village sewer line issue

[Dutch445]

at my mother's house she has had some intermittent sewer issues for decades.
the home is in a small village, connected to the sewer system, and public water supply.

over the years, there have been several backups into her basement. most were
handled with a local plumber cleaning her line going to the street.

1994 they told her that the pipe was broken, so, she had them dig up her front yard
near the street to repair the broke pipe. things seemed good for a while, although the
front yard was never re graded properly and there has always been a low spot.

blockages/backups have been happening since, not every year, but normally cleared
with a plumber. when some heavy storms caused historic flooding a few years ago,
many basements flooded but hers was one of the better ones in the neighborhood due
to her house sitting up just a little higher on the lot than most. that took out
a furnace and led to us removing some interior walls to open the space so things
could dry out and not become wet in another incident.

today, after a bath, the water was showing again near a plug where an old toilet was removed
in the basement indicating a back up. at her age this is hard for her to take any more,
and the expense of just the plumber coming to unplug it is hard for her. today the guy
ran a scope and said he saw a low spot, with water sitting, and after many attempts with all of his
tools (balloon pressure, water jet, and rotating bit on a cable) he finally got the line opened
but said there are issues, and it looked like the line has drooped again causing sediment buildup.

my question is what are the chances there is more going on here with ground around this pipe?
would a leak of the village sewer or a water line lead to a line settling like this? if so, how do you
prove it without spending big money? and then how do you prove it because the only contractors
able to dig are village approved due to insurance?

i guess i'm just not sure what rights she has and how to make sure the doesn't get taken to
the cleaners again. she can't afford to repair a sewer pipe every 10 years.

 

[Dutch445]

will give an update. a plumber has recommended replacing her line to the street,
starting in the house up higher above the basement floor to give much more pitch,
and capping off the old lines. the basement toilet been removed so there really
is no need for a drain to be below the concrete floor. she isn't far from the
street line, maybe 30' so it's not huge job. i spoke with the guy and he is going
to not use the same trench (where the old sewer and water lines are) he will
come out of the house and angle towards the downhill side of the street sewer line
in a new trench. all told about 4K for the job, including new plastic in the
basement for about 15' and tying into the drop from the upstairs fixtures and one
laundry sink downstairs.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sounds like a solution if the downstairs toilet is no longer needed.

Pitch is your friend when it comes to sewage.

Some homes here have one-way sewer flappers to minimize backups from the city main.

Years ago my plumber friend told me to keep the outside cleanout lid loose... this way any backup mess will be outside instead of inside... it has worked very well with the rentals I manage.

 

[Dutch445]

Sounds like a solution if the downstairs toilet is no longer needed.

Pitch is your friend when it comes to sewage.

Some homes here have one-way sewer flappers to minimize backups from the city main.

Years ago my plumber friend told me to keep the outside cleanout lid loose... this way any backup mess will be outside instead of inside... it has worked very well with the rentals I manage.

When I spoke to the plumber and expressed concern of a street blockage he mentioned the back flow preventer and will put one in.

 

[ultrarunner]

Having that with proper cleanouts and she should be good...

The new seamless sewer pipe we are now required to install when a home is sold is a huge improvement over 95% of what is in the ground... my last one was 90'

 

[kevin37b]

Those BFP are fine until they get hung up , usually closed .

 

[dave1949]

That sounds like it will be real improvement. Just raising the height of the waste line leaving the house should help a lot I would think. I have no city sewer experiences, so nothing to say about back flow preventers. Applying Murphy's Law; what moves can get stuck. :laughing: