Hello all,
I have yet to find a local plumber I have absolute confidence in so I thought I might get a second opinion here.
A few days ago, we started having slow draining from both bathrooms (tub & toilet) in our house - drain pipes for both meet near septic tank. Since it'd been about 5 years since I've had the septic tank pumped, I knew that was overdue, so I called and had some guys come out. They said that the tank seemed healthy except for the fact that the inlet t-pipe was clay and had collapsed (house built in '57 so seems plausible - the outlet t was PVC so they said that'd been replaced at some point). Later that day, the slow draining had turned to nearly completely clogged up, so I called again. The plumber said that until I had the t-pipe replaced, I'd have problems and that he could come clean the line with an electric auger but he'd make no guarantees that would solve the problem. I had him try that (I wasn't at home for the procedure , so I have no idea of the effort he put forth), and for 36 hours it seems to have worked, showering and flushing without problem...but then we tried a few loads of laundry and now we're back to very very slow draining. Everything is bubbling also - if any water is run in the tub the toilet starts bubbling, for instance.
Would a collapsed inlet t-pipe cause this? I was wondering if maybe the venting is now a problem due to the previous back up - could that explain the bubbling? Or if there could still be something clogging up the pipe between where the two bathrooms' drain pipes meet up and the septic tank?
He did say that since the inlet pipe had collapsed they didn't jet that off like they'd normally do.
Unfortunately, replacing the inlet t-pipe would be a huge hassle as the previous owner built a patio over the tank near the house , so I've been off-handedly quoted a price of $1000 for the repair job if I take the patio down.
Does this all seem legit to you experts?
TIA!
I have yet to find a local plumber I have absolute confidence in so I thought I might get a second opinion here.
A few days ago, we started having slow draining from both bathrooms (tub & toilet) in our house - drain pipes for both meet near septic tank. Since it'd been about 5 years since I've had the septic tank pumped, I knew that was overdue, so I called and had some guys come out. They said that the tank seemed healthy except for the fact that the inlet t-pipe was clay and had collapsed (house built in '57 so seems plausible - the outlet t was PVC so they said that'd been replaced at some point). Later that day, the slow draining had turned to nearly completely clogged up, so I called again. The plumber said that until I had the t-pipe replaced, I'd have problems and that he could come clean the line with an electric auger but he'd make no guarantees that would solve the problem. I had him try that (I wasn't at home for the procedure , so I have no idea of the effort he put forth), and for 36 hours it seems to have worked, showering and flushing without problem...but then we tried a few loads of laundry and now we're back to very very slow draining. Everything is bubbling also - if any water is run in the tub the toilet starts bubbling, for instance.
Would a collapsed inlet t-pipe cause this? I was wondering if maybe the venting is now a problem due to the previous back up - could that explain the bubbling? Or if there could still be something clogging up the pipe between where the two bathrooms' drain pipes meet up and the septic tank?
He did say that since the inlet pipe had collapsed they didn't jet that off like they'd normally do.
Unfortunately, replacing the inlet t-pipe would be a huge hassle as the previous owner built a patio over the tank near the house , so I've been off-handedly quoted a price of $1000 for the repair job if I take the patio down.
Does this all seem legit to you experts?
TIA!