Plumbing issue / drain blockage - please assist

Hi everyone

Have encountered a plumbing issue :eek: and would greatly appreciate your comments / suggestions / wisdom. Thank you in advance.

Have a 4br brown-brick house IP probably built in the 1970s. Tenants (family of 5) moved in Jan.

2 months ago, there was a blockage in the toilets. I sent plumber out who sent a camera down the pipes and identified a likely blockage near the boundary between my IP and neighbour's property (the blockage is on my property). There is a small tree/plant (about 1.2m tall) on the neighbour's property in the immediate vicinity of the blockage point. Plumber thinks tree roots from neighbour's tree may have crept into the ceramic pipes. He suggested to me on the phone that I consider replacing the ceramic pipes with plastic ones. Quoted me $3k plus (the pipe is under a concrete driveway but there is an inspection outlet on the drive way).

I happened to be in the area and told him I'd drive by to have a look in person. After I turned up, the plumber identified a more significant blockage at another section (closer to the kerb) which likely involved Sydney Water's pipe.

The neighbour apparently told my plumber earlier that day they also had some blockage issues recently, but I don't have any details (eg: where, what was the cause, whether it involved SW's pipe etc).

In any case, my plumber called Sydney Water who came out and supposedly cleared the pipes (tenants confirmed this with my property manager the next day). My plumber sent Sydney Water his bill and I have not heard from either of them since then.

Tenants have just advised that there is a blockage again.

The family is 2 parents with 3 young children. All previous tenancies had only2-3 people in the house and no blockage issue was ever raised in the 8 years I've owned the property. Does the larger family increase likelihood of blockage?

The tenants seem like lovely people, I would like to try my best to keep them happy.

Should I:

1. Send my own plumber out again.

a) If it's Sydney Water's pipe again, then ask SW to deal with it and SW will pick up my plumber's bill.

b) If it's the blockage at the boundary due to neighbour's tree:

(i) can I ask neighbour to remove the tree? I'm happy to pay for the removal of the tree, but if they do not let me I suppose I cannot force them to have it removed even though it is the most likely cause of the blockage?

(ii) If neighbour doesn't let me remove the tree/plant, should I consider replacing the ceramic pipes with plastic pipes - it's a hefty cost but should hopefully be one-off and will save future plumber call-outs. Would the plastic pipes resolve the issue?

2. Call SW direct and ask them to go out to check the problem.

a) If it's their pipe, they will clear it like last time and not bill me for the work.

b) If they say it was my pipe, they will send me their bill (which I assume would be fair and reasonable?!)

Thank you so much for reading! The trials and tribulations of owning a house. I would be so grateful to hear your thoughts.
 
If the blockage is in your private line then you need to call your own plumber. If they find a blockage outside your private line, they can call Sydney Water on your behalf.

If you are certain the blockage is in Sydney Water's line (i.e. outside of your boundary and not in any neighbours property) then you call Sydney Water.

Regarding the tree, if your plumber sends a camera down, have them record the roots (if any) that may cause future blockages and work from there.
 
I had exactly the same problem you have!!!!!


Two sewage lines:-

1. own by you from the house to the sydney water main connection

2. main line own by sydney water.

Plumber came and clear our line then it was still block. But the plumber called sydney water and requested for a sydney water reference no. saying their line is block.

Sydney water agreed to have someone come out and clear the line.

I filled in the choke form and got my refund.

If my line blocks again i will do the same thing, ask the plumber to come out, get them to call sydney water to come again and submit the choke form for a refund.
 
Go onto the dial before you dig website get a copy of the plans, free service. So you know what's there and for the plumber, and upload a copy here for us.

If Sydney water came out they would have likely jetted the line with better gear than the plumber would have so you could assume their line is ok...but stranger things have happened. Sydney water won't charge you do it's worth adding them some questions first, like if they have issues along the live in the past or if they have cctv of the line so you can determine who's issue it is. call them asap but you'll probably also need to get your plumber out too as it sounds like there is an issue.

As for the tree if you have cctv of the line and roots in the vicinity of the tree talk to the neighbour and see what you can. Try and get rid if the tree first before replacing the sewer to save money. If you get rid of the tree wait and see what happens, even get the line cctv'd again in 12 months if your concerned. Depending on the damage done hopefully removing the tree will stop further issues. Oh and get the plumber to jet the line and clear the roots for your tenants
 
Sorr]y , late and I've been putting ikea stuff together so I'm a bit fried!!

Get the plumber to clear the roots.
Remove the tree
Call Sydney water for good measure
Don't replace the pipe unless it's rooted! try to remove the tree first and clear roots before new pipes.
If the tree stays, new pvc will do the job. The pvc and glued joins prevent roots getting in... Unless it cracks over time

And with regards to passing on the bill to syd water it depends where the main is, if it's in your boundary that inspection point is yours, I'd the main is outside the boundary the inspection point to main is syd waters. Any man holes nearby? Dbyd will show you
 
Bob, I received some plans today ....
just spent 15min looking at them and ummm ... couldn't work out what's going on :eek: :confused:
would it be okay for me to maybe pm you and forward you a copy of the plans?
sorry to trouble you and thank you in advance
 
Yeah pm is ok. Can you send attachments?? We can work something out

Can you mark on there roughly where you think the blockage is too
 
thank you Bob!

I sent a plumber out last Saturday. He found 2 blockages on my property, one next to the house, one closer to the kerb but still likely to be on my property (drive way). He confirmed it was tree roots as he took out about 6 inches of tree roots whilst trying to clear it. He said the problem is addressed in the short term, but given it's tree roots it will inevitably come back. I have 4 conifers (about 10-15metres tall each) on my side of the driveway. The other side of the driveway is the neighbour's property and there are a couple of small / shorter plants/trees (no more than 1.5m tall). He can't say which tree's roots are causing the issue as they tend to grow all over the place, and sometimes the roots may belong to a a tree further away than the one directly above it. It cost me $280 plus GST to get him to clear it on the weekend.

He suggested I replace the terracotta pipes under the concrete driveway with PVC ones. He believes this would resolve the issue in the long term. He thinks it would cost $6k as he needs to dig up my concrete driveway and then make good. The last plumber verbally quoted 3k but he looked pretty young, this one runs his own business.

I'm reasonably confident based on the events of Saturday that there's at least one blockage in the pipes on my property, rather than the water authority's.

Has anyone replaced their pipes to pvc? Did it involve digging up concrete driveway? How much did it cost you if you don't mind sharing?

6k sounds soo expensive to me. I will try to get a few other quotes ... Though I'm wondering whether I might just budget to send a plumber out every few months for about 300 bux (which I can claim as a repair) than to outlay 6k in one go (which is probably likely to be a capital allowance depreciable at 2.5pc only!??!).

I have also considered paying a tree lopper to remove the conifers to see if it might solve the issue. Will need to get some quotes but suspect it will cost at least 3k! The upside is I get rid of the ugly trees which is doing nothing for the property and it might resolve the pipe blockage. But the downside is the roots are from another tree so I still need to pay to replace the pipes ...

Any suggestions / input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again!
 
where are the other trees? reasonably close, or as close as the connifers? depending on the type and being smaller you'll probably be ok.
i dont think it will cost that much to remove the trees. If they are just normal skinnyish connifers under a $1000 if you get the right guy. I had a 15m+ skinny eucylpt taken down for $280, 30 extra to be mulched!

Did he give you a dvd of the CCTV inspection? a few screen shots would help see how bad it is. Id think if the pipes are reasonable condition, get rid of the trees as you want them gone anyway and the pipes should hold up for a while yet. 6k is probably about right, bit high to cover his verbal quote. digging up how many meters of pipe? around 10m?? front yard to house? plus concrete cutting and patching.

PVC will solve the issue but go the easier/cheaper option first especially if you want the trees gone anyway.
 
I'm in the process of having a terracotta sewer pipe replaced with PVC. To help with your reference for costs, it is costing me $6500 to have 30 meters of sewer pipe dug up and replaced with PVC. Price includes making good the soil afterward, (through the garden, no concrete thankfully), and all fittings etc back to house and drain plus removal of excess spoil.

I tried to get a quote to have it sleeved but the mob that does it said it wasn't worth doing as it would costs a couple of grand anyway and only for a short section, I'd be forever sleeving bits here and there.

Our problem is the boundary runs along a council reserve ans there's trees ALL the way along it. The trees have completely infested our pipe. There's not a single tree or bush on my property.

I have raised it with Penrith council, I've asked them to cover the costs. They are currently "investigating", I'm not holding my breath, but it does seem a bit unfair if they don't substantially contribute seeing as my property is baron and they planted invasive trees along the entire property boundary, (on the side that the sewer diagrams clearly show the main sewer running along!). The trees are in a closely spaced straight line along the whole length of the drain line.

Anyway, good luck getting yours sorted. I can send you the name of the guy doing ours if your local to that and want another quote? (Claremont Meadows, Western Syd). He seems like a decent sort and was recommended by a couple of people.
 
I'm in the process of having a terracotta sewer pipe replaced with PVC. To help with your reference for costs, it is costing me $6500 to have 30 meters of sewer pipe dug up and replaced with PVC. Price includes making good the soil afterward, (through the garden, no concrete thankfully), and all fittings etc back to house and drain plus removal of excess spoil.

I tried to get a quote to have it sleeved but the mob that does it said it wasn't worth doing as it would costs a couple of grand anyway and only for a short section, I'd be forever sleeving bits here and there.

Our problem is the boundary runs along a council reserve ans there's trees ALL the way along it. The trees have completely infested our pipe. There's not a single tree or bush on my property.

I have raised it with Penrith council, I've asked them to cover the costs. They are currently "investigating", I'm not holding my breath, but it does seem a bit unfair if they don't substantially contribute seeing as my property is baron and they planted invasive trees along the entire property boundary, (on the side that the sewer diagrams clearly show the main sewer running along!). The trees are in a closely spaced straight line along the whole length of the drain line.

Anyway, good luck getting yours sorted. I can send you the name of the guy doing ours if your local to that and want another quote? (Claremont Meadows, Western Syd). He seems like a decent sort and was recommended by a couple of people.

The used to be a good info sheet in the Sydney water website in regards to tree near pipes and they savage they can do. With a look it even ask syd water where yo can find info to help your case. Even calling an arborist can hero your case, it will cost money buy they can write a identifying the tree and likely impact they Cause especially if they are they nuisance trees!
 
And also sleeving is a great product, but the costs are out of this world! Up to 1000$/m so unless odd one a pool or something significant it's not worth it
 
Thanks Bob, is this the one you mean?

https://www.sydneywater.com.au/web/...ments/document/zgrf/mdqz/~edisp/dd_043649.pdf

I'll call an arborist later, see what a report would cost. It wouldn't hurt my case to have a report to send to council.

Thanks.

Yep, is a newer version of what I remeber. Take a photo and surely some one here could help identify it, arm yourself with the species, that syd water sheet and also a plan -there is a link on that sheet or go to dial before you dig website. Save yourself $500 on a report!
 
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Thanks for the tips, I'll go check out the diagrams now. Mean time, these are the trees. They run parallel with the waste pipe all the way up the boundary to the left of the house. The trees are on council land, the waste pipe on my land runs between the house and tree line.

 
Get the plan but also you'll need a plan from reece plumbing to show your private plumbing, forgot to mention that. They do charge a fee so maybe see what the syd water one shows (pm or upload if you like) and maybe a hand sketch well do
 
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