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3 Reasons to use Vaporooter

Hunter Dance, Business development manager at Douglas Chemicals, the manufacturer of Sanafoam Vaporooter II, gives 3 reasons why you should use Vaporooter.

Great advice Hunter!

If you want to find out if Vaporooter will help you Stop tree roots in Drains, Call 1800 637 600.

Did You Know this about tree roots in sewer pipes?

Did you know that a domestic sewer pipeline is likely to have more tree root blockages than a Council sewer main.
It’s true!

In domestic sewer lines we use our plumbing intermittently throughout the day, this allows the tree roots to drink their “fill” in the water flow and then be able to dry out when the flow is nonexistent. These are ideal conditions for tree roots to thrive!

However, in a sewer main the flow is constant; the sewer mains are like our freeways, there is always some form of traffic using them at any hour of the day.

Although there are exceptions, most trees and their root systems don’t like to have “wet feet” all the time.
#12

Vaporooter stops tree roots in Council drains

Tree lined streets in big cities and country towns across Australia have many benefits, but there are also negatives.

Tree roots from street trees invade the council and water authorities mains, reducing the flow and block the sewer mains.

When it comes to blocked drains, Council manpower and budgets are stretched by tree root affected drain maintenance.

There is a safe alternative! Vaporooter Stops Tree Roots. Period!

Tree roots in sewer mains? Vaporooter kills roots. Period!

Why do I need a Sewer Service Diagram?

A Sewer Service Diagram, drainage diagram or “helio” (for plumbers over 30 years old) is a map that shows where the sewer pipes run throughout your home, or commercial property.

This sewer drainage diagram is available from Sydney Water, the Water authority in your capital city, a reputable plumber’s supplier or your local Council, depending on where you are in Australia!

In NSW a sewer drainage diagram is a normal inclusion in a “Contract of Sale” for your home.

The sewer diagram shows a line diagram  of your property, including the boundaries of the property with the outline of the dwelling and associated buildings, with all plumbing or sanitary fixtures shown.

Whenever the sanitary or sewer drainage on a property is either modified or added to by a licensed plumber or drainer, the local water authority is booked to inspect the work and modify any existing drainage plans and upgrade the sewer diagrams of each individual property.

The sewer diagram will show if your sewer pipeline runs through other properties, if it is connected to a common sewer with multiple properties on the line and where your sewer line joins the Water Board or Municipal or Council sewer mains.

Be aware, some inner city suburbs like Paddington and Balmain have rows of terraces with up to 20 homes, and in some cases more, running through the one sewer line across the back or front of the properties.

Whenever you have a blockage in a joint or common service, it’s imperative that all parties on the common line realise that the problem is the responsibility of all parties on that common line.

That means the costs of any repairs or service  to this common line should be borne by all parties on the line!

A current drainage diagram will show who is connected to the common sewer line and who isn’t.

If you have a hint of a blocked drain and you need to stop tree roots in drains, have a sewer diagram within easy reach!

Costs of this diagram will vary, dependent on the source and may range between $16 and $60.00

Council street trees and blocked sewer drains

Many of our clients say that local council street trees are the cause of their blocked sewer pipes.

Beautiful specimens like the London plane tree, Hills weeping fig (ficus microcarpa. var.) and Paperbark (melaluca)  all have extensive tree root systems that thrive on the moisture and nutrients flowing through our household sewer pipes out to the sewer mains in the street.

 

The roots from the council trees are growing in through the pipe joints.

Some councils offer their ratepayers a drain cleaning service at “no cost” as an acceptance of responsibility for the damage caused by the council trees.

We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch………………….. or drain clean.

Ratepayers are obviously “paying” for this service through their quarterly levies and at some point these local councils will put rates up or put the responsibility of drain maintenance back on the ratepayers.

Many homeowners, upon finding out council trees are blocking their pipes, insist they will lobby the council to cut down these beautiful trees to stop their invasive roots from blocking the sewer pipes. I have seen council street trees cut down because they continue to block the sewer pipes of the nearby homes.

So who wins here? Beautiful tree lined streets are raped by a chainsaw gang.

Not to mention the dramatic de-valuation of the homes that have had the street trees removed.

In one comical instance, the beautiful (but invasive) tree that was removed by the chainsaws and 4 weeks after the stump grinder churned through, was replaced by a junior version the same species. Now call me crazy……

So, I’ve got another idea!

If you’re one of these ratepayers with drains affected by council trees, next time you get a blockage and the council plumber clears your blockage for free, look for your local Vaporooter applicator to do a Drainoscopy of your sewer pipes.

If it’s suitable, have him apply Vaporooter to your pipeline.

You will be amazed with the results.

Vaporooter Stops Tree Roots in Drains!

All ratepayers keep their council trees, the council saves your money,  you maintain the value of your home and still have a free flowing pipe system!

Win Win Win Win

 

What is a pipe drainoscopy?

If you’re a regular visitor to this blog, you’ve heard of a Drainoscopy!

So what is a drainoscopy?

A drainoscopy is when our technicians survey the inside of your drains with our high-tech specialised camera equipment.

The drainoscopy equipment is inserted into your drains through a suitable opening. Having a drainage diagram on hand will help us find that suitable opening.

Via the connected cable, the camera sends pictures from the camera head to a screen set-up near our technicians chosen site.

Most property owners can’t believe what they see in their pipes and sewer. We encourage them to look over our technicians shoulder whilst he carries out their drainoscopy.

If you can’t be on-site when we are doing your drainoscopy, dont worry. We can record your drainoscopy and send you a link via email so you can see it anyway!

Click here to see a “typical” drainoscopy!

Tree roots grow through pipe joints to block your sewer.

Todays post is very simple!

In 98% of blocked drains caused by tree roots, the roots grow through the pipe joints to get into your sewer line.

They rarely enter the pipeline through the pipes themselves.

Older sewers made of terracotta or earthenware pipes usually 600-900mm (2-3foot) long, have sand cement joints and it’s through these joints that the roots grow.

Imagine this, a 40 metre or 120 foot sewer line, with bends, junctions and fittings will have at least 40 joints.

Each pipe joint is a potential point of entry for tree roots.

Once they grow into the pipeline seeking moisture and all those nutrients, they just keep growing!

During repairs or renovations to sewers, where new PVC pipeline sections have been inserted into the old earthenware lines and joined by sand cement or rubber adaptors, its only a matter of time before the tree roots grow into these pipe joints and cause a new tree root blockage.

I should have used Vaporooter years ago!

“Why didn’t I do this years ago!”

This exclamation was recently made by an old client with an investment property where tree root blockages in the sewer occur 3-4 times a year.

The block of 6 flats in inner Sydney has been plagued by sewer blockages caused by tree roots. Every time the tenants of the ground floor flats experienced a blockage, they would advise their landlord who would then call an emergency plumber.

The plumber was not familiar with Vaporooter! Every time he was called to the property for a blockage, he would remove the only toilet in the flat to get access to the sewer pipes in order to clear the tree root blockage. Most of the time the toilet had to be removed with a hammer and chisel as it was cemented to the bathroom floor. The china toilet was often broken when it was taken out, needing to be replaced. An extra cost!

When the toilet was re-cemented back to the floor, it meant the tenants could not ”sit” on the toilet until the cement set; sometimes this took up to 24 hours. Very inconvenient for the tenant!

The owner, in his wisdom asked us to  help him.

When we visited the site the first thing we asked for was a sewer diagram so we could see where all the sewer pipes ran according to the sewer authority. He had never been asked for the sewer diagram!

Once seeing the diagram, we suggested a simple excavation outside his bathroom toilet to provide a new access point to the sewer pipes. This meant anytime there is a blockage it could be accessed from outside, rather than taking out the toilet. Instant cost saving!

Our technician then suggested a “Drainoscopy” or sewer survey using a high tech drain camera to show the condition of the sewer pipes from the inside.  This had never been done before.

Whilst we carried out the Drainoscopy, we found even though the pipes had been “cleared” just weeks before, they were still full of tree roots. So we cut out the roots with our high pressure water drain cleaner and re-surveyed the pipes until all the roots were gone.

The drainoscopy shows exactly where the roots are in the pipeline so they can be totally removed. It then shows the pipe condition.

Please remember, Vaporooter will NOT repair a broken pipe!

In this case the pipes were OK! The repeat blockage was caused by tree roots growing through the pipe joints. They had now been totally removed. This had never been done before either.

This pipeline is now ready to apply Vaporooter! We’ll be back in 6 weeks.

As our client observed all of these procedures, he was amazed at what he saw in his underground sewer pipes, it prompted him to exclaim, “Why didn’t I do this years ago!”

Protecting Your Pipes And Drains From Tree Roots

If you’ve ever had to deal with tree root blocking your plumbing, you know that it’s an experience that no one would want to have twice. Drain back up leads to health hazards and removing tree root blockages can be costly.

Many home and business owners attempt to prevent future root intrusion through pipe maintenance and preventative measures.

Much of the root removal process includes measures that protect your plumbing from roots growing back into your pipes. Defensive measures include chemicals or chemical foam, such as Vaporooter,  that coats the inside of your plumbing with root killing herbicide.

Other methods of plumbing maintenance include routine pipe and joint replacement or a complete overhaul of your plumbing (known as relaying). This protective measure is considered undesirable because it’s a very expensive maintenance option.

Mechanical plumbing maintenance might include regular pulling or rodding, which clears root obstruction before it grows to completely block pipes. This sort of maintenance keeps tree roots and other obstruction at bay, but it’s not a complete protective measure.

Protecting you pipes could be as simple as regular chemical treatment of your plumbing system. Chemical powder, liquid or foam is applied to the pipe to reinforce plumbing and prohibit future tree root intrusion. However, many home and business owners are nervous about dumping chemicals down their plumbing.

The best preventive measures often include a combination of several maintenance techniques. For example, regular mechanical maintenance followed by chemical treatment is a popular way to support plumbing.

Even careful pipe maintenance may not be enough to keep tree roots out of your plumbing, epically if you have numerous tree roots growing near your underground pipes.

The best solution is one that’s discussed with, and executed by an experienced plumber. A good plumber will help you decide the management method that’s ideal for your plumbing needs, such as Vaporooter.

Vaporooter Is Safe And Guaranteed To Stop Tree Roots From Damaging Your Pipes And Drains

Tree Roots in Pipe And Drain Joints

So, how did the tree roots get into your plumbing in the first place?

Pipe Joints – Protect Them With Vaporooter

It’s possible that the three roots found their way in through a damaged pipe or a weak spot in your plumbing system. Most likely, they first infiltrated through pipe joints, which are one of the weakest points in the drainage system.

The joint is the part of the plumbing system that connects one pipe to another. Tree roots seeking food and moisture will travel along the outside of a sewer pipe until it finds a defective area that can be used to infiltrate the pipe.

Pipe joints are often made of one of three materials, rubber, cement or an unplasticized polymer material know as UPVC. Each kind of material has a different level of resistance to tree root intrusion.

Cement (or mortar) joints are not very stable, and lend to the exact ruptures and cracks that let tree roots right in.  Cement is unstable because it’s so rigid that any movement of the surrounding soil can cause it to fracture. Cement joints cannot be treated with root fighting chemicals because the chemicals can cause the cement to degrade. On the upside, if they don’t crack or degrade, cement joints offer good resistance to roots that would degrade other types of joints.

Rubber ring joints are both easy to install and flexible enough to withstand shifts in the surrounding soil. But, they are an easier material for the roots to penetrate. Rubber joint’s resistance to roots rests on factors such as the quality of the ring installation and chemical treatments to the material. For example, some manufactures treat the rubber rings with root fighting chemicals.

UPCV pipe joints are the plumbing joint superstars.  These plastic-like pipes offer huge resistance to root intrusion. They offer the same tree root resistance as undamaged cement joints and like rubber joints, they can be treated with resistant chemicals.