What is an outside sewer cleanout?
In simple terms, an outside sewer cleanout is an external entry point to your main sewer line that can be opened and closed to allow for cleaning, blockage removal and televising. Outside cleanouts are usually found in your yard and are identified by a round cap or vitreous clay pipe, and are typically flush with the ground. Keep reading to learn more about outside sewer cleanouts or reach out to Reid & Pederson Drainage!
South Suburbs
NW Indiana
Why is an outside sewer line cleanout necessary?
You may ask yourself why an outside cleanout is necessary. Let us give you a couple of good reasons. If your home is on a slab or does not have a basement, it also doesn’t have an outside cleanout. Without an outside cleanout, sewer rodding is done through other means, most commonly through a floor drain.
When rodding through a floor drain, only 4-inch cutter blades can be used and the cable used to rod must be very flexible. Rodding from a floor drain doesn’t guarantee an effective rodding job because once the 4-inch blade reaches the area of the larger 6-inch pipe, it cannot effectively clear away all of the roots and blockages in your line. So your sewer will get opened up, but chances are you’ll be calling us again for service in the near future.
This method is also usually messier, more time consuming and more expensive than rodding from an accessible outside cleanout, and we do not guarantee sewer rodding done using this method.
Sometimes homes have an inside sewer cleanout but it is found in a hard to access location, such as a tight crawl space. Other times, inside cleanouts are located in inaccessible spots, like the middle of a finished basement, and the homeowner may not even know it exists!
Benefits of Outside Sewer Cleanouts
There are several benefits to having an outside cleanout installed on your property:
- Outside cleanouts provide an easy access point for effective sewer rodding to remove tree roots and other blockages.
- With an outside cleanout, you avoid possible water damage, pipe damage and repair and restoration expenses that can happen when rodding is done from an inside cleanout.
- When installed at or near the cast to clay connection, outside cleanouts allow us to easily use 4- inch cutting blades to eliminate stubborn tree roots and blockages that commonly happen at these connections.
- Outside cleanouts prevent a mess being made in your home. When rodding from an outside cleanout, there’s no need for technicians to prep the area like they would do if rodding from an inside cleanout. So if there is any overflow, it’s spilling outside of your home, not inside it!
What To Expect During Outside Sewer Cleanout Installation
The first thing we do before installing an outside cleanout on your property is electronically locate your sewer line with our camera so we know exactly where it lies. On the day of your installation, we first place boards down on your property to place the dirt as we dig and to keep our work area clean.
Once we determine the most ideal spot for your sewer cleanout location, we excavate down to your sewer line, either by hand or with a tractor, depending on the depth. Next, we clip out an approximately four foot section of clay tile and install a PVC riser with a cap on it. We then bed the new pipe in stone, then backfill with the existing dirt. Once your cleanout is installed, we rod your sewer line from the new cleanout using the largest cutter blades possible.
Sewer Cleanout Experts
Reach out to us at Reid & Pederson Drainage if you have any questions at all about outside sewer line cleanouts or are ready for a sewer cleanout installation!