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Is this a house trap?

bdp1999
bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

Is this a house trap?

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Comments

  • leonz
    leonz Member Posts: 1,488

    Is this cast iron pipe used for rain gutter drainage to a storm sewer or grey water and waste to a sanitary sewer?

    What you have there is a cast iron wye with a threaded plug there.

    skyking1
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    No...just a clean out wye fitting. Mad Dog

    mattmia2Steamhead
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    This! Is a building house trap. Mad Dog

    ttekushan_3delcrossv
  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    The trap usually has two caps coming out the ground, right? The plumber said I have to get the house trap removed so that they can run a camera/hydro jet. Does this sound right? Do I need to continue looking for the trap?

    Mad Dog_2
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 5,950

    why can’t you use the outlet of the trap?

    Mad Dog_2
  • leonz
    leonz Member Posts: 1,488
    edited April 14

    They have no desire to push a camera cable through your drains first to see where the blockage is???

    Did they talk about running a camera and then a sewer cleaner through the house vent on the roof or from outside the home?

    Mad Dog_2
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    They either don't know what they are doing or shysters...or both. Mad Dog

    mattmia2skyking1delcrossv
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    show them the door, don't pay them and find someone that knows what they are doing

    Mad Dog_2leonz
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    did they even open it and look? where did those roots come from?

    Mad Dog_2leonz
  • They don't need to remove the trap to get a camera into your sewer. They only need to remove that brass threaded plug which is sometimes difficult. Often, you have to cut it out and replace it with a plastic threaded plug.

    8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour

    Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab
    mattmia2leonz
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    that looks like a situation where there are roots in the sewer and it clogs and has to be cleaned often enough that the plug won't be frozen

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 17,614

    There is no house trap shown in the pictures. I doubt a house trap would be buried

    Mad Dog_2
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    Here in Lower New York a very high percentage of house traps are below the basement slab. Most times, a smallpit is boxed out around the house, but sometimes not. Everything depends on The street sewer elevation..mad Dog

    leonz
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,609

    Why does this plumber think you have a building trap in the first place?

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    I would think they would be able to use the wye outlet since it's closer to the outside. They were able to snake out some roots as you can see in the picture but said my house trap needed to be removed so that they could run a camera/hydro jet. Is that nesseccery?

    The pipe coming down is the outside snake outlet.

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    No, they didn't talk about running it through the house vent on the roof.

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    Where do they think this supposed house trap is? probably just a lot of roots that they need to start with a smaller cutter and work up to get through.

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    I have no idea what this plumber is thinking about. I sent him on his way. I'm thinking the cable probably wasn't strong enough to get through the roots.

  • skyking1
    skyking1 Member Posts: 26

    as stated above, that is a clean out and dang handy for roto-rooting and running a camera through. Show the next guys that clean out.

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    First off, the line needs to be cleared with atleast a Spear-head tip on the cable so that pipe camera cable can navigate entire lateral. Better yet, the Crab Claw should be deployed as well or you're not going to get a clear images of any compromised sewer pipe and or joints. Mad Dog

    ChrisJ
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472
    edited April 15

    Back in my day you just ran a cutter through it and hoped for the best…

    But I can tell you from personal experience that a spear tip is a bad idea with orangeburg.

    Mad Dog_2
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    39 years ago, after I lost a Spartan 100 Cable with crab claw on the first run, 5o feet out and could not get it unstuck from the root mass- even with my 250lb Prop, and 225 Hooker from my rugby team pulling. I always punch through first with the spearhead.

    TThe OG sewer guy from Citywide schooled me. Mad Dog

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    he showed me in his truck that is why he had a second machine so you can cut enough out around it to get it unstuck. he got half a c cutter stuck in the bottom of the orangeburg joint that wore through where it was turned down for the sleeve. possible where i had sent an arrow cutter out a week or so before and got some part of that stuck and dug it up and put in an outside cleanout. he turned it forward and reverse for about half an hour and eventually got it free. his machine had a drum switch on it for the motor, don't know if that was oem or he added it.

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    oh, and at some point he stopped and pulled the cable out. this mass of roots about 5 ft long came out with the cable. he said he thought he hooked a broken cable someone left in there.

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025

    I was clearing Orangeburg storm drains on a Dentist's property....I was about 21. He was a real pest that was very overbearing.

    He got the hint when the crab claw head ripped through the Orangeburg, up through 12" of dirt and lawn about 3 feet from where he stood...He ran back in to his house like he saw The Banshee....I was rolling around on the lawn laughing.....Hilarious Mad Dog

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    I had another plumber come out and he was able to clear the drain with a saw tip. He had no problems at all. However, he also said that my drain was a trap, is that right? Should I cut it out and straight pipe it?

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    How deep down can trap be?

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 8,025
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    deeper than the basement floor. no real reason to remove it but if i were to start digging i'd replace the line with pvc to as close to the street as possible.

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 24,915

    Jetters work well on roots also.

    If you have roots in the sewer line it needs to be lined, or replaced, or the roots will be back

    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    The problem is they say I have to remove the trap so that they can run a camera/jetter before they will replace the pipe to the street. I just want to make sure I'm cutting in the right spot before I start any of this.

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    I was told the cement can be anywhere between 3-5 inches.

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    which way does the line go from that cleanout? does it go under the foundation? cleaning it before it clogs like they've been doing for decades is also an option.

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21
    edited April 18

    It goes out into the backyard. Towards the alley.

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472

    if there is a house trap under the basement floor it should have 2 cleanouts in the floor next to each other on each side of the trap. It is possible if the concrete floor was added later that they covered it up. it may be outside the house and there may be 2 risers to near the surface of the ground to access it. what makes them sure it is a house trap and not just a bend because the sewer was relocated or moved from a septic system to a municipal sewer or something? there are kind of 2 ways to find it. one is a camera with a locator. the other is to put a sewer rod or cable down until you feel it then pull it out and measure and try to guess where that is from the length and direction of the line.

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    It is a metal pipe coming out of the ground about 5 feet away from the house in the backyard. Could that be it, but if that's the case it could be down about 6 feet deep. The house doesn't have any other two cap openings.

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 24,915

    There are both single and double type house traps.

    My dad called the two pipe version a double hand hole type. That is how he taught me to carry them when I was a lad. A hand in both openings.

    I remember the supply house calling then single or double hand hole traps also. Maybe that was local to the Buffalo area :)

    Screenshot 2025-04-18 at 11.54.49 AM.png Screenshot 2025-04-18 at 11.54.42 AM.png
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    mattmia2
  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    That was helpful. Do you think is probably what I have?

  • bdp1999
    bdp1999 Member Posts: 21

    Is there a pvc pipe that can replace this as a straight pipe?

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 12,472
    edited April 18

    you can replace it with pvc and the type of fernco rated for burial. cutting the cast iron isn't super simple.

    i would put a cleanout there to shorten the distance that has to be cleaned and make it less likely something will happen to that section in cleaning.

    you can either figure it out with a camera or a ton of extra labor.