Roots in Drain Line

Posted on August 9, 2021 | by JD Precision Plumbing & Air

How Do Roots Get In My Pipes?

Roots can get in through damaged pipes, making their way through cracks and/or holes in the piping. Roots often make their way into the pipe where the pipe goes into the fitting. The roots find the pipe underground because of the moisture when the pipes leave condensation. The roots grow along the pipe until they find the fitting, which is their way in. Eventually left untreated this can cause a complete back up of the system.

How Do I remove roots from my drain line?

**Roots pulled from a JD Precision Plumbing customers home at a recent job.**

It is always recommended to replace damaged drain lines for your home. Leaving damaged pipes under your home will only continue to cause problems over time, but if a replacement isn’t an option there are two ways to remove roots.

A copper sulfate product- This is also known as root killer or root destroyer. We do not recommend this product to our customers because when a backup occurs again it can cause damage to the surfaces of the floor and walls and even the fixtures it is used on or near. If you decided to go this route please check out this site where they go over benefits and concerns.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/copper-sulfate-benefits-4684436

Hydro jetting- this is the solution we recommend only when replacing the pipes is not an option.

What is hydro Jetting?

Hydro jetting is a process that uses highly pressurized water jets that clear the interior of plumbing pipes. The hydro jetter is the most effective method of removing debris, clogs, and buildup.

For more information go to this page. https://www.jdprecisionplumbing.com/hydro-jetter/

What To Expect When Your Pipes are Hydro Jetted?

First a camera inspection should always be done to ensure that the problem has been identified. This will be done through a cleanout. A cleanout provides access to your main drain line. It is typically found in the yard or on the side of the home.

Then, a hose designed for hydrojetting is put into the clean out followed by a blast of high-pressure water (about 1,000-4,000 psi) into your pipes. The force of the water scours your pipes clean, effectively removing debris clinging to the interior walls. All debris is forced down the line until they are flushed out of your system.

After the drain is thought to be cleared a second camera should be put down the line to ensure the problem has been resolved. In many cases after a hydro scrub of the pipes is the only time a plumber is truly able to see the actual problem.

If a plumber ever recommends a replacement without camera proof of issue please call someone else for a second opinion!

**Roots growing in sewer line approx. 15 feet under home**

**Roots visible in sewer line under clients home**

Is hydrojetting A Permanent Solve For Roots In The Pipes?

Roots will always continue to grow as long as the plant that gave life to it is alive. Which means they may grow back and cause problems again. But, even if you had the plant removed the pipes themselves are now forever cracked or left with the hole that the roots left. It may not cause you problems today or tomorrow but eventually you will need a plumber to replace the broken piping.

We recommend completing the fix by repairing any damaged pipes. Un damaged piping plumbed properly will save you from worrying when the problem will occur again. Peace of mind is always better than the unknown.

If you are certain that roots in the pipe is your problem, then hydrojetting is a highly effective temporary solution for you.

Hydro-Jetter Explained

Posted on December 16, 2020 | by JD Precision Plumbing & Air

Hydro-Jetting Explained

Hydro jetting is a process that uses highly pressurized water jets that clear the interior of plumbing pipes. The hydro jetter is the most effective method of removing debris, clogs, and buildup caused by things like:

Roots
Debris
Grease
Or a belly in the line

To learn more about the things that can cause a blockage please visit this page What causes the main line to back up?

Most peoples go to solution to one of these issues is to try to use an auger or sewer machine to take care of the blockage, while there is always a time and place for this, large problems often require larger solutions.

If only an auger or plumbing snake is used there are 2 things that could hinder the job from being fully taken care of.

The auger might only be able to penetrate slightly through the blockage and the surrounding problem will remain, leading to future calls to a plumber.
There is a very good chance there will still be standing water in the sewer line after the plumber has completed the snaking process.

If water or debris is left in the drain line there is a good possibility a belly, or crack might be missed.

grease kitchen line — What a grease line looks like with just a hole poked through

The Best Answer to a major plumbing back up

If a hydro jetter is used the line will be 99% clean after the process, allowing the plumber to see perfectly clear inside the pipes. This will make seeing the problems much easier and finding best solution will be possible.

For more information on this service offered at JD Precision Plumbing click here.

Why Does My Shower Back Up When I Flush The Toilet?

Posted on September 28, 2020 | by JD Precision Plumbing & Air

Why Does My Shower Back Up When I Flush The Toilet?

Sometimes you get a back up when you flush the toilet because there is a clog in the main line or the branch line having to do with both that toilet and the nearest shower.

Main Lines are the sewer pipes that take all the waste from your entire homes plumbing to the city sewer or septic system.

Branch line is the sewer pipe that connects one plumbing fixtures sewer line to another on its way to the main sewer line. It has this name because some sewer piping under homes looks like a tree.

You know it is the main line if you go to another bathroom and turn the water on and see that the shower once again has a back up.

You know its the branch line if you turn water on elsewhere in the house and the backup does not occur. When you've narrowed the problem down to the branch line it could be the fixture itself with a backup or it could be anywhere in the branch line between the fixture and the place where this line connects to the main line.

What is a clog?

A clog is a shoe with a wooden sole. For more info on that go here: https://didyouknowfashion.com/the-evolution-of-the-wooden-clog/

But, seriously, a clog is officially an encumbrance or impediment. In the plumbing world a clog is a mass of waste/debris built up hindering the water and sewage from traveling down to the city sewer pipes, also called a backup.

What causes a shower back up?

A clog can be caused by many things from something other than human waste going down the drain to something being wrong with the sewer drain lines themselves- for more detailed information on what could be causing the clog visit our sewer backup page.

What can be done to fix the shower back up?

The smallest fix would be cabling the sewer line from the shower drain line if possible to clear any debris that is causing the back up. After cabling the line we recommend putting a sewer camera down the line to ensure the problem is gone for good. Worst case scenario would be something wrong with the sewer line itself. To learn more about our camera inspection services please click here.

Why Is My Toilet Overflowing?

Posted on September 10, 2020 | by JD Precision Plumbing & Air

We had a customer call in our office with the problem of a spare toilet overflowing. She said even when her husband turned the main water off to the entire home the toilet was overflowing out of the bowl and even seeping out of the base of the toilet, between the toilet and the floor.

Anytime something is coming out of the bowl the only explanation is a toilet clog. Our dispatch team knew instantly to send a technician with a toilet auger.

cleared out toilet — Toilet after cable was put through to clear line.

Photo showing the stoppage after a simple toilet paper test.

When he arrived he ran the toilet auger and was able to remove the blockage. We always like to check our work, so he followed that up by flushing some toilet paper down the toilet. Not too much, just about as much as any average flush. When our technician did this test- the toilet backed up again immediately.

Having another backup immediately after clearing the line is an indication that there is a bigger problem than just a simple tissue blockage.

The technician then pulled the toilet from the floor and called in a drain specialist. Our drain specialist arrived on the scene with his sewer camera.

This is a special tool with a camera on the end of a long reel that can go into the sewer line to show us exactly what we're looking at under the home. To learn more about this click this link.

When he put the camera in the line you can see here in the video, he saw water standing in the pipe.

In a typical homes sewer pipe you should not be able to see any water standing, but this was about 4 inches of water standing in at least 25 feet of this families line under their home. We knew from just looking at it the problem was a belly in the line. A belly in the line is most likely caused by a foundational shift. To learn more about the things that cause backups click here.

gap between drit and foundation — In this after photo of the new sewer line you see the black shadow showing the separation between the foundation and the clay under home.

Once we explained to the homeowners what exactly was going on and had the OK we hired a professional excavator team to dig under her home giving us a 39 foot working space. When these excavators had performed their job you could see 6 inches between the base of the foundation and the clay under the home. See photo to the right.

There is no denying at this point that there is definitely a foundation issue. Because of the excavation we had to do in order to access the pipes we were able to alert the homeowner to the larger problem that was the foundation issue so they could address it properly.

To make sure that our repair stands the test of time regardless of what is happening to the foundation in the future we use a special type of hanger to secure the pipe to the foundation itself. This secures the pipe from moving up or down, as opposed to the other option to use a hanger that only prevents a downward motion, our team here at JD precision knows these tend to fail so we avoid using the teardrop hanger. After we laid the new pipe and secured this pipe with the hangers we installed two additional clean outs for any future issues that may arise so that the homeowner will not have to tunnel under the home for any clogs.

If you believe this might be a problem you are experiencing, if you find your toilet overflowing constantly or just occasionally, in your home please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are always a call or text away, or if you'd rather have us reach out to you please fill out the schedule now form and our office will call you!

Why Was The Toilet Clogging Up?

Posted on September 3, 2020 | by JD Precision Plumbing & Air

I want to walk you through a recent call for a toilet clog that we received here in the JD Precision Plumbing office. A woman called stating that her toilet is continuously backing up which, which can be a big problem.

When we came out we pulled the toilet and put a snake down the drain line. This snake is like a big coil machine and it's pretty strong. It has these devices on the end that can get through whatever it needs to get through in the sewer line.

After the plumber cleared the blockage we wanted to get to the root of the problem for her. Because there is almost always a bigger issue than just a simple toilet clog.

We took the sewer camera, which is very similar in appearance to the snake just not quite as hardcore. When we stuck that down the toilet sewer line we were able to see in this woman's sewer line exactly where there was build up.

You can imagine what was being flushed in the average families toilet, and that is what was there. When our technician saw the image on the screen he saw a crack in her sewer line. Upon further examination hes saw that he could get the camera to actually go through a crack! When he got the camera down there he was able to see the seepage, the toilet paper, and the debris was supposed to be going through to the city sewage system.

In this families case the crack was large enough that the sewage was getting out under the foundation which is a huge problem. If this goes untreated and the family continues to use this toilet for years that's a big problem. So obviously something needs to be done but the question now arises where is the problem occurring?

Here is the crack in the PVC causing the toilet clog!

Here is the photo we took with the camera of under her foundation!

We actually have technology that we call a locator, we leave the camera end at the point of the problem and move the locator over it, sort of the way a metal detector is used, our technician is able to sweep until they find exactly where that end of the camera is, so when they find it they can say okay this is where the problem is exactly.

For this family that was between one child's bedroom and another child's bedroom. The sewer line that connects one toilet to the other. So we have to explain that she has this is a huge problem right in the middle of her home underneath the ground.

We then presented the problem to the homeowner and showed her all of the research we'd done and how we knew exactly where the problem was and how big of a problem it was.

As our technicians was talking to her she was reminded that a foundation company had come out in months past and leveled the home. When they leveled the home one of the PVC connections didn’t hold and most likely got a hairline fracture that worsened over time.

Luckily for this homeowner it was completely covered under warranty by the foundation company. And they are taking care of it completely!

Had this not been the case our solution would have been to tunnel under her home to gain access to the sewer pipe and make the proper repairs needed.

This is just a sample problem that we get a call about multiple times every day. Now, this is a worst case scenario, sometimes it's just a little too much toilet paper got flushed or a toy is lodged inside the sewer line, but from the smallest problems to the biggest problems we have the tools and the resources to get the job done with Precision!

Check out this link for more information on sewer camera inspections.