This all began on Jan. 24th, I started having sewer line problems and was having water back up into the bathroom so I walked down into the basement to where my washing machine drain connects to the sewer pipe and water was shooting out everywhere and dripping above where the toilet is. I get a snake to run through the cleanout but can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary. I called my town's maint. office that monday which they sent someone right out to check their main line which they did say they found a little blockage but wasn't major or anything and that it had to be my line between the house and them also they reccommended roto rooter and then left so needless to say a week goes by and I'm still having issues.

So anyways I called up roto rooter and they came today to take a look. He ran his machine through the line just as I did my snake but he had to go out past my line to find anything, he had to run it 120ft to get it all cleared out but I measured the house is only 56ft to the main and there is no way my line is 40yds long which the house is right off the street. So basically I'd like to know if anyone thinks that I might have a chance at getting my town to help out with the bill. I already had to pay for it when he completed the job. I know it doesn't hurt to ask and I don't expect to get reimbursed for the whole amount but anything is better than nothing, and also I only used roto rooter as a last resort. They did a great job although a little bit on the expensive side.

 

Why not give it a try? The worst that could happen is they say no.

 

that is exactly what I was thinking. Both my parents don't think that they will do anything for me. The guy with roto rooter said I could go out to the county office and get a sewer line map to see exactly what the line does and go from there. He ran his machine through a couple of times and he had to go that far to clear it out, he'd go so far then we would run water to check the flow then it would back up again just had to keep going farther and farther and it works great now.

 

Yuck!, lived in a place that had the same problems, but it was money well spent to keep the "most important rooms" in the house fixed and up to 100% efficiency!

 

they did a wonderfull job and honestly couldn't be any happier right now. I mean all this happened all of a sudden, I've lived here 15yrs but have owned it for 2yrs now and never had a problem. I had company over that weekend and didn't know if they had flushed something or what exactly it was.

 

I dont think you will see a dime from the city. They can say it wasnt their pipe that was blocked (since they were there first and looked at it already) and it was an issue with your pipe, no matter how far the guy sent his tool.
This is one reason why you should always have them (plumber) run a camera thru the pipe first. The camera has a sending unit on it that when they find the trouble spot, they can find it above ground with a dectector and mark the ground with the location. This is extremely helpful in the event of a collapsed line or finding out what is causing the blockage in the first place. This way you dont have to dig up the whole line to find the problem if replacement is a possibility.

 

It sounds like You need a check valve.

Were You in the area that got hammered by the rain/ice storm? If so, the storm sewers prolly backed up into the sanitary and overflowed to the easiest route. Your basement.

 

A municipality is only responsible for a mainline, once it breaks off onto your own line that is your responsibility. The only time they are liable is when they clean their mainlines and it backs up into your home. I had this exact thing happen, later came to find out the line between the house and the main city sewer line was separated and that was my problem not theirs.

 

just thought I'd give everyone an update on the situation being as I just received a call from the town and they have agreed to give me half of the bill. I only asked for half because I felt like I should have to pay what roto rooter did on my property but once he crossed over into the main line that I shouldn't be responsible for anything past that point. We have a few new members now on the town council so I feel like that they're trying to change the image of the town that it's had in the past. But thanks again for everyone's views.

 

I wonder what would have happened if you asked for all of it....

Either way, it is more than you would have received in most places. The sewer in the house I grew up in used to back up every time we got over an inch or two of rain (combined sewers in those days). Flooded the basement with a gawdawful stinking mess.It was unfinished.

The problem we had was caused by an undersized, poorly maintained line in the street. City would never accept responsibility and even if they did they wouldn't have to pay damages unless someone could prove that the city did something intentional or grossly negligent to cause it. Not doing maintenance doesn't count as gross negligence apparently.

 

yeah I just felt like I would've asked for all of it they would laugh and not give me anything. The roto rooter guy did do some other work in the house the toilet upstairs needed a new fill kit and flapper and also the supply line was leaking as well and then in the bill he ran all the labor together with cleaning the line and inside work and then the parts seperately. So I kinda look at it like hey anything is better than nothing at all. I've learned a lot and I'm sure if it happens again I would do things a little differently but at least this time it worked out in my favour.

 

My water/sewer guys are responsible for everything up to my vent pipe in the front yard. That means, I keep the pipes under the house clean, and the authority cleans from 5 feet from the front of my house, 50 feet to the street.

 

Nice.
I mean seriously, fair is fair.
Reps sent.

 

Sounds like you asked for what was fair and were treated fairly in return - if everything worked out like this we'd all be happier people.

Don't pay any attention to guys like Ray who always want someone else to foot the whole bill... he's just trying to save enough money so he can buy *another* Escape Hybrid...

jk Ray!

 

Oh no Jim, I have a plan. I quit paying my mortgage a few months ago and once I get bailed out, I'm paying cash for the '10 Escape Hybrid. Honest folks like you will buy it for me.....

By the way, don't you have goats to tend to or something?

Glad it worked out for ya' Kista. I may be cynical from too many years in Massachusetts - I'm just not used to hearing of people actually being treated well (or even fairly) by the local officials.