Is this a necessary repair?

[Bantik]

Earlier this week I noticed a little water backing up around our basement floor drains, and made a mental note to call a plumber. Last night, there was an inch of sewage flooding the basement. Several frantic phone calls, four hours, and $2600 later, the drain system was power-rodded and hydrojetted from the catch basin in the back yard to the city main.

They also ran a fiber-optic camera through the line and found that under the house, there's a spot where ceramic pipe meets cast-iron. They said that the pipe is separated-- not broken-- here and that there's a little 'lip' where solid waste can accumulate, and that this was the source of the problem. The estimate to dig up the foundation and replace the pipe was $3500.

IANAP, but it seems to me that this is probably only going to be a problem every 10 years or something, and that if we're diligent about getting the sewer line rodded as soon as we notice any sign of the floor drains backing up, we don't really need to do this.

Has anyone had experience with this? I don't know enough about plumbing to decide if this is a good decision or not.

[albright]

if it was up to me i would rent a ditch witch and dig it up my self and install a coupling where the pipes are seperated and save myself money up front and in the long run.

[Bantik]

Unfortunately, the junction of the ceramic and iron pipes is under the foundation, next to the furnace. There's a hinged iron cover with what the sewer guy called a "bosie(?) valve" and the junction is near that. He also said that our village requires that replaced pipes be cast iron.

[Phelps]

$2600 for a sewer line clean out, and no repair? Wow! Remind me not to come live wherever part of the country you live at.

If your problem is under the floor, I think this is actualy a blessing and the pipe should be not very deep as compared with out in the yard. If this was me, I would bust up the cement myself and do some kind of joinery there.