

Improperly secured pipes behind walls may be the cause of the plumbing noises you’ve described. Since water supply pipes are made of metal, they transmit sound waves. As water flows through the system, it flows over obstructions and around turns, creating eddies in the water. These can be rhythmic depending on the speed of the water. When they reach a certain pitch, they cause the piping to begin vibrating in harmonic reaction to the wave created inside the pipe. In order to quiet your noisy water pipes, you’ll have to remove the offending part or debris that's causing the water to fluctuate. If the pipes are accessible, you can strap them with plastic clamps so they can't bang against the structure. If your piping is metal and runs through the joists or studs, then the problem may be expansion and contraction. As soon as either hot or cold water runs through pipes, they expand or contract, causing vibration and noise. Another problem is water hammer. This happens when you have high water pressure. Water moving in one direction does not want to stop flowing. When you shut off a faucet, the water still has some force, which has to be absorbed, causing the pipe will flex. If the pipe is near wood, it will bang against the wood. You can stop this plumbing noise problem by installing water hammer arrestors on the offending water lines.

These noises often occur when the pipes are beginning to develop build-up on the inside. Often galvanized pipe and copper pipe will have these types of noises, because of the harder turns and the reverberation that occurs because the pipe is metal. Galvanized pipe often develops calcium and mineral deposits on the inside, which causes the water to swirl and create noisy water pipes.

Generally when you have a foul odor when flushing the toilet it means the toilet wax ring is not sealed to the toilet or the floor. Whenever you put water into a drain, it first has to push the air away. If the wax ring is not sealed, it will simply push it between the floor and the bottom of the toilet into the room, instead of down the pipe. Because both air and water take up space in the pipe, you can't put the water in unless you move the air out. Typically we send it up the main vent of the house and out the roof, but if the roof vent is blocked, then there is no place for the air to go. To eliminate the bathroom odor, you should reseal the toilet to the floor and the clear the main vent of debris.

Foul odors occur from a buildup of food debris within the garbage disposal. To eliminate this drain odor, place ice cubes and lemon or orange peels in the disposal and run for 30 seconds. Next, pour a little liquid dish detergent into the disposal while it is running. To clean out the debris created by the odor removal process, run cold water into the drain for about 30 seconds.

This type of drain odor typically indicates that you have a blocked branch line or vent. You'll need to remove the clog, either by hiring a professional to do it or trying a hand auger. Liquid drain cleaners don't work on long horizontal pipe sections because the cleaners settle on the bottom of the pipe and clean only the lower part of the pipe. If your pipes are made of steel, you should avoid acid-based drain cleaners. Acid eats through the zinc coating on galvanized piping, clearing the way for corrosion. Similarly, cast iron pipe has a tar coating on the inside – and acid will eat through the coating, leaving the iron exposed to the water and corrosion. Even if your pipes are plastic, many of the city mains and services into homes are cast iron.

If you get a sewer smell when you are using the dishwasher on a kitchen sink, it often means there is a blockage in the vent or the drain of the pipes inside the wall. If you have a clogged vent on the roof, then the back-pressure that is created when you try to put water into the pipe, will slow the water down and it will begin to clog the pipe. In order for water to enter a pipe, it has to have an open vent on the roof of the house. This is a pipe that is attached to the drains, but instead of running down to the city, runs up to the roof. Since both water and air take up volume in the pipe, in order to put the water into the pipe, you have to push the air aside. The vent redirects the pressure up to the roof at the same speed the water is flowing. So if either the drain or the vent are clogged, then there is no place for the water to go without first forcing the air back into the room, which is combined with sewer gas.

This type of drain can be cleaned with a typical main snake, a water jetter, or if the clog is not too big, you may be able to force it out with a blow bag. A normal main machine would be my choice, because it pushes the debris out of the pipe, chops up any roots and scrapes the inside of the pipe clean. A jetter will clean any sand and debris out of the pipe by using 2,500 pounds of water pressure to flush the pipe, removing sludge and debris from the inside pipe walls. A blow bag is a device that expands in the pipe until it locks in place, then fills the pipe with water pressure. This device breaks through the clog, but doesn't remove all of the debris or scrape the pipe clean.

It sounds like your hose bib froze during the winter and you have a crack in the pipe from the faucet. You probably have a frost-proof sill cock, which actually has a shut off valve inside the house, through a long stem from the handle. The crack is probably tight enough to prevent water from leaking when there is no back-pressure, but the moment you put a hose on and increase the back-pressure it leaks into the house. You will probably need to install a new sill cock. This is not a job for the average do-it-yourselfer. To prevent your outside faucet’s hose bib from freezing, always disconnect water hoses before freezing temperatures arrive and cover the hose bibs with an insulation kit.

For something like a downspout being clogged, you will probably have to get a drain cleaner out with a jetting machine to remove the leaves and debris that have flushed down the line. This is high-pressure water that will force the sand, leaves and debris out of the pipe, so it will flow again.

When the water pressure at a faucet is fine one day but lower the next day, there may be a piece of debris blocking the opening. Remove the handle and bonnet nut, then unthread the stem and check the washer. If the washer looks fine, turn on the water and flush out the spigot. If you have good water pressure you've solved your problem. If not, reassemble everything, then repeat the procedure at the inside valve. If neither of these solves the problem with your garden faucet, then you probably need to call in a plumber to run some more detailed diagnostics. If there is no water at the faucet, then the problem might be the aerator or inside the faucet spout. Debris can get into the strainer at the end of the faucet spout. This is a device that screws into the end of the faucet spout to restrict the flow of water and add air to the water so the water will not splash when it hits the sink. The flow restrictor is in the back end of the aerator which is in the faucet spout opening. Unthread the aerator from the spout and clean it out. If this isn't the problem, then remove the spout and check for debris.

When an outside hose bib runs even when the handle is shut off, it means either the gasket needs to be replaced or the valve seat has gone bad. The seat is the brass opening that the gasket closes against. Leaking water can cut a microscopic channel in the surface of the brass. If the seat is damaged, you need to replace your exterior faucet’s hose bib since most seats are molded into the faucet and are not replaceable.

We can trim the roots out of any pipe that is constructed of cast iron, plastic (schedule 32 or heaver) and clay tile pipe. If the storm pipe is made of corrugated iron or some other thin wall pipe, the blades on our machines could go through the pipe. We would have to evaluate the pipe to determine the best course of action.

If roots have entered your pipes, a technician can remove the roots by using powerful cutting blades. Your technician will recommend the application of products to retard future root growth which will kill only the roots in the pipes and will not affect the rest of your tree's root system. Simply pour the recommended dosage into your toilet bowl and flush the product into the line twice each year.

Tree and shrub roots require oxygen and water to grow. Their growth rate is variable and is affected by the soil depth, water supply, aeration, mineral supply and temperature. Root systems are made up of large, permanent roots for support and stabilization, and many small, temporary feeder root and root hairs. These small roots are the primary water and nutrient absorbers. Most roots can be found in the top 6 to 18 inches of soil, where water, nutrients and oxygen are found. Roots generally extend up to two or three times the height of the tree, but can extend as far as seven times the height of the tree. Large, mature trees may have thousands of feet of root system searching for nutrients. Roots will be less extensive in clay soils than in sandy or well-drained soils.

During drought conditions and in the winter, roots will travel long distances in search of moisture. The reason you find tree roots in sewer lines and drains is because when trees and shrubs get thirsty, they follow the trail of moisture vapors escaping from small cracks, holes, or poorly sealed joints in pipes, where they fine nutrients and moisture.

Yes. The reason you have to de-root drain lines is because the roots have entered the pipes through holes in the joints. Each time you cut off the roots on the inside of the pipe, the root in the joint remains. Every year that root gets bigger and bigger and as it does, it puts pressure on the inside of the joint. Just the way roots growing inside a rock on the mountain side eventually break the rock, the roots in the joints eventually break the pipe and the dirt from the outside begins the flow into the pipe. It's an important step to have your drain line camera inspected. Once you see the condition of the inside of the pipe and the amount of roots in your drain or sewer line, you can begin to plan for that day when you will have to replace it.

It all depends on the material type. It may be clay, PVC or thin wall plastic corrugated tubing. Roots get into pipes and then widen the opening as they grow. We can't use a drain snake inside thin wall corrugated pipe but we can on the other types of pipe. Drain tile pipe is perforated pipe with openings every couple of inches and on all sides. That means hundreds of openings capture rain and ground water and divert it to your sump pump where it can be pumped out to the storm sewer. If the roots inside the pipes are very fine, we may be able to jet them out with a high-pressure water jet system. The best thing to do is to run a camera down the line to examine the damage and determine the type of pipe you have. Dial a Contractor can provide all of these services.

If not disturbed, the roots will completely fill the pipe with multiple hair-like root masses at each point of entry. The root masses quickly become clogged with toilet tissue, grease and other debris flowing from homes and businesses to the main sewer, resulting in reduced flow and slowed drains. A complete blockage may occur if the roots are not removed and root growth impeded. Once roots have entered the pipe, they continue to grow and expand, exerting considerable pressure at the crack or joint. The increased pressure often breaks the pipe and may result in total collapse, which requires repair or replacement. Some pipe materials are more susceptible to root intrusion than others. Clay tile pipe is easily penetrated and damaged by tree roots. Concrete pipe and PVC pipe may also allow root intrusion, but to a lesser extent than clay pipe. PVC pipe usually has fewer joints and because those joints are tightly fitted, they are less likely to leak as a result of settlement around the pipe.

Septic systems should be inspected and pumped a minimum of once every three to four years. You may not be experiencing any problems now, but a full septic tank may allow unwanted solids to flow into the drain field, which is the part of the system that consists of a distribution box, with a series of connected pipes. Each pipe allows water to flow into a bed of stone that drains into the ground. If paper and other solids flow into the drain field it becomes blocked and ineffective. A blocked drain field is costly to repair or replace.

If you are still getting backups in your bathroom piping after having pumped the septic tank, there can be only two problems. The first is a blockage of the inside pipes leading from the fixtures to the septic tank. Drains can become blocked with sludge, roots and dirt from broken pipes. The first thing to do is to have your pipes professionally cleaned so you can be assured the pipes are fully open. If the technician encounters a problem, he can run a camera down the line and find out if the roots have created a problem with the line or if the septic tank is functioning properly. If you have a septic tank cleaning service clear the lines and pump the tank and it’s still not working properly, then the drain field is having a problem. In addition, if the ground is saturated because of high water table or heavy rainfall, then the septic tank will not drain and it will back up into the house. A drain field can act as a spreader of the effluent or it can act as a collector of rainwater and groundwater. When the sludge layer at the top and the bottom inside septic tank get high enough to leave the septic tank and go out into the drain field, it will plug up your drain field. The sludge in septic tanks forms a layer below the pipes and prevents the water from leeching into the ground. The same type of biodegradable matter that decomposes and falls to the bottom of a lake is what keeps the water from leeching into the aquifer. National septic standards recommend that septic tanks be pumped every three years to prevent this problem. Once a drain field fails, you only have a few options. One is a completely new drain field and the other is to add more branches to the existing drain field and increase your capacity. You will have to check with your local government offices to learn more about the septic requirements in your area. While doing this, you should also ask them to recommend a septic tank maintenance company in your area. This way, you can get a thorough, professional evaluation and more fully understand the options available.

Septic systems should be pumped every three to four years. Pumping prevents damage to the drain field from sewage and fats. Fats are insoluble, which means they do not stay in the water. When they get into the ground, they form a barrier around the drain field pipes and prevent them from leaching water into the soil. Once this happens, the drain field has to be replaced – often at a huge expense. If you are starting to get backups, you may want to schedule a maintenance appointment – and have a professional evaluate your system. This may include a basic visual inspection or it could mean that they’ll run a camera through to make sure there are no roots in the line between the house and the septic tank. This will help your technician identify any septic tank problems and determine if there are blockages in the main vent.