Sewer Backing up in our Basement Toilet! Help, Any ideas?

Our toilet in basement has been backing up today. We think it's the sewer. We called water company they are not responsible. Township is closed and I will call them Monday. Anyone have any ideas what to do in interim or who to call. We don't have a sewer protection insurance with water co. Any advice would be appreciated. This is not a good way to spend the weekend. Thanks.

Call a plumber.
Document everything in case the issue is on their town side.

Hi Joy Can you recommend a plumber?

Jeff Zwigard- very reliable and fair pricing

For a similar problem we called AAA Able in South Orange. They were able to snake out the house line leading to the sewer and remove the blockage. I would highly recommend them for this kind of work.

Or a sewer and drain company. Should be less expensive than a plumber on a Sat evening.

Odd, @Scully had the exact same problem today. Probably coincidence, but just in case what section of Maplewood are you in?

thanks I will start to put calls in. Does the town ship do anything? Should they be informed before work is done.

When this happened to us (years ago), problem was that a tree had collapsed the sewer line from the house to the sewer in the street...We had a company in to snake the line and replace it. I remember they said not to flush the toilets until they were finished. Not pleasant.

Hope you are lucky and just have a blockage and not a broken line, but I agree with getting a sewer/drain place in. They had a camera on a long snake that they ran down the line to see what the issue was (before) and to document that it was clear (after). Replacing the line did involve digging up the front lawn, so I really hope you don't have to deal with this.

I am on Girard Place between Valley & Osborne and you?
Are you flushing or not at all at this time.

Don't flush. Or run water. You'll just cause more back up.

Scully is right by Clinton school, so I guess it was just a coincidence. If it was two houses on the same street I would suspect a larger problem.

I guess no washing dishes either. chinese take out sounds like a plan.

roto rooter is coming out this evening -- no one else was available today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
after all.... call roto rooter that's the way and away go troubles down the drain.....roto rooter.

Call the P D. They will get a hold of DPW

there was a maplewood snake and drain guy we used when this happened to us. Ronnie, maybe? Anyhow, after he snaked us out he told us about a root killer that we needed to flush every few months or so.

You mean flush the root killer into the toilet. Interesting.
also is P.D. police dept. somehow I don't think they will do anything for us tonight. Let's see what the root rooter guys think. I think if it's from our house to the front -- it's our problem and cost.

Thanks everyone. Appreciate all the advice.

python drain cleaning in union... has emergency number

And, if you have ever used flushable wipes...stop. They are a full employment guarantee for the guys who snake sewers. They aren't meant for old drains like we have in MSO.

Good luck.

That happened to our basement toilet. Roots growing in the pipe. We used Python Drain Cleaning recommended by Gateway Plumbing.
@amie - Do you remember the name of the root killer? No one told us about that.

Thanks I left a message with Python.

Python will be less than Roto Rooter.

spontaneous said:

Odd, @Scully had the exact same problem today. Probably coincidence, but just in case what section of Maplewood are you in?

Blocked pipe further down the line per the plumber...

Call PD to call out the DPW.

Just happen to us on Tuesday. Raw sewage (poo) all over laminate basement floor. Plumber said it was a combination of roots in the sewer line and two ply toilet paper. Servpro came and ripped out the floor. Has anyone installed a stamped and stained concrete floor? This is the second time this has happened and I am done putting in floors!

We had this happen a couple of times and now only use Charmin Basic on the rec of one of the sewer guys. No fancy toilet papers or wipes and no more sewer back ups.

old time "cure", cup or two down the shower drain of Bleach. Once a week, keeps shower running and roots at bay

this is what i use once in a while after being recommended by a plumber:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/ZEP-2-lb-Root-Kill-ZROOT24/100074551

In these situations, the odds are strongly in favor of the blockage being in the basement. Sadly this is based on ample personal experience. The only way this is the Township's responsibility is if the main sewer has been blocked and caused a backup into your house connection, or house lateral. Maintenance of house laterals, everything from your house to the connection to the main sewer, is the homeowner's responsibility. If the drain service you use says the Township is responsible, save the receipts. There's no need to chase DPW, who won't respond on a weekend anyway. If they were there, they would tell you call a drain service.

We became unwilling experts in the field of house sewers after having it happen three times in the seven years we've been here. First was a few months after moving in. A geyser of waste from the drain of the unused basement shower. After a few failed attempts by Coraggio to snake out the line, they said to call All County Sewer. I can't recommend these guys highly enough.

http://www.allcountysewer.com/

They ran a camera as others said, and found the blockage was midway between the drain and basement clean out. Although they built a new clean out in the front yard to reverse snake the blockage, it's happened two more times. The camera had shown the already narrow pipe had a belly, or a dip, where the blockage was occurring. If your house is the vintage of most in Maplewood, the pipe is cast iron, which rusts when it's dry, and the flakes fall to the bottom of the pipe, restricting it. If this happens in a belly, blockage becomes inevitable. Solid waste hits the narrowest point, and the pressure isn't enough to push it through. (Should I have put a warning on this discussion?). I was putting a special drain cleaner into the line, but it didn't keep up with the blockage. Seems our only solution now is replacing the house drain, meaning jackhammer the basement slab, remove and replace the pipe, and put the slab and whatever was above it back. We're still working on setting that in motion.

Emma, I really hope you aren't in this boat (bad pun intended). Good luck!