Posted on 09/27/2012 4:17:45 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA
We recently had some sewage make it's way up from the drains in our basement. When plumbers were called out, they found that where our pipe connects with the main sewer line, the terra cotta junction has been breached by tree roots. Keep in mind this is out about 10 feet into the street from the curb and our pipes are intact......the only part which has been breached was the city's terra cotta junction to the main sewer line. And this was shown by a camera sent down into the pipe. When talking to the plumber's however, we were shocked to hear them say that we are responsible for digging up the street, and replacing weak joints which are not even ours! And the job to do this would cost approximately $20,000!
Has anyone been through something similar? I believe this is entirely unfair and would like to fight it, but I would like to hear from people who may have gone through something similar, as I am learning that this is fairly common. But I am still shocked that we are responsible for something 10 feet from the curb, and which has been broken but is not even ours, as our pipe is still intact.
I never thought I could like government any less.
I’m with geronl, if the break is on city property, the city should repair it. 20000 seems out of line. I had replaced the entire line at my previous home to the tune of 8k. Maybe, you could work out something with the city to share the costs. Or periodically pour some root eating products down the line and deal with it. You could install a check valve for a couple of hundred bucks. Hint ..... don’t tell city that you have check valve. Good luck.
Usually, and I say only usually, the city is responsible only for providing a tap on the main line, beyond that it's the property owners problem.
Sewer line problems are expensive, you get the line cleaned but roots will grow back, poisons take time and the roots will grow back since evidently the pipe joints have opened up.
Very like the pipe will have to be replaced to solve your problem.
Whose tree do the roots belong to?
We were told that same thing - that WE were responsible for digging up the City street and fixing the pipe where it was offset at the joint to the main sewer. It was going to be $7K. We decided to go to Rome instead, haha. Honestly!! My friend had to pay for the sewer connection from her house, set way back, to the center of the road sewer pipe. City decided the foothill communities here in Los Angeles could no longer have cesspools, even tho the soil is alluvial, huge boulders and such.
Us.
So the city paid for the fixes eventually?
Yup, root killer helped clean out our pipes too. Something you mix x + y, get it in fast, and don’t flush for 5 hours. (Can you tell I am NOT a chemist?).
When you contact the city sewer department again you should find out what the written policy is and if there are any exceptions. Have them send you a copy; a lot of times the original policy is a little fuzzy in the minds of those who should know it well. Many places the owner is responsible all the way to the main line however in some places if the sewer is very deep there may be excecptions and the city might take responsibility.
There are lots of places in the country where the sewer systems were put in sixty or more years ago and even the mains are starting to fall apart. If you live in one of those places and you can keep your system limping along long enough without major repairs; there is a good chance the city will be replacing the main before you have to lay out any big bucks. In that case they would be doing the repair anyway.
I really like the other suggestions here about how to kill the roots causing the problem. Maybe you can figure out which tree they are coming from and have it removed. I had a water line broken by a tree roots in our front yard. My wife didn’t want me cutting it down. I am worried that a few years from now we will be facing the same problem again.
Do your research, but overall the same thing here in NY State - the property owner is responsible for the connection. Tree roots are a big problem here as well.
In fact, the house I live in now must have had a similar problem, because we learned that the previous owners had to dig a new connection from the basement into the street sewer.
In our city it is the homeowner’s responsibility. But the city charges every homeowner an annual fee that goes into a fund to help offset the cost when it arises. Homeowner pays a third and the city two thirds.
They can line the pipes from the inside. It is expensive (”Cadillac” they told us) but a very good way to go. We have a lot of trees around, and they LOVE the sewer pipes of course. We use the RootX like our plumber suggested and have saved a lot of money on RotoRooter.
Contrary to popular belief...
Plant roots, of any kind, don’t have brains. They don’t know what’s in a pipe; water, sewage, gas, whatever. The only way they can invade a pipe is *if it’s leaking, through a hole in the pipe*, itself.
A plant’s root system will normally grow around a pipe, of any size, if it’s not leaking a liquid, just as they would grow around a rock or log, buried underground. Roots are attracted to liquid, as nourishment. A gas is generally poisonous to plant root systems.
The leaking pipe will have to be dug-up and replaced.
“You could install a check valve for a couple of hundred bucks. Hint ..... don’t tell city that you have check valve. Good luck.”
Yup! That’s what my Dad did when he built his dreamhouse. Won’t help your currant problem, But it will stop sewerage from backing up into your basement.
Yup, it’s like that here too. They would have had to dig a deep trench, etc. I liked the inside-sleeve plan, but the RootX did the trick. For now.
Every two years we paid $50 to roto our sewer out because of tree roots.
That’s not a lot.
Likely many others will be having the same problem and the city will come through with a plan for doing everyone.
The EPA may require them to!
Meanwhile find the tree and kill it.
Check with the city. Politicians can be corrupt, which means the law doesn’t always make sense. For instance, where I live the homeowner is responsible for the city sidewalk.
I don't remember if my plumber said anything about who would bear the cost of replacing the street pipe but I've always heard stories that the homeowner becomes liable. Anyway, the cheap solution is working for me quite well.
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