The massive expense of a broken sewer line – Southwest Journal

So said former Linden Hills resident Santanu Chatterjea about his nightmarish experience with his sewer line. Chatterjea and his wife, Prachee Mukherjee, who have since moved from the neighborhood, werent expecting to find the floor drain in their utility room overspilling several years ago.

Apparently, older homes such as ourshad the outside sewer line hooked up to the basement drain, Santanu Chatterjea said. Add in the backyard beautiful majestic trees, whose gnarly roots broke into the ancient sewer lines, and sewage reflux ensued.

The couple went through several services as they tried to figure out the problem. One of them even snaked a camera into the line as far as he could and showed me a blurry image of a water trickle that confirmed his suspicion drain tile collapse because of root intrusion, Chatterjea said.

They were given two options: a trench-less sewer line repair that wouldnt disturb the yard but would be very expensive, or an elaborate archaeological dig, which would involve digging up the front yard and ripping out the sidewalk, going all the way up to the citys main sewer line under the street. The cost? $25,000.

Needless to say, I was a bit distraught, he said.

Finally, Chatterjea got connected to Ron the Sewer Rat, whose worker came and, for $300, pushed a cutter with blades from the inside of their homes main water line into the sewer drain.

He said the pine trees roots would probably return in a few years and cause the same issue, but that was normal in this part of the town. Hed have to come back.

The main problem is that the older houses use clay tiles as opposed to PVC pipes, said Peter Kroening, a co-owner of Ron the Sewer Rat. The clay tiles, combined with all the old trees with heavy root systems, can spell disaster for your pipes.

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The massive expense of a broken sewer line - Southwest Journal