Main Sewage Question - Does this make sense?

[Trent68]

We have had sewage back up into our basement through a floor drain. It has happened 4-5 over the last 4 years, but it has never been more than a shop vac full of sewage and then everything flows again. I thought my son was flushing stuff down he shouldn't be. This last time it didn't start flowing again so we got a plumber involved. There is a clean out of the main stack which is right by the east wall of the basement (the house faces north). They snaked from the clean out and very quickly found dirt and couldn't find anything else. Then they put a camera in it and found a blockage right at the basement wall. We had them dig on the outside with the expectation that there was a problem with the piping and they would fix it (we had been told that the had been placed to the street in 2013). When they got the hole dug they found no evidence of any piping beyond the wall of the house. They are telling me that for 6 years (the previous owners lived there for 2 and had bought it after a flip which is where the info about 2013 came from) the sewage has been exiting the house through this pipe into the ground about 7 feet below the surface the ground is pretty sandy there. They also found no evidence of any sewage in the hole and that it must just be sinking into the sand. I visualized and see no evidence either. Is it possible that sewage has been exiting into dirt/sand underground with no container to collect in for that amount of time without any evidence of it happening and could water flow out fast enough for it not to back up in that drain?

There is a one y in the piping about 3 feet before the pipe exits that they can't explain (and didn't notice until I pointed it out on the video). They say that y doesn't make any sense as a separate sewage exit, thus the only explanation is what I described above.

 

[WorthFlorida]

... They are telling me that for 6 years (the previous owners lived there for 2 and had bought it after a flip which is where the info about 2013 came from) the sewage has been exiting the house through this pipe into the ground about 7 feet below the surface the ground is pretty sandy there. They also found no evidence of any sewage in the hole and that it must just be sinking into the sand.....

Make no sense but the flag is "flip". The sewage is going out in another direction. Washing machine could use 15 gallons a cycle, showers nearly as much plus a lot of paper from toilets. It's the detergents, grease and soap that will really sink the ground and I assume there was little no odor. It all doesn't just go into the ground.

Since information was obtained from the the flip, check with your building department if the sewage connection was changed. There should have been a permit pulled for this work if it was replaced or changed. You didn't say how old but it could have been a clay pipe that collapsed and a new PVC pipe installed, but most likely the pipe found at the wall was from old rain gutters. With a flipped home and permits pulled, rain gutter drains or tile drains that used to drain into the sewage system must be removed and disconnected. A very common practice 100 years ago up to about the 1960's, especially in big cities.

You might want to call your city and ask to locate the connection at the street and point in the directions of the pipe from the house. They may be able to find a cleanout on the outside of the home. If there is one a camera can then run back to the house to get a better idea where the pipe comes.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Trent68]

Make no sense but the flag is "flip". The sewage is going out in another direction. Washing machine could use 15 gallons a cycle, showers nearly as much plus a lot of paper from toilets. It's the detergents, grease and soap that will really sink the ground and I assume there was little no odor. It all doesn't just go into the ground.

Since information was obtained from the the flip, check with your building department if the sewage connection was changed. There should have been a permit pulled for this work if it was replaced or changed. You didn't say how old but it could have been a clay pipe that collapsed and a new PVC pipe installed, but most likely the pipe found at the wall was from old rain gutters. With a flipped home and permits pulled, rain gutter drains or tile drains that used to drain into the sewage system must be removed and disconnected. A very common practice 100 years ago up to about the 1960's, especially in big cities.

You might want to call your city and ask to locate the connection at the street and point in the directions of the pipe from the house. They may be able to find a cleanout on the outside of the home. If there is one a camera can then run back to the house to get a better idea where the pipe comes.

Thank you! Checked for permits and there were none pulled during the period of time of the flip (the flippers bought for $175000 and sold for $375000 - there was ALOT of work done.) Which I am taking as assuming the flippers were not above board. The company I am working got the report that implies the clay pipe is what connects to the sewer - though if a connection was made by the flippers, sounds like they didn't report it. The company put a camera down the pipe and found sewage in the pipe and then roots which blocked them from getting all the way to the road - plus the part I saw was not clear enough to know for sure if a connection had been made somewhere (some of it was underwater). They are convinced of their theory of the waster going to the ground and thus were not looking for other connections. Also, the clay pipe actually extends towards our back yard, but unfortunately they didn't send the camera that way.

I have now talked to two general contractors and two other plumbers plus now your opinion and no one is giving even a remote possibility that the sewage could have left our house the way my current plumbers are implying.

 

[hj]

Water can seep into the ground, but SOLID wastes and grease stay wherever they encounter and obstruction. They are blowing smoke at you. Get a better plumber and camera operator.