Have you tried that thing in a home sewer? I have a place in my home main line that gets roots, and every year or two I have it snaked... They say for more $$ they could water blast it, and it would do a better job, or dig it up and repair where the roots enter for about $6,000... I wonder if what they use is the same as this, or something more powerful??
The trees (Actually a large hedge) is on my neighbors property, and I don't think he would appreciate me cutting them down.
...Ever since I got a water softener and salt water goes down my drain once a week, no more roots. Consider a cup of salt down the drain weekly, do it late at night so it sits on the root area overnight.
About ten years ago, we had a blockage in the waste line from our cottage to the septic tank. I knew it was a blockage and not septic related because our motorhome sewage system that joins the same line closer to the septic tank worked fine. When my snake could not break up the clog, I used the inserted length of the snake to determine where the clog was in the line. In less than two hours, not including a hardware store run, I had dug up the spot and found a broken coupling where the contractor that installed the new septic system had tied into the old line from the cottage. Settling of the soft soil versus the undisturbed soil had apparently caused the break, allowing about ten feet of roots to clog the line. After removing the root pack, I cut about 3 feet out of the shifted side of the line and then reinstalled it using two 4" Fernco rubber couplings to allow for the misalignment and any future shifting. The line has been trouble free ever since.
Bite the bullet and save the money for the "big" repair.
Since I use a small PW there is not enough force to actually cut roots. However, when folks on an RV vacation suddenly find the potty backing up are very happy by the time I leave. No mess, no poopy hose to snake in and out of the camper and I do have stories of the really BAD ones!
My problem is exactly like that.. Old clay pipes under my concrete driveway... But very deep... Maybe 6'+ deep... And what do I do about the last bit where it ties into the main line in the city's street?... The $6k was to put a liner in from the cleanout to the point of the root intrusion, and just patch the driveway at the two spots... I'm not sure how much digging up the whole thing, and replacing over 1/2 of my driveway would cost... Plus the city street.. Man my house is getting to that age where it needs a lot of work... And I'm getting to that age where I'm not able to do of it myself (Which I always have before)...
Fortunately the pipe went almost perpendicular across the drive so it was a 4 foot wide trench X 8 feet or so.
Use plenty of water
This post was started in September of 2022 and the Op hasn’t been back since so we don’t know if he fixed his issue. It’s too bad that people don’t reply as to whether we were able to help them. This happens alot
