You will be my hero if you can get through this and help a desperate father out...4 girls and my wife all sharing one toilet is almost worse than the giant hole in my living room ceiling.

Back story (can skip...just a rant)
Our home is 6 years old. We had our 2nd floor toilet clog yesterday and used a plunger to attempt to dislodge the blockage, unfortunately in doing so we inadvertently "popped" the wax ring on the flange and gave our home a new, unexpected, water feature...we are 23 homes and 4 have had issues with the wax rings separating (set below the subfloor).

The Call out:
We called roto-rooter. He didn't have a snake on hand. Instead he scoped the line and was able to unblock it using his camera. He found that about 17 ft down the drain and 1 ft before the line drops (from horizontal to vertical) there appeared to be some construction debris in the line. In the image I would say it was obstructing about 1/5 of the pipe (looked like sawdust/small splinters of wood and maybe gypsum dust...when the house was being constructed i saw the drywall guys wash his tools in the sink) with a nice chunk of toilet paper sitting behind it. He suggested we cut out that section and use rubber clamps to splice in a pipe. He tried to charge us $650 for the camera...got it knocked down to $300. He said the other repair would run around $800-$1,200...I flip homes so I know that was extremely high...especially since I would be cutting the ceiling open...so we called another plumber out.

The Second Opinion:
The second plumber did not like the idea of compromising the integrity of our line - he said the rubber clamps would hold to get him past his warranty period of 1 year...but said they won't last long term. He suggested we either use a chemical to help break it down or use a rubber bladder to push the blockage down to the vertical part where it could go into the larger sewer line...or worst case would force the blockage into our crawlspace where it joins and he could weld in a new solid pipe.

Third Opinion:
This plumber didn't come out (fully booked), but he suggested that we just routinely flush a product called "Instant Power Main Line Cleaner". He said it is 100% safe and designed for even lateral obstructions. He also recommended against cutting out the obstruction unless it was metal or plastic debris. I think I annoyed him at how often I asked "is this safe on lateral ABS piping".

What do you fine gents think? And thank you so much in advance for the help...this has been an absolute nightmare.

If it is just wood shavings, sawdust or powder, i would use the balloon to push it into the 6" sewer line. I do not recommend any type of chemical.

srloren

Thank you for the feedback. The plumber implied I could do this myself. I flip homes for a living, but limited plumbing experience. Is there any chance of it getting stuck in there? He also didn't have one on hand to show me, but I looked online and it looks basically like a condom that attaches to your garden hose? Or am I looking at the wrong thing?

I am not sure how that type of debris would have remained in the line with water and waste flowing over and through it. I ONLY use a power snake to clear lines, and NEVER "routinely" video lines unless there is some overriding issue which warrants it.

FIRST and FOREMOST

fix the toilet wax ring issue so this does not occur again

the bottom of the WC flange MUST sit ON TOP of the finished floor so that the 'horn' squirts INTO the piping and the wax acts as an actual seal not merely as a vapor barrier

THEN

use the baloon to push the obstruction downstream into a bigger pipe

OR

snake the line while the toilet is pulled




ps. drain flusher [www.petersenproducts.com]

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



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Rob-O-Rooter didn't have a snake on hand?

I VERY SELDOM even try to snake/rod a sewer from the toilet opening, and the few times I have, it was very expensive because it can take a lot of time and effort to get the snake to make the "S" turn down the main riser pipe. Unless, you use a smaller snake that would normally be ineffective as far as really clearing the larger pipe.



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someone is lying.
the average life expectancy of a good quality no hub coupling is at least 50 years, not one year.
see here.

[declare.living-future.org]

hj, not saying using it is the best way to go, just that not having one on hand (assuming that was said) is absurd, or BS, for someone in that biz.

I know...I couldn't believe it or the price of $800 to get it snaked.

What about jetting the line myself? The clog is gone but I can feel the snake rubbing on something at about 17ft...gritty almost like sand...I also pulled up a few wood fibers I am guessing was from the subfloor (but after 6 years I'd think they'd be long gone).

If you were using the correct snake, you would NOT have felt any grating or sand.

They are going to "have/use" the equipment that returns the most money on the job, which is why the first quote for the camera was $600.00. The camera would NEVER be my "first go to equipment" for plugged sewer, maybe afterwards to see if it was clear, but even then I never did it.



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Just an Update, and curious what you knowledgeable folks think it could be. I jetted the line from both toilets and the water moved easily through. I replaced the one toilet and still no issue...shower drained fine and everything...then I placed the second toilet on and suddenly the issue returned. They have our DWV tied into the pipe for the tub overflow...is it possible our DWV is the culprit?

That tech is full of sh!t. A Fernco, or better yet, a ProDlex band will last a minimum of 20 to 30 years. A bladder may not push the debris out. If the debris is adhered to the pipe, a cutter head or a Picote machine can cut it out. You have multiple options.