Good afternoon gentlemen and gentle women,
My basement has a door leading out the back of the house to the backyard. Just outside the door is a 5 by 5 landing and 5 or 6 stairs going up to ground level. At the center of the landing, there is a drain to prevent water build-up at the bottom of the stairs. The drain pipe is made of corrugated plastic. It goes down about a foot and then makes a right angle to go off underneath the basement. A couple years ago, I noticed that water was beginning to drain down the pipe at a reduced rate. Using my shop vac and an extra long hose, I tried vacuuming outh the pipe. What I sucked out of the drain was about 10 pounds of gravel along with some twigs and other plant debris. I was able to push the shop vac hose down the pipe about 10 feet before it refused to go any further. I decided there was probably another right angle in the pipe and that the hose probably wasn't going to go much further. At one point, someone had kicked the cover off the drain and neglected to put it back. This would explain the plant matter in the pipe. I have no idea of how the gravel would have gotten into the drain. Any ideas? The cleaning helped the drain a lot so I figured the problem was solved. This year, however, the water at the bottom of the stairs began drainging slowly again. I decided to call the good folks at RotoRooter and have them come take a look. I've heard they can do wonderful things with such problems. After pulling the drain cover and peering down into the pipe, one of the guys told me he was sure they could help. The cost, he said, would be $270 and, because he thought it wouldn't take them all that long, that he wouldn't charge me the $185 that they usually charged to feed a video camera down the pipe. When I asked about a guarantee for the work they did, I was told they do not give a guarantee because they really didn't know what they were getting into until they fed the video camera into the drain. I decided to try a couple of things on my own before shelling out that kind of money for something that may or may not work. I've heard of power snakes that can be rented from the local Home Depot or Lowe's. I'm a little leary of using such a tool because the pipe is plastic and some of what I'll be trying to remove, I'm sure, will be more gravel. So, gentlemen and gentle women, I once again stand before you, with hat in hand, seeking any sage advice you may have on how to unclog a clogged drain. Thanks. Take care, Ed Przybylek (the one who really hates plumbing) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
