I have a property with a concrete deck - all concrete within 25' of it except for a few round cutouts for palm trees etc...and at the low spot of the deck there is a deck drain. It's draining very slowly so I opened up the drain cover and found roots in it that is tightly packed.

Using a long flat head screwdriver and a plier I started to dig/pull out the fibrous roots and I got down to where it turns to almost horizontal and there is no way I can go any further with what I have. You can see the roots I pulled out next to the drain.







The drain seems to be a 2" PVC drain. I have no idea where it leads to. So I have a few questions.

(1) This deck drain goes somewhere, it's either a gravel pit of some sort or it's tied to my sewer line. Is it reasonable to assume it's NOT tied to my sewer line because if it was, I should have seen a p-trap at the bottom of this drain and not a regular elbow?

(2) If it goes to a gravel pit, then more than likely that gravel pit is now root infested and the roots traveled up the pipe. The house was built originally in 1941, and the concrete deck as far as I can tell was put in 1992. I have no clue where this gravel pit is (assuming there is one). Is there anyway to clear this pipe with roots packed tight like this? I have no idea whatsoever if this pipe ends in 5 feet or 50 feet. If I call a drain cleaner with a 2" head can they clear this pipe? Further, I assume this is the farthest roots, and as it goes into the pipe more it will encounter bigger and harder roots yes?

(3) Even if the pipe can be cleared, and I find the gravel pit, it may be under the concrete, it wouldn't do any good, the roots will just come back. Therefore is it better to think of another solution to solve the deck drainage issue?



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I’m gonna put in a vote that this is simply to a French drain or gravel pit... if it is really pvc to the sewer, how would roots like those get in? Also how’s the yard sloped? If you have a slope nearby there’s also a chance that pipe could be daylighted at the slope.

There is not a slope nearby. It's all concrete deck within 25 to 30 feet of this drain and this drain is the low point. After the concrete deck is the ground which is also not sloped. The street is about the same elevation as the ground. There is no "daylighting" as there is not a slope inside the property.

Hmm that’s very interesting. Is there a gutter/curb or a ditch at the street in that neighborhood? Have you gone out there and looked around for a pipe outlet? At my yard I had a big drainage issue and I ended up installing underground French drains all the way out to the street where I dumped them into the storm water runoff at the edge. It has worked great to prevent flooding since.

No. What I meant is there is no ditch in my neighborhood. It's very flat in South Florida. The bottom of that drain elbow is probably lower than other elevations at the property including swales and streets.

There are storm drain catch basins on the streets but we cannot drain the storm water from the property into them or we get heavily fined by the county and city.

I still would like to know if a normal drain snake with the right size head could cut/chew out the roots or will it chew up the pipes and fittings too? I wonder if a drain cleaner would touch it if the other end is a gravel pit (an assumption) so if it does make it all the way there the head may be damaged?

throw a gallon of clobber down the pipe.
that will clean the pipe and the pit as well.
[www.oatey.com]

yeah ... perfectly safe to use ... NOT

Quote

3. Composition/information on ingredients
Mixtures
SULFURIC ACID 7664-93-9 60-100%

[www.oatey.com]

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I'm not a proponent of drain acid. but, under normal conditions a sewer snake with the proper head could clear the roots and the roots can be washed down the sewer BUt in this case they can not be washed away. they can only be shreaded and left to accumulate at the end of the pipe.
so, I figure a couple of bottles of sulfuric acid ought to dissolve them in the pipe and in the gravel pit at the end.

? effects of a couple of gallons of sulfuric acid poured into the water table ?

! let us all do so !


SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Sum,

I lived in florida, I understand how the whole state has less elevation than driveways in other states. Since you believe the drain did NOT empty into the sewer or street, but rather into a gravel pit, then can you:

1. Cut out a one-foot square around the old drain and install a new drain with el
2. Install a new gravel pit on a different side of the deck
3. Push a pipe from the rock bed to the drain, reconnect it and patch the concrete around the drain

Our plumber pushed a new water main under 30 feet of aggregate concrete deck through hard clay soil. Should be easy down there in the sandbar state.



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DaveMill,

"Push a pipe from the rock bed to the drain" I am not sure how that is done. I have done that across short distances like under 4' wide sidewalks using a home made PVC pipe contraption with a jet nozzle on the tip and a garden hose on the other end. It's really difficult to keep a steady slope. I can see it may work for a pressured pipe since slope is not critical. I have a hard time figuring how to do this with a drain. Did you hire some specialist with a horizontal bore machine?

Yes, I also have a 6-foot piece of PVC with a nozzle at one end for DIY tunneling under sidewalks. This isn't that.

When my water main broke some years ago, I found a local Trenchless plumbing firm that had a machine that pushed pipe under the concrete deck in front of our house for more than 30 feet. They didn't bother trying to follow or push their pipe through the old pipe, which is common when other pipes or utilities may be nearby, they just pushed a new pipe on a logical path from the meter at the street to main valve at the house. Search for Trenchless plumbers in your area, Google and Yelp can find them in mine.



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