Last night, our sewer line clogged up. We didn't know this at the time, just that both toilets and the shower didn't want to drain. Lots of Liquid Plumr and plunging of the toilets did nothing. I called the City of Austin to ask how I could figure out whether it was the house or the city's wastewater system that was backed up. Instead of telling me what to do, they sent someone out. After some looking around, he figured out it was a clog in the line between the house and the city connection, most likely due to the root system of one of our trees. They sent a crew out to clean it (free!). The crew also explained to me how I could fix it myself, as a plumber would charge up to $2500. I'm going to have to dig up the sewage pipe, cut away the roots, and possibly replace damaged sections of pipe. That's not going to be fun, but a few hours of that is much better than $2500. Plus, they told me that the city would clear such clogs for free 24 hours a day until I got it fixed. To summarize, then:

• The City of Austin is really helpful.
• Plumbers will charge lots of money.
• Know where your crap goes so you know what to do when things go wrong.

On that last one, make sure you know where your sewer cleanout is. That's the access point into the line going out from your house. That's where you check to see if everything's backed up. That's where you put the "flat tape" to poke the clog loose. That's what you want to make sure wasn't cemented into place by the previous owners of your house when they installed a patio (ahem). If you have a screw-type cap, replace it with a "popup cap." The popup cap will, um, pop up when the line is clogged, spilling your sewage outside. That's a good thing, because the alternative is overflowing inside.

¶ 959 Posted at 12.57 PM ⇒ No Comments ( house )