The homeowner of a two family brownstone on Halsey St in Brooklyn had become aware of a bad smell coming from the basement. At first she decided to let the smell dissipate which did not help at all. The smell began to intensify when she called her plumber to inspect the foul sewage odor. He began with a routine “snaking” of her sewer line, he thought something may have been caught in her pipe. After snaking for two hours with no success, he decided to put a camera in the sewer line. The video was quick to determine root infiltration.
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Approaching roots inside sewer |
Roots in sewer pipe |
The roots were clogging the sewer pipe from functioning as needed. After trying to clear the roots for another hour, the plumber was able to unclog 50% of the pipe, which was enough to inspect the remainder of the pipe with a camera. The pipe had cracks throughout, at 17’ there was a rock lodged into the top of the pipe. Another few feet after, there was a pile of rocks which was caught in a separation of the old clay pipe.
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Rock in sewer pipe |
Rocks lodged in sewer |
Due to multiple issues with the old clay pipe, it was suggested to replace the entire sewer line with a new cast iron sewer. The process began with digging a trench to locate the old pipe and replace it before a DEP inspector arrives on site.
Digging for new sewer
On the second day of the sewer replacement the remainder of the old clay pipe was replaced and inspected by DEP. This Brooklyn homeowner now has a new and fully functional sewer line for many decades to come.
