Replies

1. 
   DanH | Sep 06, 2009 07:19am | #1

   It's certainly done. I think the problem is that often the clog being cleared is due to deterioration of the pipe, and the snake precipitates total collapse. So one should be prepared for that eventuality.

   As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
2. 
   deskguy | Sep 06, 2009 10:02am | #2

   Not if it's like the clay pipe I had in our first house.  Seperated at the joints.  sections elevated on from another.  Roots, don't know where from, nothing close???  I got "lucky" and only had to rplace the 8' left under the house and about 6' outside.  Better solution woulda been to rip it all out, but it worked just fine after, still does for the current owner 7+ yrs later. 

    

1. 
   REempire | Sep 06, 2009 06:14pm | #5

   Thanks for your help.

3. 
   Pelipeth | Sep 06, 2009 01:59pm | #3

   Very gently. Can you afford to get someone with a camera in there? Our snakeing guy has one. Camera showed any effort to snake would have been futile for reasons already mentioned in other posts. It served the home well but had to be replaced entirely. In my case I was able to move the waste pipe into the inside, run for 36' and exit out the side wall to the septic tank. The camera thing is priceless as it answers the age old question "I wonder what the ##### happened in there".

1. 
   DanH | Sep 06, 2009 04:56pm | #4

   What, you gotta wonder whether ###### happened in there??
   As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz

4. 
   mrfixitusa | Sep 06, 2009 06:26pm | #6

   I was listening to a radio talk show (consumer show) about who is responsible when a plumber breaks the snake and it gets stuck in the drain line

   One school of thought was that the plumber should be responsible

   In other words the plumber should eat the cost of correcting this situation

   Several plumbers called the show and stated the common practice is for the homeowner to pay for the costs associated with removing the snake which has broken off

   I recently sold a house which had the clay pipe like you're referring to.

   Tree roots will plug the pipe on kind of a predictable basis and after a few years you learn that the schedule and that you will auger out the drain "every 10 months" or whatever the schedule is

   Some homes must be roto rootered four times a year.

   Other homes may be once every two years.

   Drain cleaning companies keep records of how often they're coming to your home and then they advise you of a cleaning schedule

   Some will give you a discount if you sign on to a scheduled cleaning program

   Good luck!