boyst Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Sadly, this will be my third post of the day after posting only maybe 3 the last 4 or 5 years. Anyway, I live in the greater Greensboro area of NC, red clay soil, and have a septic line out here in the country. The house is about 16 years old, as well. Every time the wash runs, or sometimes without, the toilet bubbles (it's actually kind of cool in a disgusting way). It's been doing that for about 3 months maybe more. Sometimes the tub backs up with water and now today sewage. I do use draino (the type safe for septic tanks) every so often, both to prevent backups and fix them. Nonetheless, I've checked all over the net and found many different stories. Three popular ones are that a leach line / duct is plugged, the lines have rotted, or it may need to be pumped out and refilled. I plan on calling plumbers tomorrow to begin resolving the issue. Does anyone have any ideas where to start in addressing this problem? Or, at least, what may be in store for me? I should mention that I do not know about sewage. Thanks all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 When was the last time you had the septic tank pumped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 When was the last time you had the septic tank pumped? Never. I just got this house from my parents - they just started building a new house. I am keeping this one, as it is on the farm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I am probably in a good position to respond to this as I have been through it....... Are you hooked into the city or do you have a septic tank...... If you have septic it is a. A clogged line which a plumber can fix b. Your leach line in your septic is going out I just went through this with my house. My septic was going out and I didn't have the money to fix....then I had a toilet overflow and flood my entire house. I am out thousands from the repairs of my house and septic.....finances were lousy BEFORE all this happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Are all your tennis balls accounted for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Are all your tennis balls accounted for? Classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hb123 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I am probably in a good position to respond to this as I have been through it....... Are you hooked into the city or do you have a septic tank...... If you have septic it is a. A clogged line which a plumber can fix b. Your leach line in your septic is going out I just went through this with my house. My septic was going out and I didn't have the money to fix....then I had a toilet overflow and flood my entire house. I am out thousands from the repairs of my house and septic.....finances were lousy BEFORE all this happened. Its probably a problem with the septic tank/leach line(s) or the distribution box could be shot........ you should definately have a septic company come pump out the tank and have them inspect it to see why its backing up. It could just be completely filled with crap - literally. The other thing you can do to help your septic system is if you have laundry hooked up to the main drain and can divert it somewhere else it will help reduce the amt of water being handled by the septic system and eliminate a lot of the non biodegradable soap a washing machine introduces. Next step is find a good bacteria additive to flush down the pipes once a month that helps break down solids and non biodegradable prods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Get it pumped. If water runs back in to the tank from the leach fields then you will have to replace them. It could be a sag in the line from the house to the tank which you can dig up and fix your self or have the septic guy fix it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giaimo25 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 the first thing i would try before hiring a plumber to take all your money and show off his ass crack, would be to try cleaning out all your plumbing vents. depending on how old the house is you should have a 3 inch vent on your roof for every toilet that you have, take a nice long hose, shove it a few feet down each pipe and turn the water on, if you have a lot of trees over your house this is actually a common issue with the leaves getting in there over the years, if the pipes cant breath, the pipes wont drain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBud Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Report? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 How deep is the **** in the house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 You talking to me Mead.. Deep enough to give me and my family a really bad year this year. BK here we come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted December 5, 2009 Author Share Posted December 5, 2009 Update: A septic guy came out this morning and took one look at it and said the tank needs a pump and flush. I did the wash and it did not back up, so it helped that much at least! (I am a pessimist and bad speller which allows me to mispell pessimist, if I just did that is, but spelling is overrated). Anyways, the house is 16 years old, I doubt anything really needs to be replaced as far broken stuff. He did say in the clay soils of the area that sometimes they get backed up easily, plus the pH in the soil does not help break down and drain as easily, especially with the high amounts of rain we've got recently! Thank you guys for your help. Originally, I was just going to snake it again before posting here. It [snaking] was working for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 the first thing i would try before hiring a plumber to take all your money and show off his ass crack, would be to try cleaning out all your plumbing vents. depending on how old the house is you should have a 3 inch vent on your roof for every toilet that you have, take a nice long hose, shove it a few feet down each pipe and turn the water on, if you have a lot of trees over your house this is actually a common issue with the leaves getting in there over the years, if the pipes cant breath, the pipes wont drain My thinking right off the bat... Easiest to do yourself too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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