During my career as a plumber, I dealt with a lot of bad water heaters.  A lot of my customers asked about tankless water heaters, so I will dedicate this article to those of you who are wondering if going tankless is for you.

First of . . . → Read More:]]> During my career as a plumber, I dealt with a lot of bad water heaters.  A lot of my customers asked about tankless water heaters, so I will dedicate this article to those of you who are wondering if going tankless is for you.

First of all, let me say right here that these are things that I personally learned, and doing some further research into the subject has shown these things to still be true.  I have no interest in whether or not you go tankless, other than the fact that I try to provide people with as many facts as I can in all aspects of plumbing.  So, keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the facts.

The Good

Well, as you likely know, the storage tank is the weak spot in most conventional water heaters.  Water sits in the tank which causes calcium, and sometimes even rust to accumulate in the bottom.  Usually the calcium starts first, then, eventually the tank will start to rust from the bottom, and eventually it will spring a leak.  Different manufacturers have come out with different types of “self cleaning” configurations, but none of them really work all that well (in my experience).  The calcium still builds up in the bottom of the tank, winds up traveling through your pipes, clogging up your aerators, etc.

Noritz NRC98 Series Condensing Tankless Water Heater

Another problem with the tank is that, even with R-16 insulation (2” of insulation between the tank and the shell), the water still grows cold over time.  That means that if you have a 50 gallon storage tank water heater, every time the water cools, you are reheating 50 gallons of water, whether you will use that much or not.

Since a tankless has no tank (obviously), it basically solves both of those problems; not to mention that you do not need to “flush” your unit to get rid of all the calcium like is recommended on storage tank heaters.  They also tend to take up a lot less space.

Another benefit is that they are more efficient.  They do use a lot more gas than conventional heaters, but they do so in shorter bursts; only heating the water you need, so they use less gas overall.

Finally, tankless water heaters have a tendency to have a longer warranty period.  It is not unusual to find them with warranties of up to 20 years, where storage tank models often come with tank warranties of 6-12 years, and often have parts warranties of 1-2 years.

The Bad

So what are the drawbacks?  There are some, and they can be pretty big drawbacks.  The first drawback is usually the deal breaker – installation cost.  Not only are the units themselves around 3-4 times more expensive than conventional units, the cost to install them can be huge.

Let’s look at a typical install.  You want to remove the water heater from your garage and replace it with a tankless.  You remove the old one, hang the new one on the wall, and hook it up to the plumbing.  The first thing that will need to be done is to run a new gas line.  Tankless water heaters use a ton of gas really quickly (assuming you are using a gas fired model), and they need a gas line that is big enough to deliver the amount of gas needed.  Usually it involves running a new, dedicated gas line from the meter to the new unit.  As plumbing goes, running new gas lines can be fairly pricey, so keep this in mind.

The next thing you will need to do is upgrade your vent.  Unlike conventional units, tankless models require Category III stainless steel (UL1738 certified) venting.  Not only that, but it is usually of a bigger diameter than your old vent.  This means that not only do you need to buy the new venting materials (which are very expensive), but you may need to widen the areas where the vent exits the garage.  If your current vent ties into the furnace vent, most municipalities will not let you tie the new one in, which presents more problems with venting.

Another issue is that, if you are used to having a hot water recirculation system that gives you hot water pretty much instantly to your fixtures, you will not be able to do that with a tankless.  I mean, in theory, you can, but it is not recommended.  Many manufacturers will void the warranty if you do, and it kind of takes away from the energy savings anyway.  This means that you do have to wait a bit to get hot water, and with some models you can have cool spurts of water from time to time.

Fixes (Wanted to say “The Ugly”, but it wouldn’t have fit)

Tankless installed outside

Now there are some things you can do to minimize some of the drawbacks I listed above.  One of the easiest is to find a place outside to mount your new unit.  There are outside units that are basically self venting, and if you mount it close to the gas meter, it could really bring the cost of your new gas line down considerably.  There will be some water line plumbing that will need to be reconfigured to make it work, but running water lines are a lot easier (and cheaper) than running gas lines and venting.

I had a customer once who had a 75 gallon water heater in her garage that was getting old.  She really wanted a tankless, but the house was big, and was on a recirc system.  What we wound up doing was using two tankless units.  The laundry room and kitchen were really close to each other, with the other three bathrooms on the other side of the house.

I was able to split the hot lines under the house and isolate them, so that I used 1 unit for the front of the house and another unit for the back.  She was able to, with this configuration, get hot water quickly to all fixtures, and still save money on her energy bill.  The only complication we ran into was that the meter needed to be upgraded before the install passed inspection, because she also had a pool heater and outdoor, natural gas BBQ running off her meter. PG&E was able to upgrade the meter though, so all ended well (although she was without hot water for a while).

So…

Is a tankless water heater for you?  Well, that depends.  It is the “green” way to go, and it will save you money in the long run, but by “long run”, I mean more than a few years.  If you are going to go tankless, make sure your plumber is top-notch, and make sure that you get an excellent quality unit.  My personal favorite brand is “Noritz”. I believe they are mostly sold to contractors, so you probably will not find one at your local Home Depot.  Then again, I would not purchase a tankless from Home Depot anyway.  You may also be qualified for a rebate from the government by switching to tankless.  I found a link to the Noritz site that might be helpful in that regard.  You can find it here: http://www.noritz.com/homeowners/services/promos_rebates/

Talk to you next time.  What should I write about next?  Any ideas?

*Pictures from http://www.noritz.com/

Quite often . . . → Read More:]]> A slab leak can be one of the more frightening experiences a homeowner has to deal with when it comes to emergency plumbing problems.  Actually, that is a bit of a misstatement, because they aren’t usually an emergency at all, although they are often thought of as one.

Quite often a slab leak isn’t even discovered until a homeowner finds themselves with a huge water bill.  They will call a plumber out to try to figure out why, and the plumber will inform the homeowner that they have a water line leaking under the slab. That means that the leak has been there for around a month or so already – so much for an emergency.

First of all, I want to let you in on how I used to find leaks under slabs.  This might help you, since most pros do it the same way.  Obviously the first thing to consider is whether the house is really on a slab.  If you don’t know whether your house has a crawl space, just stomp on the floor once.  If you get a hollow sound, you have a crawl space, and the leak can be looked for there (once the access is found).  If it is solid and unyielding, you are likely on a slab.

The next thing is to try to figure out whether it is the hot or cold water.  Simply feeling for hot spots on the floor may be the easiest way to tell.  Even if I do not find any hot spots, I will usually turn off the hot water and see if the leak stops.  You can usually hear the leak when walking throughout a house.  In the rare instance where you cannot, watching the meter will tell you if the leak has stopped or not.

I do need to backtrack a bit.  It is very important that you or the plumber check every fixture very thoroughly to make sure that something else is not leaking. I cannot count the times when what others thought was a slab leak, I found was a leaking hose bib, irrigation valve or toilet.  Even good plumbers overlook this sometimes.  It happens.

If you are lucky enough to have a wet spot or a hot spot on the floor, then you have a bit of a head start.  That will usually show you the area of the plumbing leak, but not always.  Do not depend on that, however.  I have seen leaks that were up to 10 feet away from the only wet spot.  Water finds the easiest avenue to escape, so what might seem like a spot where the leak is could easily be the spot where there is a crack in your slab.

The next thing I will usually do is try to map out where the pipes go.  I can often do this based on my experience, but it never hurts to actually locate the pipes with an electronic pipe locator.  This is not essential, but it makes finding the leak a lot faster, because you only need to look where the pipes are.  If you don’t know where the plumbing runs under your slab, you will be “looking” for leaks everywhere, including where there are no pipes.

Next, find the general location.  If you don’t have a wet spot or a warm spot, you need to very carefully listen for where the sound is loudest.  Listen behind the toilets, under the sinks, etc.  The pipes are usually noisiest nearest the leak.  Once you have the general area located and know where the pipes are, you can begin the fun part.  I have an air compressor (a very quiet one) and an adapter that I made so that I can connect an air hose to an outside hose bib.  I keep the compressor in my truck with the doors closed to further minimize the sound.  Then I turn the water off at the main and pump air into the line at about 60-80 psi. I try to keep it near the working water pressure of the house, so I don’t force air into the city main.  I will go into the house and open up one of the faucets until that faucet starts to spit.

I then turn the faucet off and let the compressor catch up.  Some very helpful will happen.  The air, mixed will small amounts of water will make a very specific and recognizable sound as it exits the leak.  The pipes themselves will burble and such, but there will be a distinct “spitting” sound at the leak.  Now you just have to find that sound.

I use one of two things when listening for the sound.  The one that I use primarily is called a Geophone.  You can actually get these (if you are so inclined) from PollardWater.  There are also a variety of electronic listening devices on the market.  They are a lot more expensive.  The Geophone will cost about the same as someone doing leak detection for you, so unless you plan on having a lot of slab leaks, it is probably best to get a pro to find it.  Still, it never hurts to know the process, so you are informed.

Once the leak is found, fixing it is really not that hard.  It is a bit dangerous though, so I do recommend having this done by a pro.  Basically the process starts with removing the flooring; whether it is tile, linoleum, wood, carpet, etc., then using a small jackhammer to remove a section of concrete.  I try to keep the hole as small as I can – just big enough to work in.  Next, the leak needs to be positively located, and a section of the leaking pipe removed and a new piece tied in.  Do not allow someone to “patch” the pipe.  The section must be removed and replaced.

Don't do this (bad)

Now, let me stop for a second and tell you that this is meant to be done with copper pipe.  There are still homes out there that actually have galvanized water piping under their slab.  If that is you, I do not recommend trying to repair it.  The best course of action in this case is to do what is called a partial or full bypass.  That basically means that you need to cut off the flow to some or all of your slab piping and run new pipes overhead.  This is usually done within an attic.  I have run across homes that do not have attics, at which point I needed to run the pipes on the roof.  This is the way it has to be with Eichler homes.  In fact, my “falling off the roof” incident happened towards the end of an Eichler re-pipe.

Finally, when the repair is made, I recommend turning the water back on to test before closing up the hole.  Once it has been verified that there are no more leaks, I will get rid of the old soil that I took out to get to the pipe and fill with sand.  I do this because the old soil is wet and will cause the concrete patch to settle.  Sand will be compacted 100%, and will fill in some of the gaps as well that were created by the leak.

Next, you just poor concrete into the hole, level it off and let it cure.  I recommend leaving it uncovered for at least 7 days before replacing your floor covering.  It sound like a pretty big process to go through – and it is.  Different companies in different areas charge different amounts for these, but I use to charge between $2500 and $3800 to find and fix the leak.  That included replacing the concrete to “patch” finish.

One final little bit of info for you, and this may be the most helpful part of this article:  Check with your insurance company and find out if they will cover you, and if so, what parts they cover.  In my area, many of the good homeowner’s insurance companies will pay for the leak location, the tearing out of the flooring and concrete to “access” the leak, and the replacement of the concrete and flooring.  Knowing this can really help.  The repair of the pipe is the easiest part, and can easily be shown on the invoice to have cost $150 or something, while the rest of it would be covered by your policy.  Out of all of the slab leaks I have repaired, I would say that about 80% were covered.  They will NOT usually cover a re-pipe however, but that is in my area, yours might be different.

In this article, I would like to approach emergency plumbing from a different angle. Today I would like to discuss some of the most common plumbing emergencies, and what you can do to sort of stem the flow . . . → Read More:]]> In my last article I touched on what constitutes emergency plumbing.

In this article, I would like to approach emergency plumbing from a different angle. Today I would like to discuss some of the most common plumbing emergencies, and what you can do to sort of stem the flow (so to speak) until the plumber can get there.

Sewer main backup

This is by far the most common plumbing emergency the average homeowner experiences. It usually starts with a toilet that just doesn’t seem to want to flush correctly, followed by a sort of burbling, and finally the toilet overflowing onto the bathroom floor. The biggest problem with a mainline backup is that it can often be mistaken for a regular toilet blockage. The symptoms look almost identical at first, especially to the untrained eye. The easiest way to tell if it is your Main line that is backed up, is that often a tub or shower will also refuse to drain.

Often, when a sewer main is backed up, not using any water in the house for a while will allow the line of partially drain. Sometimes the line will drain down far enough where it appears as though everything is working correctly again. Usually a few flushes of the toilet will demonstrate otherwise. Keep in mind that any water that goes down a drain in your home will backup into the lowest fixture in your house. That means that if you have a toilet downstairs and your sewer line is backed up, flushing the upstairs toilet may very well flood your downstairs restroom. The best thing that you can do here is to stop using all water and call a plumber immediately.

Water pipe burst

Gate Valve

Having a water line burst inside, or even outside, of your home can be one of the scariest plumbing emergencies that a homeowner can experience. Water supply piping is all over your house, is pressurized, and is mostly hidden from view. Unlike a sewer main backup that starts draining slower and slower before it finally backs up completely, a water pipe bursting often gives no warning whatsoever. One day everything is peaches and cream and the next day you’ve got a flood on your hands.

When faced with this particular type of plumbing emergency, you need to immediately focus on the one thing: shutting off the water. There are usually a number of ways to get this accomplished. If you have a Main shutoff valve at the front of your house, this will be the easiest way to shut your water off. If you have an older gate valve, it will have a circular handle on it. You want to turn this handle clockwise to turn the water off. Remember the old adage, “righty tighty – lefty loosy”. If you have the newer style ball valve, the handle will look like a lever. Turn the lever one quarter turn, which will shut off your water.

Ball Valve

The second option would be to turn the water off at the meter. The water meter is where the local utility company goes to read how much water you’ve used every month. Often times turning off the water at the meter can be extremely difficult without the proper tools. For this reason, if you do not have a shutoff valve at the front of your house, I recommend that you go to your local hardware store and buy a meter key. It is always better to spend a few dollars on a tool you may never use, than not have the key when you need it and suffer thousands of dollars of water damage.

Two things that you should make sure you do any time you turn the water off your home:

1. Turn off the gas to your water heater
2. Open up all the hose faucets outside of your home

Turning off the gas to your water heater, either with the gas caulk or setting the control unit to pilot, will keep the water heater from firing on a partially empty tank. Opening up all the hose bibs outside of the home will allow residual water from inside of the water pipes to drain outside instead of inside.

Gas leak

As far as emergency plumbing situations go, having a gas leak inside of your home is by far the most dangerous. Not only is natural gas very combustible, so that little more than a tiny spark can create a huge explosion, but breathing the gas can kill you. Natural gas itself is odorless. Odorant is added to make it smell like rotten eggs so that we’ll know when we have a gas leak.

Most homeowners, when they smelled gas, have a natural tendency to want to call their utility provider (here in California, it’s Pacific Gas & Electric Co.). Believe it or not, that’s not usually the best idea. Most utility companies will not fix a gas leak if it is in your piping. Usually, they will just let you know if you have a leak, and sometimes the general location aware that leak might be. Then they will shut down your gas, and will often insert a device so that it may not be turned back on. The reason this is not always the best option, is because most plumbers need to be able to turn on the gas to find out where the leak is coming from.

If you smell a gas leak in your home, or around your home, there is one thing that needs to be done immediately: shut off the gas! High on the list of objects in your home that you need to know how to locate and operate is the gas meter. Each gas meter will have a shutoff valve that usually shuts the gas off with a quarter turn. Most home improvement stores carry emergency gas shutoff tools. Personally, I have always used a large crescent wrench.

I know this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface when it comes to all the possible combinations of plumbing emergencies. In this article, I basically wanted to cover the top three. As always, the comments area is open, as well as a form. I welcome your questions and suggestions on other topics that you’d like for me to cover. Until then, I hope that this article has allowed you to at least be prepared for these three emergency plumbing scenarios.

Here in California we have a law that states that any time someone comes to your home to sell you . . . → Read More:]]> The question of what constitutes emergency plumbing is an interesting one.  It is also important for a number of reasons.  Let’s start with the most broad definition, and its application.

Here in California we have a law that states that any time someone comes to your home to sell you a good or service that is valued at over $300, you have the right to cancel that transaction within 3 working days after signing the contract.  That means that if someone comes to your home and you buy a vacuum cleaner from them (for more than $300), you can notify the seller in writing that you wish to cancel the sale up to 3 full working days after you bought it.  The seller, by law, must accept the vacuum back and issue a full refund of the purchase price (without penalty).  The same is true for a plumber that performs more than $300 in service.

Unfortunately for the plumber, if you should cancel that transaction, you cannot “return” the service.  In this case the company must still provide you with a full refund.  In some cases, such as water heater replacements, the company can opt to uninstall the new unit, but only if they reinstall your old unit.  Most companies will not do that, so you will usually wind up with a free service, and the company eats the costs.

Since most plumbing companies do not survive by doing free work, they will ask you to sign a “Waiver of Right to Cancel”.  Here is the catch: you can only waive your right to cancel the transaction if the repair is needed to remedy an emergency situation.  On the cancellation waiver will be verbiage that states that you have an emergency situation that requires immediate attention.  In this case, the term “emergency plumbing” takes on a very loose definition.  For the sake of signing the waiver, something as simple as “need to use toilet” will suffice.

Now, some people will become wary when presented by this waiver, as they may fear that it leaves them with no recourse should they be dissatisfied with the work.  Be assured that this is not the case.  They are still bound by their licensing authority to provide the service that they are contracted to provide in a workmanlike and professional manor.  Others may be concerned that by stating their need as an emergency, they are bound to continue to consider the problem as an emergency.

The fact is that in the case of declaring a plumbing problem an emergency for the sake of the cancellation waiver, “emergency” only means that you do not want to wait 4 days to have the problem addressed.  That is all.  Once that is decided, we look at the more commonly accepted definition of emergency plumbing repairs.

The reason that I want you to change gears here is because there are plumbers out there that will misuse “emergency”.  Just because a company may authorize a 10% discount to get started today, does not mean that your plumbing job that is not really an emergency suddenly becomes one!  When deciding whether or not a job should be considered an emergency plumbing repair, there are a few questions that need to be asked.  Ask yourself these questions, and if you do not know the answer, ask the plumber:

1. Is the __________ completely unusable until the repair is made?
2. Can I live with the __________ in its current state until I have had time to think/save/compare/etc.?
3. Does the _______ in its current state risk the health of myself or others?
4. Does the current state of _________ risk damage to things that are of worth to me?
5. If not addressed immediately, are the answers to #3 or #4 likely to become “yes”, and if so, how soon?
6. Do the benefits of getting the work done right away, far outweigh the benefits of comparing estimates, getting a second opinion, further researching, etc.?

The answers to those questions will let you know very quickly whether or not you have a true emergency plumbing situation.  The good news is that if you have followed the advice in my other articles, you will already have a plumber that you trust that will help you decide whether or not the problem you are facing is an immediate need, or something that can hold off for a bit.  One thing that my customers grew accustom to hearing was, “this is not an emergency or anything, so it doesn’t need to be done today, but the next time you call me out, it will likely be to fix this.  If you have the time and the budget to have me take care of it today, it will save you the service call fee for having to call me back out later to fix it.”  A true professional will always be honest with you and create a win/win for both of you for every situation.  That, in and of itself, will help to eliminate future plumbing emergencies.

Quite often a home owner’s first experience with a plumbing problem is when a drain in their home backs up.  Knowing how your drainage system works and the most common causes of back-up problems with different drain lines can really help you when it comes time to get your . . . → Read More:]]>  

Quite often a home owner’s first experience with a plumbing problem is when a drain in their home backs up.  Knowing how your drainage system works and the most common causes of back-up problems with different drain lines can really help you when it comes time to get your drains serviced.  This information will make it easier for you to get the right solution to your problem, and make life easier for the plumber who is trying to explain it all to you.

Let’s begin with a little plumbing theory.  Please keep in mind, that depending on your area, your lay-out may be different. I will give you a simple layout to give you an idea of how drains tie together.  Your plumbing may be a bit different, but the theory will be the same.

Plumbing Drain-lines (Remodle)

We will start with a 1 bathroom home, for the sake of simplicity.  Let’s say that the toilet is at the back of the house.  That is the end of your house sewer line.  Your toilet will connect straight into that main line (3 or 4 inch), go towards the front of your house, and continue through your front yard and into the street where it ties into the public sewer.  Maybe you have a septic system, and the line runs straight to the back of your house where it ties into the septic tank.  Either way, the thing to remember here is that your main will usually run from the furthest toilet, as straight as possible, until it reaches whatever it ties into (public sewer, septic tank, etc.).

All of your other plumbing fixtures will drain into smaller drainage lines (1 ½”- 2” lines called secondary lines) that tie into the main at different points.  Your bathroom sink may tie into your shower line before it goes to the main, or your laundry line tie into your kitchen line, but they all tie into the main.  The only plumbing fixture with direct access to the main is the toilet.  A 2 bath house is the same, but with more tie-ins.

Common problems

Kitchen/Laundry backups

Symptoms – The kitchen sink won’t drain, the laundry stand pipe overflows, or both.  The toilet flushes fine without adding to these symptoms.

Causes – Laundry and kitchen lines are often tied together.  The cause of their backups is usually grease.  Grease from pots, pans, dishes, clothes, etc. build up in the line and cause debris to accumulate (food particles, lint, etc.).

What you can do – Check to make sure your disposer is functioning.  Look outside your kitchen area to see if you have a small cleanout.  Look in your garage for a cleanout.  Try to determine if multiple fixtures are affected or just one.  Clean out the underside of your sink if the kitchen sink is affected.  Do NOT use drain cleaning chemicals.  They will not dissolve grease related back-ups, even if they can reach them (which is doubtful), and many plumbers will charge you more to clear drain lines with Drano in them.

Remedy – If the blockage is in the p-trap under the kitchen sink, the repair is simply a matter of removing the waste lines under the sink and cleaning them out.  If not, the plumber must access your drain lines and attempt to cable them clear.  I personally recommend that the plumber also treat the line with a degreasing agent and perhaps cable the line a second time, to help get the grease out.  This extra step will cost a little more, but will usually at least triple the amount of time it would have otherwise taken to back up again.  This should save you money in the long run.

Some lines may be so stubborn that they require high pressure jetting to get the grease out.  I also recommend visual inspection of the pipes under the home if the plumber feels anything out of the ordinary.  Grease is a corrosive and can eat away pipes.  You will want to know if that is happening before it creates a lake under your home.

Tubs, showers and lavatory sinks

Symptoms – Back ups of one or more of these plumbing fixtures without toilet problems.

Causes – Usually soap scum, sludge and hair

Remedy – You can try chemical drain cleaners here, if you feel bold.  They will usually do a decent job of dissolving the hair that is causing these problems.  Remember though that these chemicals are not good for your plumbing.  They can eat away at your drain lines like crazy.  Other than that, clearing these drains is usually pretty straight forward. A plumber may elect to use a degreasing agent if he feels the sludge is really bad to prolong the time between the next back up, but that’s a judgment call.  Tubs can be tricky because of the special drain piping they have (called a waste/overflow).  Older waste/overflows can be brittle and cabling through them can be all it takes to bust them free and have a leak under your house.  It never hurts to have your plumber peak under the house and check it out.

Sewer main back-ups

Symptoms – Since water always finds the lowest point to escape, a sewer main backup will usually show itself by toilets backing up into the shower or tub.  If your tub or shower starts to back up, check your toilets.  If they are “burbling” or backing up into the tub or shower, it is the main.  We are assuming, of course that they are both on the bottom floor.  The rule of thumb here is that if a toilet affects another fixture – it is a main back-up.  If you have an outside 3” or 4” cleanout that is holding water or overflowing, that is another sign that it’s your main.

Causes – In my experience, the most common cause of sewer main back-ups are roots.  Roots need barely more than a microscopic hole to start growing into your main.  From there, they just grow and grow and grow.  Roots can be so strong that they can literally break your sewer line up into pieces!  Other common causes are “bellies” in the line (flat spots that cause debris to build up), offsets (sections of the line shift under ground and become misaligned), and breaks that actually allow the surrounding soil to enter your pipe.  There are other potential causes, but these are the most common.

What you can do – The only really productive thing you can do in this situation is check for proper access points.  If you can find an outside clean-out that is 3” or 4” in diameter, it will save you and the plumber time.

Remedy – This depends upon whether or not you have a cleanout.  If you do not, I highly recommend that you install one.  There is no such thing as a one time sewer back-up.  If your sewer is backing up, it usually means there is a problem with it.  There are other ways to access the line, but you are very limited without having a cleanout.

Once a cleanout is found or installed, or another access is found (pulling a toilet, etc), the next step is to attempt to free the blockage with a sewer cable.  You want your plumber to use the biggest blade possible on his cable to do as thorough a job as possible.  If he cannot clear your line with the proper sized blade, the roots are either very strong or you have an offset.  If he needs to resort to a smaller blade, so be it, but you need to get the line clear for the next step.

Survey the line – Have your plumber run a camera survey of the line to determine its condition.  Some plumbers will cable your line and tell you that you need to replace it.  That may be true, but you can never know for sure until the line in surveyed.  Once the camera survey is done, you will know what to do next.  Sometimes the roots are small and you have some time.  Sometimes a spot repair will do the trick.  Other times it is better to just replace the line.  The point is that once a camera survey is done, you will have a better grasp of your options, and it is always best to make informed decisions.

While trying to DIY is always a sound idea, sometimes a 4 AM toilet or drain problem can best be solved by calling a company like this emergency plumber Toronto service. They’ll show up any time of the day or night and tackle the situation right away.

Well, I think I cover most of it here.  If you feel I missed something, please feel free to leave a comment or sign up to the plumbing forum and post your questions there.

See you next time!

Steve