How to install a two way Cleanout on sewer outside of house

[TeXan]

Greetings ,
I would like opions of the plumbers here on how to best install a cleanout outside our house if the sewer ever needs a cleanout or camera inspection.
Thanks a lot great forum!

 

[hj]

THE "best" WAY is to call a plumber and have him install TWO combination Y-1/8 bends back to back with two risers.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bluebinky]

THE "best" WAY is to call a plumber and have him install TWO combination Y-1/8 bends back to back with two risers.

Nice reply!

Curious though -- would it be even better to install them facing each other so there's no unreachable space in between?

 

[JohnjH2o1]

Nice reply!

Curious though -- would it be even better to install them facing each other so there's no unreachable space in between?

I'm sure that's what hj meant.

John

 

[LLigetfa]

I never know which end to call the front and which end is the back. Just so long as it faces right way around for the job it's doing. If I had to guess, I'd say stuff goes in the front and out the back.

 

[hj]

A plumber would know which way to install them. If the two risers are right next to each other it is the wrong way, if they are at least a foot apart, it SHOULD be correct.

 

[Pipewrench]

Or just buy a two-way cleanout. But hj gave you the best advice when he told you to call somebody

 

[hj]

quote; Or just buy a two-way cleanout

Now why would he want to buy one of the most useless fittings EVER MADE, and an expensive one at that?

 

[Pipewrench]

I can't wait for you to tell me why a two way is useless...

 

[hj]

quote;

I can't wait for you to tell me why a two way is useless...

If you do not know, then you have NEVER tried to snake through one.
1. They are "non directional" so when you insert the snake down the riser you have ABSOLUTELY no idea which direction it is going to turn, and since it will usually be full of water, It can be frustrating trying find out, however. Sometimes you just have to put a lot of snake in the line and then listen on the ground to see which way has the best sound.
2. The single fitting can cost almost as much as two combos.
3. In this area the "two way fitting" is NOT approved, although stores do sell them.
4. Reason #1 is usually enough to dissuade people from using them., unless they like paying plumbers extra to work through one.​

 

[Pipewrench]

I had a helper one time that had the SAME PROBLEM!!! Once I showed him how to angle the cable and give it a simple TWIST, he never had a issue again...

 

[hj]

It depends on the "cutter head" you use. That works for a "spear point", but not a toothed one that grabs the side of the pipe and "walks" whichever way it wants to. Anyway, why use one when it is just as easy to do it correctly, as specified by ALL codes?

 

[Pipewrench]

It is perfectly legal according to ICC (INTERNATIONAL CODE COUNCIL)... How much more LEGAL does it have to be Mr hj?????

 

[JohnjH2o1]

You guys may be talking about two different situations. If the two way is not to deep then it would be very easy to direct the snake. But if it has a riser of three feet or more it is a totally different situation and hj's set up would be much easier to work with.

John

 

[Cacher_Chick]

I was thinking the same thing. In many places here the sewer exits the building 10-12 feet below grade, and it's impossible to know which way the head is going unless someone else in the basement to listen for it. 2 risers going opposite directions would save a lot of time.

 

[Pipewrench]

Wow! John and cheesehead!!! Yall two are right. Im in Mississippi and my average sewer is 3 feet deep. Ole hj is probably a yankee and got much deeper sewers! Ha ha just kidding! But seriously that's exactly what it is...

 

[Pipewrench]

I was thinking the same thing. In many places here the sewer exits the building 10-12 feet below grade, and it's impossible to know which way the head is going unless someone else in the basement to listen for it. 2 risers going opposite directions would save a lot of time.

I bet it sucks changing a cleanout in your neck of the woods... Just outta curiousity... How much do yall charge for installing one?

 

[Cacher_Chick]

I'm in a public works shop, so I don't know what a dig like that costs on the outside. I stopped at a site up north over Christmas where the main was 28' below the road. They had to contract out a monster excavator with some huge trench boxes to replace that one.

 

[hj]

Since the ICC is a code which has found very few things which were "illegal", that being the reason why it cancelled its merger with the UPC, saying that the fitting is "legal according to it" may not be a justification for using it. If YOU want to use them, go ahead, I, and the rest of the plumbers in this area, would NOT do so.

 

[hj]

Had an interesting 2 way cleanout today which must have been installed by plumbers who have NEVER had to snake a drain. They installed a backwater valve, then installed the cleanouts on either side of it, but they were facing AWAY from the BWV so a snake would not have to go through it. Unfortunately, the BWV caused the blockage so it was in the BWV without ANY way to snake it open. I checked and it appears all of the BWVs in the subdivision are installed the same way. If it is only 3 down to the mainline, I guess you can stick your arm down through the sewage water to feel which way the snake turned, assuming the riser is 4" and you have a skinny arm or have an apprentice with you to do it.