Customer Symptoms:

A homeowner contacted us to report that they were getting a constant blockage in their kitchen and bathroom drains. They would often have to use a plunger to unclog the drains and were annoyed as the problem was becoming more frequent.

Issue:

Our technician arrived at the home and inspected the toilets and kitchen sinks in the home. None of the fixtures appeared to be leaking or and were functional, and he took a look at the drainpipe in the basement of the home. The drainpipe was a cast-iron stack and was original to the house, which was about 70 years old. Our technician pushed a camera down and found that the diameter of the cast iron pipe was now 2” due to corrosion build-up over the years.

Resolution:

The technician advised the homeowner that the drain was far too small to still be functional. The minimum stack requirement for toilet stacks is 3”. The technician advised that the cast iron piping be replaced with ABS, a newer plastic pipe that won’t corrode and reduce in diameter. The technician returned to the shop, grabbed the materials, and replaced that section of the pipe in the home. The homeowner reported back that there were no blockage issues since then.