# Up to here in feces...



## soparklion11 (Apr 2, 2017)

*PROBLEM:* There is dried feces in the vertical portion of my 4" toilet sewer line.  

I tore apart my 2nd floor bathroom ~2 months ago so the toilet drain has been unused long enough to be completely dry. I cut off the old lead drain piece near the T, leaving enough of a stub to Fernco to a new black pipe drain to the new toilet. As I reach back into the drain, there is dried feces in the vertical portion. Above the drain is the vent, there is nothing feeding that sewer line above this toilet. 

The drain line runs under the full basement to the main line, which was inspected and is fine.

The toilet on the same line that is located under that toilet seems to flush appropriately. No other drains back-up. I can't locate a cleanout in the line...

*How do I go about cleaning it out?*  I had used an enzyme treatment ~6 months ago when I started having problems with that toilet.  Can I just auger the drain and see if I find a piece of debris?  I have to imagine that the prior owner flushed something that they weren't supposed to flush to cause a backup like this...  $hit flows downhill, so why would it stop in a 4" vertical pipe?  I already had a plumber out when the old $100 Home Depot toilet didn't flush well and told him that when I snaked the line, the spring would return with feces.  He told me that I should just replace the toilet with a Drake... which is when I found out that the flange was broken, the area around the flange was rotten, the tile was on a mud box that was cracking and encased the copper supply lines that I then replaced with PEX... thank God for this message board.

God Bless,
SPL


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## frodo (Apr 2, 2017)

call a plumbing co

have your line camera inspected, then go from there


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## oldognewtrick (Apr 2, 2017)

frodo said:


> call a plumbing co
> 
> have your line camera inspected, then go from there



I agree, you'll probably find where Buzz Lightyear has been hiding.


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## soparklion11 (Apr 2, 2017)

I stuck my camera into the drain and I see this...


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## soparklion11 (Apr 2, 2017)

So this was some debris that had accumulated above the location where the sink drain pipe entered and extended into the channel of the 4" main....  I broke it up/sucked it out...  Now onto the next phase.


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## bud16415 (Apr 2, 2017)

:thbup::thbup::thbup:

Your title and i saw attachments kept me from reading till now.


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## EmyJ (Apr 12, 2017)

I have heard of cleaners which instantly clean sewer lines and lateral/vertical lines. Sewer line cleaning companies typically run a cable called drain snake or auger clearing the clog. 
Have you tried chemical cleaning for the sewer line? I once approached [you attempt to slip in another ad such as this will result in being banned from this website] for tips on few DIY sewer cleaning tips. A sewer line can either be very easy or complicated and one easy option would be chemical cleaning. 
The best chemical product would be the ones which work by using expanding foam. You simply need to dump the chemical down the line and it begins to foam and expand which would, in turn, push the debris down the line through the pressure dissolving certain materials.
There are other types of chemicals too, which are pure liquid with no expansion properties. They work by eating away biological waste to hopefully clear the sewage line.
Mechanical Cleaning is a more difficult aspect where a drain snake is used which snakes through the pipes manually or powered by ana engine fo some sort. The snake scrapes away debris from inside of the sewer lines and thereby unclogging.


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## homeremodeler (Apr 21, 2017)

That's crazy. Glad you got it snaked out.


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## soparklion11 (Apr 23, 2017)

Given that the sink drain was entering the main 4" drain at an angle, I'm glad that I didn't use a large snake that might have damaged the 4" pipe opposite the sink drain.

Thank you all for your advice.


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