Boruch: Hi, my name's Boruch Fishman and welcome to another episode of What's New in Plumbing. " Right now we're going to be talking with Byron Graham, a Baltimore plumber, and also the Director of A-1 Plumbing of Baltimore. We're going to be asking him about what's going on right now in the world of plumbing in Baltimore.
Byron: What's new in plumbing right now is this we're getting a lot of sewer back up calls.
Boruch: Do you  know why you're getting so many right now, are you still having a dry spell in Maryland?
Byron: No, as a matter of fact we're deluged with rain, but what  we're finding is that especially in older homes with Terra Cotta drain pipes, underground tree roots have invaded them, blocked them up, and in some cases broken them apart. So we're getting called out to take a look at the blockage.  We're checking them out with our state of the art video camera equipment, and then recommending they get a sewer replacement.
Boruch: When you replace the old sewer pipe do you put in a PVC pipe?
Byron: Yep, we're replacing older sewer lines them with PVC piping.
Boruch: I recalll from first hand experience that when people learn that roots are growing in their sewer system they first experiment with root killer. If that doesn't help, then they call in a plumber and ask him to chop up the roots with a special water jet drill. Is that what you do, when your're called out to home with backed up drain pipes?
Byron: Yes, the first step we take after video inspection is to pass a jetter through the sewer line and break up the roots.  If we can pass it, it gives the homeowner some time; but the ability to use the jetter depends on whether or not the pipe is broken. If the pipe is split apart by invading roots or age, the jetter's going to do more harm than good because its using 2500 lbs of pressure. So currently, we're doing a lot of sewer cleanings,  a lot of video camera inspections, and  only occassionial total sewer replacements.
Boruch Umh:
Byron: With all the rain we're getting, the trees in Baltimore are looking beautiful, Â but at the same time, under the surface, hell is breaking loose in the sewer lines.
Boruch:  So let me get this straight, you do the video inspection and if the pipe is full of roots but still patent you jet it, and you recommend that your customers purchase root poisoning, and periodically pour it down the toilet, to gain themselves a little extra time. On the other hand, if a pipe's cracked you tell your customers that they need to get it replaced right away.
Byron:  Without a doubt!  But  if their sewer is one of those fragile terra cotta pipes, we counsel them to replace it immediately.Â
Boruch: As Byron explained in an earlier podcast, tree roots will take off and form huge meshes of root shoots together with trapped material within the interior of pipes and sewers. Objects including feminine products, which would normally have passed right through the pipe, now get stuck in the mesh and this only serves to make the problem  worse.
So if you're seeing signs that your sewer pipes are blocked up, basement flooding, sink draining very slowly, or sewage coming out of the drain as soon as you flush the toilet, than you better notify the plumber straightaway. Because, as Byron told you, there are steps that you can take to stop total blockage, and give yourself extra time until you have the ability to pay for a sewer pipe replacement.
Well that's that for another episode of "What's New in Plumbing. " I'm Boruch Fishman, folks, have a great day!
Byron: What's new in plumbing right now is this we're getting a lot of sewer back up calls.
Boruch: Do you  know why you're getting so many right now, are you still having a dry spell in Maryland?
Byron: No, as a matter of fact we're deluged with rain, but what  we're finding is that especially in older homes with Terra Cotta drain pipes, underground tree roots have invaded them, blocked them up, and in some cases broken them apart. So we're getting called out to take a look at the blockage.  We're checking them out with our state of the art video camera equipment, and then recommending they get a sewer replacement.
Boruch: When you replace the old sewer pipe do you put in a PVC pipe?
Byron: Yep, we're replacing older sewer lines them with PVC piping.
Boruch: I recalll from first hand experience that when people learn that roots are growing in their sewer system they first experiment with root killer. If that doesn't help, then they call in a plumber and ask him to chop up the roots with a special water jet drill. Is that what you do, when your're called out to home with backed up drain pipes?
Byron: Yes, the first step we take after video inspection is to pass a jetter through the sewer line and break up the roots.  If we can pass it, it gives the homeowner some time; but the ability to use the jetter depends on whether or not the pipe is broken. If the pipe is split apart by invading roots or age, the jetter's going to do more harm than good because its using 2500 lbs of pressure. So currently, we're doing a lot of sewer cleanings,  a lot of video camera inspections, and  only occassionial total sewer replacements.
Boruch Umh:
Byron: With all the rain we're getting, the trees in Baltimore are looking beautiful, Â but at the same time, under the surface, hell is breaking loose in the sewer lines.
Boruch:  So let me get this straight, you do the video inspection and if the pipe is full of roots but still patent you jet it, and you recommend that your customers purchase root poisoning, and periodically pour it down the toilet, to gain themselves a little extra time. On the other hand, if a pipe's cracked you tell your customers that they need to get it replaced right away.
Byron:  Without a doubt!  But  if their sewer is one of those fragile terra cotta pipes, we counsel them to replace it immediately.Â
Boruch: As Byron explained in an earlier podcast, tree roots will take off and form huge meshes of root shoots together with trapped material within the interior of pipes and sewers. Objects including feminine products, which would normally have passed right through the pipe, now get stuck in the mesh and this only serves to make the problem  worse.
So if you're seeing signs that your sewer pipes are blocked up, basement flooding, sink draining very slowly, or sewage coming out of the drain as soon as you flush the toilet, than you better notify the plumber straightaway. Because, as Byron told you, there are steps that you can take to stop total blockage, and give yourself extra time until you have the ability to pay for a sewer pipe replacement.
Well that's that for another episode of "What's New in Plumbing. " I'm Boruch Fishman, folks, have a great day!