How To Clean Cast Iron Sewer Pipes

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1. As an avid reader for years on this forum I'd like to give back to it by posting a great way I came up with to clean out clogged or backup up sewer lines, this application can also be used on smaller 2 or 3 inch lines as well. There has been a wealth of info on these forums and I hope I can contribute to it w/ the following post...

   As a landlord/home owner sometimes you get to spend your Saturday doing fun things like jetting out your sewer line!! It seems I have a slight belly in my lateral (pipe running from my house out to my city sewer line) @ about 23 feet in. Unfortunately the only way to remedy this is to replace the line at a cost upwards of 10k. I don't plan on living here long enough to warrant that kind of investment right now so every couple of months I jet out my main sewer line to make sure it stays clear and free of clogs.Preventative maintenance goes along way! If you own a pressure washer you can do this relatively easily.Otherwise to have the pros come in and do it it will cost you anywhere from 800-1200 bucks for the same job! All you need is a decent pressure washer capable of at least 2500 psi and around 3 gpm.(the more the merrier) That is the biggest expense. If you own this already you are golden. All you need to do is buy a special jetter nozzle for around 30 bucks, 50 or 100 feet of sewer jetting hose depending on length needed, and lastly a ball valve to start and stop the flow of water because you won't be using the wand in this application. Just make sure the ball valve can handle high pressure! With these parts you have conveniently turned your ordinary pressure washer into a lean mean sewer jetting machine for a fraction of the price of buying one!!
   This job is definitely a 2 man job as my pressure washer stays outside and I run the hose in my basement into my main sewer line. The ball valve is near the pressure washer so it is smart to have someone near the machine to turn it on once everything is ok and you have control of the jetter hose in the sewer line.I generally start the pressure washer then run to my sewer line and give a signal to my helper (usually my wonderful wife - she is a goodf sport) to turn on the water flow. Once this is turned on you will feel a tremendous amount of pressure in the hose and if everything is set up correctly you will feel the hose take off into the sewer line with a fury not to be reckoned with!! You just need to hold it lightly and maintain control of it.This is all due to the special nozzle I mentioned earlier that is on the end of the hose. This sewer jetting nozzle sprays various streams of water backwards and forwards at various angles. The backward jets serve two purposes: 1 to clean and scrub the walls of your sewer line(after 50 years of poo and sewage believe me those walls really can use a good cleaning, and 2 to propel it forward at a high velocity. The forward jets just break away and blockages that may be obstructing the pipe itself. Similar to what a snake will do but but at a much higher and efficient level. The beauty (if there is any lol) of sewer jetting are the backward jets the really scrub the pipe walls and move the hose deep into the pipe to clean where no cleaner or snake has gone before!! With my 100 foot hose I have actually gone in so far that I Was actually jetting out my city main line!! My run from my clean out to my city main is ~ 48 feet and when I measured how far I was in I Was in over 60 ft OOPS!!! Maybe I should send them a bill!!
   After jetting your sewer line you can bring it pretty close to like new condition as far as flow and diameter. I have seen pipes with a 3 inch diameter only flowing @ about 20% due to 80% blockage especially those galvanized steel lines, those are the worst! My main sewer line is cast iron which is probably what you want if you are jetting and will last the longest. A word of caution, if you happen to have orangeburg piping which is basically clay pipe used in older houses built before 1920 DO NOT SEWER JET your line, you run the high risk of damaging and or breaking your pipe.
   Now that I taught you how to sewer jet I want to also say that I am not in any way shape or form a pro at this. I am just a landlord who figured out a great way to keep my pipe clean and free of clogs. Saftey is of the utmost importance here and the use of these machines can cause very serious injury and or death if one is not careful remember...... SAFTEY FIRST!!! Happy sewer jetting!!!

2. 

   hj Master Plumber

   orangeburg

   You never have to worry about damaging Orangburg pipe because that has already happened many years ago.

4. Disclosure laws will have you 10 grand less at the sale of property. Hide that fact and a camera inspection with 3 plumber's estimates to replace usually will dictate someone was pulling the wool over the eyes.

   A belly in a old piping system doesn't happen overnight. Takes years and insurance companies/real estate agents know this.

   Thanks for the great tip though!!

6. sorry rugged,

   no disclosure laws of that nature exist in my state

   Most older pipes have settled to some degree. It is rare to find a pipe over 50 years old still in tip top shape. Homebuyers should do their due dillegence before buying a house 50+ years of age and should not rely on silly disclosure laws which are so easily side stepped.

   But thanks for the warning

7. 

   Cass Plumber

   Joined:

   Nov 12, 2005

   Location:

   Ohio

   You really feel no moral responsibility to inform someone considering the purchase of your home of a serious, costly, defect in your home that you are well aware of????? WOW

   What state are you from?

   I find it hard to believe they don't have a disclosure law in your state but prehaps not.

   You are a prime example as to why disclosure laws were enacted in the first place.

   It is to bad people can't just be honest to begin with.

8. Oh cass, come on now, defect schmefect. I wouldn't call it a defect. Preventative maintenance is what I am doing. All pipes clog now and again and no pipe goes without some settling after 50-75 years of service.

   D0 you expect your galvanized piping to last forever? At some point they will fail. When that time comes is anyone's guess.

   IF every home inspection included sticking a camera down the hosue lateral I think people would be MUCH more cautious and there would much more price reductions going on. It really looks alot more scary then it really is. Lets keep it real Bud.

9. sniff sniff

   See how easy it is to sniff out bad intent by others folks?

   I "carefully" worded my statements to get a response I knew was sitting, just begging to come out from this guy.

   I liked the advice but I knew there was more to the helpful advice given.

   In my years as a plumber.....one of the more common occurrences when a house is sold there is errors and omissions. You cannot sell a property with a major plumbing/structural/electrical problem and pass it off to the next unsuspecting victim.

   Guys like me get called in to inspect these lines, they look like the natural age progression has done its damage and the new property owner is sitting with a fantastic bill because the prior owner was deceptive.

   Landlords are usually the worst type of people to get honesty from when it comes to their back pocket and expenses. The more they hold and bandaid their properties, the more they get to keep. That's why slumlords in my neighboring communities have to retain legal representation now. They are constantly drug into court to be held accountable for building code violations/upkeep/general maintenance on the yards to keep the neighborhood from blight.

   I love showing up in court with my little pink slip stating my professional diagnosis of the situation. Almost every time it reaches that level of legality......the new property owner always wins. The real estate agency can be held liable as well.

   Harveymasons, between your constant work to keep that system clean and your honest admission that you're going to screw somebody on the sale of this property,

   you reinforce how landlords truly are, dishonest. That's keeping it real, bud.

10. My dearest rugged,

    You must really be unhappy in your profession to make silly posts and lash out like you do.

    Talk about dishonest people? I can rattle of 5 instances where plumbers have been dishonest w/ me and wanted to do work that wasn't warranted. Bu I won't make a blanket statement and say all Plumbers are dishonest.

    Please explain what bad intent I had by posting a great way to clean your sewer main w/ a pressure washer? That was the intent of my original post, nothing more nothing less. I am sorry that it upsets you that maybe you will have less jobs to do b/c the simple DIYer will be able to get the job done w/ out having to call you in and have you charge them some outlandish amount for less then an hours work.

    The fact of the matter is if you camered every sewer main before every closing you won't indeed have alot less closings.

    S0 please quit w/ the negativity and get back to what you do best Mr. ***** pants

    cheers

    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 8, 2007

11. To your reply

    Case histories of landlords constantly passing the buck, screwing new property owners

    and,

    
    admission of guilt of your intent.

    My job as a plumber, good citizen is to protect the buying public from people like you who are ethically challenged.

    Your offended because I called a spade a spade. You took the bait, I just set it out there to see if you were going to screw the next guy, and you admitted to it!

    Next time be more careful what you type on the internet.

12. 

    Cass Plumber

    Joined:

    Nov 12, 2005

    Location:

    Ohio

    #1
    I am not your Bud. I don't know you. I am keeping it real.

    #2 You avoided the moral point.

    You know of a defect in the home that you said was upward of $10,000.00 repair and you werent going to fix it and said you wouldn't disclose it to the buyer because you were not required to by law.
    Thats low. Even a home inspector can't catch that. To me that makes you lower than many things. If you didn't know about it.....different story. It is not as if it was a small $10.00 repair.

    I see this all day long in homes I go into and I feel badly for the new home owner.

    With your attitude such as it is your the kind of "Bud" I don't have any of.

    I trust you will tell anyone who is thinking of purchasing your home that they should have the sewer line camered B 4 purchasing it since it is such a good idea.

13. My Dearest Harveymasons,

    It would had been so neat for you to contribute that you found a novel way to make the Plumbing work alittle easier. If the other plumbers here wouldn't had already known about it you might had been applauded. But, no one applauds fraud.

    As a homeowner I got to tell you that you knowingly and willingly will cause harm and grief and strife to another human being.

    What comes around goes around. You may be knowledgeable of plumbing but I am sure someday you will be taken for a ride yourself in something you know nothing about or something you cannot see.

14. "Case histories of landlords constantly passing the buck, screwing new property owners"

    If one does their due dilligence one cannot be screwed Rugged. Please post these case studies you speak about.... I certainly will not hold my breath.

    People have lived with bellies in their pipe for years. This is not something that HAS to be fixed. @ a price tag of 10-15k most people would rather jet out their line every 6 months to keep it clean. But that is all besides the point.

    Trust me I didn't fall for any bait you claim to have set. Your just trying to make yourself look good among your buddies, And I am ok with that, I understand and feel for you b/c you have to make like you are a hero saving the innocent home buyer from the big bad wolf. Maybe you should volunteer to camera all sewer lines in your neighborhood for the buying public if you REALLY want to protect the innocent home buyer from the mean and evil landlord.

    Lets take a step back here, without you putting words in my mouth when did I ever say I would specifically not inform a homebuyer about my issue? Seems like you fell for my bait based on how I responded to your accusations.I worded my responses very carefully and well you know the rest.....

    "I liked the advice but I knew there was more to the helpful advice given. "

    What does this mean? There is not more then helpful advice being given. You are tring to make it more. The advice is good sound plumbing advice and it stops there. My decision to inform or not inform a home buyer of this issue has nothing to do with the advice being given on this forum.Why must you bring things to such a personal level on a plumbing forum? I gave good helpful advice and it stops there. If I went out and murdured someone tomorrow the advice on this forum is still good sound advice. My actions do not take away from the advice given. So next time do us a faver and don't look so much into things on a message forum because to your surprise there are people who post good advice without there being an alterior motive.

    Geeesh can't we all just get along???? Hey how about you come out and replace my lateral at your cost, this way you won't have to stay up each and every night worrying about the poor soul who is gonna buy my house and get screwed???? And you will be doing a good deed for the buying public who you care so much about.

15. This is the only person I care about, not you. This is the person I have to break the bad news to, the women usually cry as the experience is unpleasant whether it be single family house used as rental property or a huge 8 family.

    I truly think your intentions are placed on this earth so those of us with understanding and wisdom learn from your mistakes and dishonesty.....and we protect others from such harmful ways.

    Be a hero and do the right thing......be honest in your situation.

16. Any homeowner who relies on those disclosuer laws is kidding themselves. In fact, any homeowner who relies on these flashy home inspection services is kidding themselves too. A homeowners best bet is to due their "due diligence" and get very reliable trade professionals (pay them accordingly) to look through the home. A GOOD code enforcement officer might do, or one each of an electrician, plumber, builder/structural engineer.
    As for HarveyMasons, Would you consider telling the buyers that, "we need to jet the main every 6 months, and this is how we do it...."?

17. mere mention of jetting it out -- that is all i would expect. As the next buyer, either I understand the possible implications or it went over my head.

    home inspectors are often in moral dilemma situations too, and often they say the minimum just to get themselves off the hook, and if the client (or reader) doesn't catch all the implications, because it was said in a way that made it fly right past them, over their head, then oh well, what do you know.... This is an even more questionable act, when you are hired to say what you have found out about a property.

    Now that the hard text has been written, let's lighten up a bit or a lot.

    david

18. ot

    AMEN!!! What started out as a helpful tip not intended specifically for Plumbers but and avid DIYer has turned into a silly battle of morals, dragging in home inspectors, plumbers, buyers, sellers This has spiraled way out of control and I hope we can end this right here.

    regards,
    Harvey

19. 

    Cass Plumber

    Joined:

    Nov 12, 2005

    Location:

    Ohio

    Yes , home buyers should do their due dillegence when purchasing a home.

    but

    The point is you have a moral obligation to disclose any major hidden problems with the house that you know about and you don't think you do because you don't want your pocketbook slaped for 10K.

    That is what it boils down to.

    And yes, I guess you must think morals are silly, because you surely don't have any in this reguard

20. Cass,

    Enough w/ the morals already. You really need to let this go so the forum can get back to it's educational self.

    You don't know me and again I ask you to show me where I have clearly stated that I would not disclose this info. Guess what?? you can't, so please knock it off with the Mr Moral routine it is really getting old around here.

    Never make assumptions. see what happens when we assume? PLease never assume anything ever again.

    We now return to our regularly scheduled forum discussion.

21. 

    Cass Plumber

    Joined:

    Nov 12, 2005

    Location:

    Ohio

    Are you going to...............

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How To Clean Cast Iron Sewer Pipes

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