A Simple Drain Unclog Turned Into a MASSIVE Line Break...

[@doublepenn5732]

This is the typical "easy" last call on a Friday.....😂😂😂😂

[@RogerWakefield]

This should be a quick in and out call 😂😂

[@jamesluetke4619]

Trust me I could do it myself in five minutes but I don't feel like it lol

[@IvanGoldBit]

Never say easy call or job I've learned the hard way

[@doublepenn5732]

I hate going to a client's house and not being able to resolve their issues. I always try to be as descriptive as possible and include them in the process..... If I don't involve them and something like this happens (it does; often )it's hard to sell the fix if I did not have the initial discussion... Through my experience the client feels like they are being worked over. Today as a matter of fact, I was replacing all the gas lines for a duplex, the visible leaks were so bad, (newer, installed by a hack) I recommend the total rebuild of all accessible components of the system. Once I was kneed deep and able to isolate and test the vertical lines buried in the wall, we found they were bad. Thankfully I had a discussion with the client about the possibility of that happening. Prior to the start of the project we decided together that the cost (probing fee) of diagnosing the vertical lines would be best left to replace if needed. Our discussion was reflected in the proposal along with a quote to resolve the potential issues. I couldn't imagine the amount of egg on my face I would have to wipe off if I had to tell this guy that he is obligated to pay me for what I did and needs to fork over a additional 2k+ and drywall repair (I don't do that), so his tenants can take a warm shower and cook.... I initially suggested that he have the original installer warranty their workmanship. Apparently the radio add/tv add outfit completed their task 100%(so they say).... I want to know how they can call it job don and the gas company won't unpin the meters...... It's outfits like that that make clients hesitant to trust us(real plumbers); however, once they meet a real plumber we are their plumber for life....

[@doublepenn5732]

@@IvanGoldBit jinx is real..... Especially on Friday....😂😂😂

[@maths9085]

The shielded coupling used, which appears to be a Proflex 3000-150 or its equivalent, is not rated for underground use. It is listed to ASTM C1460, the title of which is "Standard Specification for Shielded Transition Couplings for Use with Dissimilar DWV Pipe and Fittings Above Ground." For underground use, if you want a shear band, the proper coupling to use would be a Fernco 1056-150RC or its equivalent, which is listed to ASTM C1173 "Standard Specification for Flexible Transition Couplings for Underground Piping Systems." That coupling is 4" long instead of 2" long, so it would require longer PVC pipe stubs at each end of the repair work.

[@swackhammer2139]

Glad to see you had a vacuum breaker on the hose bib before trying the bladder. Would've added some flavor to the morning coffee.

[@MrNoobed]

This is a very accurate representation of my typical plumbing experience, yes

[@krishnanayak805]

I appreciate how you think. So much plumbing wisdom!

[@RogerWakefield]

I appreciate that! I could talk plumbing all day

[@virgil3241]

Great seeing a video of a master plumber in his element. Doing the fittings like clockwork, all skill and knowledge and tricks he has learned over the decades.

[@alamedajon1453]

1 month ago this is the most recent video I have seen, you are still alive, in the later a lot of video have been from 2 yrs ago so good to see you back.

[@RogerWakefield]

I never left 😅 sort the videos by most recent, not popular

[@richnelson753]

its a gift to have a basement sometimes no digging under foundation

[@damon-burton]

That was a tough clog to deal with. It's always frustrating when a simple drain snake or bladder doesn't do the trick. It's great to see your methodical approach and identify the root cause of the problem. Great content.

[@michaelhorner2864]

If you have a main clean out you should watch it for flow and let the bag sit longer and in different spots or listen to the vents if you have a ladder handy

[@tonyzila5071]

Excellent job very professional on a very difficult job

[@doublepenn5732]

The dig guys buddy had too many modelos the night before, never showed up. He is a beast, drank more than his buddy and showed up to work. My kind of guy.

[@RogerWakefield]

He did an amazing job digging that hole, and in good time too!👍🏼💪🏻

[@ginjaninja6963]

He's a legend

[@olivertomboni2852]

Hi I am a aerobic maintenance technician and would love to see if you would make another video about septic/aerobic systems and the plumbing involved

[@spikeklein2196]

Thanks for the video Rodger ! Makes me think I’ll never buy a slab on grade house. So much trouble! Replacing a section of pipe in my house is peanuts compared to this.

[@70Grande]

Gotta make sure those nuts hang down! That mustache must smell nice after that job. Loved this video! Thank you for this real- world plumbing video.

[@RogerWakefield]

You bet!

[@thealkymyst]

Nice to see you down in the hole Roger. Nice fix. Crazy they ran all that in 1 1/2".

[@RogerWakefield]

Honestly I’m not 😅🥲…I’ve seen just a little bit of the plumbing on our property and it’s mind blowing…

[@Tonys_Gabagool]

Holy sh*t that intro completely threw me off lol I've only had to do that twice in my life to find the line to jet

[@randyriggs5463]

Code calls for only 2" underground until you get to tub. Nice job Roger.

[@vegasfordguy]

I've always been leery of those as I was always worried that the pressure might blow a pip joint apart. I've used them, but was cautious about how long I let the pressure build. It may work great, then again it may also blow a pipe apart.

[@plumber_midge]

It's ALWAYS a simple sounding call that turns into a mess, and usually on a Friday afternoon 😂

[@RogerWakefield]

I’ve been there, not the best way to end the week!

[@guitar1301]

Just make sure you have some sort of backflow prevention on that hose bib to prevent cross-contamination when using pressure ball

[@tytar1037]

The old Friday special. Tale as old as time.

[@bobduffy7744]

1:49 I used this in my kitchen sink. Put it below the floor board. Cleared! The plumber tried to snake, couldn’t get it.

[@KalanYore]

Hello Roger, came across your awesome channel just a few days now and subbed.... I have a problem of a main line clog but don't know where it is and I've used the drain bladder and a rotory snake at the problem area is the basement as the standing pipe is backed up and in addition food particles is also present from using the kitchen desposer and the basement drain has water in it that barely touches the clearout hole and the main drain has water and gunk that I can see... there is no flooding and the sub basement bathroom is ok as there is no backflow - toilet water level is normal but noticed there is a bit of resistance when flushing and there was more water level because of a slower clearing of the flush but goes down to the normal level that I can see. I used the drain bladder in the standing pipe and also the clearout of the sewer drain and nothing as the standing pipe there was a lot of pressure of water coming out and nothing at the sewer drain... I did use drain stoppers at the kitchen sinks and placed water filled bowls to weigh those down. I don't know what to do next otherthan to call a pro to clear the clog unless you have some ideas on how I may clear the clog myself as I would really appreciate your longtime professional expertise... don't know if you reply to comments on your KZbin channel as I hope you see mine and kindly reply knowing you are a busy guy... Thank you sir for what you do...

[@johnguilbert1349]

Just need to Hawk Tuah to get that thing in there easier

[@wogfun]

Why did he use 2 ferncos? The first one could and should have been a glued coupling.

[@aaronwiley8992]

maybe he wanted to be able to move it around still

[@Thee-AmateurAn94]

Why did you feel the need to comment on something you know nothing about?

[@wogfun]

@@Thee-AmateurAn94 lol ok, I haven't been doing this for a decades....or have I? My question was valid, do you have the answer? Or do you just blindly wash the balls of every KZbin celebrity without discrimination?

[@RogerWakefield]

@@wogfun I didn’t have enough room to slide either line out enough to get both couplings in place, glued, and rotated properly. That’s why the two sheer bands. It worked out well…

[@wogfun]

@@RogerWakefield Roger, I don't mean both couplings. Just the first one. That said, you made the job look a lot easier than it was. Crawling through a 3' dirt trench working above your head just plain sucks. Sometimes you just use the parts you use because it's what's in front of you, I get that, and there's really nothing wrong with how you did it. I guess I was just curious if there was some other reason I hadn't considered.

[@teodorovela3893]

The solid steel bands is what passes inspection underneath foundation

[@jeffreyplumber1975]

awsome First time I seen you get down and dirty! Sometimes or often times a wye and 1/8th bend makes fit up easier under houses etc a little more versatle the branch dosent need to be on the same plane as the main

[@mrcampbell7674]

"we got a waterline here so we've got to be careful" [flashback to the into]. Also, when you said "dig crew" i was expecting more than just one guy

[@kennethphillips5106]

This is the best video I've ever seen of you 😂

[@mikedietzel6298]

I'd like to know more about the pressure gauge you using?

[@azianchick3529]

That is quite an intro 😂👏👏.

[@ccsmith2937]

Thanks 👍👍

[@briancrandall1601]

2" is required for all underground dwv plumbing in Massachusetts.

[@michaelhorner2864]

Wow what a surprise

[@nicolassanchez8318]

I wish large heat shrink would go onto those clamps. Clamp relaxation is a thing.

[@teodorovela3893]

I would reroute the kitchen and the washer there usually together and 1” 1/2 don’t cut it

[@Clay_333]

Do you not keep cameras on your trucks? I expected that to be the next thing you did after you saw mud just to verify. I have saved so much time by running a camera in the line as one of my first steps. It will almost always show you what you need to do.

[@paulradice3534]

What’s a clean out doing on the exterior of the building.

[@DZ-hu2sv]

When you had a close up view once under the house, it looked like 3/4 or half inch piping 😅

[@robsmiley3188]

I was affraid of it getting stuck when u were moving it around to get further or that blatter busting a line from to much pressure

[@icewolf4juno]

What a nightmare. In a hole with crap and mosquitos who feed off the crap. Makes me wonder why drain lines arent bigger in general.

[@RogerWakefield]

they should be 2-3 inch...the "plumbers" that installed this must've missed the memo..

[@icewolf4juno]

@@RogerWakefield You're exactly right. Thank you for all of your content, I'm not a plumber but watching these videos makes me closer to being one in my mind. Great information as always.

[@guitar1301]

Any sanitary drain shall be minimum of 2" underground in the state of NJ

[@teodorovela3893]

A bathroom usually connects to a main drain together that’s the washer

[@Thee-AmateurAn94]

Careful roger

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

When the general contractor makes them use the cheapest pipe made (i. e. junk), problems like this are inevitable. If it is going to be buried in the ground and specially under a concrete slab, always use the best and strongest. It will cost more to install now, but not near as much to repair later. When my parents had their house built, because we have a high clay soil, they had all of the plumbing buried in sand. Clay soil tends to shift around, expand and contract, with changes in moisture content. Sand on the other hand if more fluid and will allow plumbing to pass through it over time. They had their house built in 1973 and have had zero problems with the water, sewage, and natural gas pipes in all of this time, 51 years.

[@georgeslade4696]

I'm glad to have my crawlspace in my old house....No digging necessary.

[@johnphillipsplumbing7148]

😂😂😂call JPP we'll get you going again!

[@RogerWakefield]

Y’all local?

[@johnphillipsplumbing7148]

@@RogerWakefield no,sunny Sarasota fl,😆 🤣 😂 underwater Sarasota fl

[@planetanimal1310]

Dewalt sawzall?

[@94040]

Awesome😊

[@truetildeath]

I was always told to never throw your dirt too far from the hole!! You’ll regret randomly throwing it behind you when you have to backfill

[@RogerWakefield]

Yeah luckily the dig crew knew what he was doing 😂

[@Anythingiwant1939]

Starting my first year apprenticeship, just tryna figure out why you’re using shear bands to connect the pvc pipes together instead of couplings? Is it because it’s underground and the pipes are dirty? Also when it comes to digging do we as plumbers do that or do we call someone else to dig than we come back after they’re done?

[@josephbarnwell2747]

When you do not have any play, which is often the case with preexisting plumbing, you have to use rubber couplings of some sort. Now they do make repair glue couplings but 9 times out of 10 they don't work well and do not let enough glue stay on it to keep the pipe water tight. In terms of who digs, that is your call. Personally i always tell my clients that if they want to pay my plumbers to dig we can, but I'm charging my standard rates. They can usually find someone else to do it for a quarter of the cost. But a different plumbing company may have laborers on staff for tasks like digging.

[@Anythingiwant1939]

@@josephbarnwell2747 yeah labourers makes more sense I didn’t think about the cost of paying a plumber 25-60 bucks an hour to dig a hole lol. Thanks for the tip appreciate it a lot about the rubber coupling.

[@Platinumcan]

That looks like a 50mm (10:10) pipe to me. In norway I know you are not alowed to install annything smaler than a 75mm pipe under the house and you cannot put a 75-75-75 branch its has to go from 110-110-75 branch and then you can put a with 110-75reduction inside the branch.

[@Platinumcan]

If its in a basement it has different rules than underneath the foundation

[@soundsofexpressions3720]

That san T on it's side really threw me off

[@mikeznel6048]

Looks like the house needs gutters too.

[@RogerWakefield]

It needs a lot of things….

[@donaldblank8873]

You should have cabled the outgoing line while it was disconnected. When a waste line is not used for a long time the c*** that's built up inside of it turns as hard as a brick. If The cable machine can't do it, Then the line needs replaced to the main.

[@joshcowart2446]

What are you calling sheer bands? I’d called that a shielded coupling. In austin they call them city approved no hubs. This is because you can’t put a regular no hub under ground. A sheer band to me is a mix between a fernco and what we call a husky band. Husky band is just the 4 clamp no hubs. A sheer band has the thick rubber like a fernco but the full length band like a husky band. I know people call things different names all over which is why I ask. I came up in west Texas and we used cantex coupling, which is just a fernco.

[@mattmclaughlin7338]

So wait . How did the hole fill up with water?

[@RogerWakefield]

Water hose 😅

[@connorthomas2667]

Or if your an electrician it’s quick 30 min last call Friday at 4pm then a carpenter cuts a wire and you have to stay till. 10 pm fishing a wire thourgh the whole house blind

[@teodorovela3893]

Wasn’t the tee the other way

[@Grunttamer]

Step plumber, what are you doing?

[@bobmilleit1976]

Why do you think broke? Because there was too much stress on the tee from the shower line?

[@RogerWakefield]

That’s a possibility. I’m thinking because it’s 1 1/2 line and the soil around here gets saturated then really dry so the years of shifting caused it to break

[@crazydoglady5]

first 2 seconds..and I died laughing.

[@teodorovela3893]

You need a wall penetration and a reroute

[@plumbingb]

Hi boss I'm Sumon for Bangladesh

[@luisem214]

That ain’t mud Mr. Wakefield.

[@roberttorres6859]

Dang, I wish I could just call a dig crew.

[@MartinD9999]

Gawdamn that’s a lot of work. Sh!t.

[@JustMatt87]

Simple snake job... piece of cake... Oh wait damn

[@gliese909]

This just shows why you should never use Liquid Plumr.

[@wogfun]

Does he really not know the end of the thin cable snake tool is supposed to go up against the PVC? If you leave a foot or more of the cable hanging out it just twists up, like it did.

[@stevem1081]

Just like he doesn't know that the foot of the saw should be against the pipe. In order to be a great plumber, you also need to be a bit of a mechanic and know how to use tools properly and safely.

[@Decision_Justice]

Gosh the soil around that house is so ugly! Where is this, that has such bad soil?

[@CoolStuff..]

cool

[@RogerWakefield]

very cool

[@JoeRogansGutBiome]

PVC under a house slab is cheap and stupid. Ise steel for rigidity and quality my god. Also use 2 inch lines

[@JoeRogansGutBiome]

Also, you need to send a camera down there first before doing all this digging. To confirm whats going on down there.

[@patmcbrien3781]

After watching this video and so many like it i have to say that American plumbing is absolutely daft. The fact that you have to tunnel under a house to fix a problem is problem is ridiculous. Why are the drains set so deep, why are the pipes so small and why are they back filled with soil, all i can see down there is tree roots etc what do you think is going to happen when the ground settles in time. How much would a repair like that cost i shudder to think.

[@RogerWakefield]

Where are you located and how would y'all go about fixing a problem under a house? The lines are buried at least 12 inches or so under ground to prevent freezing. These pipes are small for drain lines...usually 2-3 inch is preferred

[@Wspcdude-72277]

Hi

[@RogerWakefield]

Hey

[@Mike-b3v]

Did you actually say your gonna let the glue dry?? Lmao. So to everyone. It’s not under pressure and if you use red hot or any really. You can test. If it was a pressure line then yes you have to wait. Not 24 hours either.

[@nickgarafolo9359]

Get a ridged k50 or call a professional just not rotorooter

[@Keith_Mikell]

Were you a teacher in a second life? I swear you were.

[@RogerWakefield]

I was an instructor in the union years back…I love teaching plumbing…

[@Keith_Mikell]

@@RogerWakefield You got someone right here dying to learn, im autistic, smart, people friendly, but i live in PA. Id kill for someone like you to take me under their wing. My dad is soon to retire and i want to work like a normal person. I wish i had someone to teach me.

[@jasoncraig4683]

I gotta tell ya brother.... I could have ran a 3/8 cable down that c/o and back while you're trying to shove that blow bag down. lol And then I see you run a 1/4" bucket auger down a kitchen drain??? You're honestly just setting a homeowner up for failure and most likely flip that cable in the drain and be in a load of shit...... You're not gonna scope the line before digging it up????

[@beardo_M.D.]

I know you are an old buck, and there was a time when tools had a cord and it didn't matter, but we don't switch up tools like that anymore. Milwaukee drill motor and Dewalt sawzall? Come on man.

[@samsamuels5449]

😂😂😂

[@planetanimal1310]

are you even a broski?😢😢😢

[@MacAutoDiag]

These intros are getting out of hand

[@teodorovela3893]

It looks like you’re going the opposite way with all do respect it’s the video

[@samsamuels5449]

The Twins do it better.

[@RogerWakefield]

Do what?

[@ernestbetz5982]

use a dam miin sewer machine. those ballon just blows a hole.

[@PaulTierney-pq1fg]

Sloppy with the primer looking boy!! 🤣, come on Rog, underground or not, have a little pride in your work Brody, call the digging crew, one poorly underpaid mehican 😅😂 stop it

[@fred-qy4lo]

Could do without the music. Not necessary. Annoying to be honest.