# wanna see a guy beat tyhe heck out of a seesnake?



## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

Here is a link to a major sewer replacement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qft2XLVKeX8

About half way through the vid I just beat and shove a seesnake mini over a offset.
This line is business and residential about 100 years old over a major street, when we first got there nobody had lived in the house portion and they wanted to turn the front commercial building into a restaurant. The building flooded in heavy rains and they wanted footing drains but the more I looked at the property I knew it was sewer failure because the downspouts are tied in. Half the 6" pipe was full of dirt and roots, we jetted it for hours, but could not get past a section in the street. The cost to bust up this major arterial would have been 12k for a spot repair or 30k plus to do the whole street. I was not about to go crazy on the line because there was a major gas main, a electric vault, and cable with telephone all over and around where the stoppage was and I could not see in the water. I let it bleed down for a couple days and I could see a major root ball had stopped the jetter (but not a gas line ) so I sent in my root saw that is water powered off the jetter and cut right through it, then there where other ones after of course at most of the joints. Then we jetted again. In the end we got through to the city sewer and am now going to reroute the 4" in the beginning of the vid and then will line the 6" pipe and won't have to cut back in the wasted 4' section. There can be no mistakes on this one.


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

Here is a view of the hand laid and pipe bursted section between the buildings, we wanted to simply burst the 6" line in but after jetting there where so many connections we only could burst a short 15 foot section that is still undisturbed in the pic, on the other side that you can't see is another 8 foot-9 foot pit. We passed inspection and are back filling it. The other pic is the shower they have, look at the shower head mounted near the floor, there is no top over head show arm at all lol.


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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

Cuda said:


> Here is a view of the hand laid and pipe bursted section between the buildings, we wanted to simply burst the 6" line in but after jetting there where so many connections we only could burst a short 15 foot section that is still undisturbed in the pic, on the other side that you can't see is another 8 foot-9 foot pit. We passed inspection and are back filling it. The other pic is the shower they have, look at the shower head mounted near the floor, there is no top over head show arm at all lol.


In all fairness it is hard to find the proper spout for you to test the water with your toes anymore. :laughing:


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

OMG It was a full inspection and had already viewed it and youtube cut it down to the intro. I will fix it.


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

here is a picture of a jetter powered root saw for straight runs only


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## AssTyme (May 15, 2010)




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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

Cuda said:


> here is a picture of a jetter powered root saw for straight runs only


Is that the same brand that Spartan sells? O'brian?


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

The spartan saw heads are spiral and don't meet the ones I have are complete circles with bracing and are a lot tougher.


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

Awesome work!
How large of jetter does it take to run the rootsaw?


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

How did you get the hydraulic cutter through all those bends? Did it jump the offset easy? Never seen concrete pipe. Is pipe patch an option?


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

I think the min. specs for a root saw are 18gpm and 2000psi, really needs the gallons of flow to work.

The video was made from inside the business through a 4" line that met the 6" line, but that line was not a good access point for what we had to do, so in the outside between the two buildings we excavated down and got directly on the 6" line for jetting and the root saw (It's a straight shot) but now after everything is cleaned up you can see the next phase which is line through my new 6" cleanout to the surface, redirect the inside cast iron to my outside pit, I already stubbed in a 4" line to the side of the cast iron inside so just break and hook up! There is one connection to a neighbor that may need to be cut in with a robotic cutter that I don't have but a fellow sewer guy here has one and will do just the cutting to reinstate lines. I figure it would have cost them 40k to fix this mess and I am saving them probably 20k doing it this way.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

gear junkie said:


> ....Never seen concrete pipe...


...


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

gear junkie said:


> How did you get the hydraulic cutter through all those bends? Did it jump the offset easy? Never seen concrete pipe. Is pipe patch an option?


There is alot of concrete around here for sanitary.


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## 1929chrysler (Jul 10, 2012)

Cuda, I would imagine your charges to dig for proper access to get the root saw in there was not cheap. For all you know the line could have been completely collapsed passed the root ball you saw once the water leached out. How do you approach these unknowns with your customers? Do you explain that what we are about to do with the root saw is exploratory and we'll know more once we get passed the roots? Digging sewers next to major utilities are no fun


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

Here is the feedback the customer left the next day on yelp. Yes I explain everything I think could happen and what would be the costs depending on what info is obtained,

I can't believe the happiest five-star review I'm giving on Yelp so far is for a drainage company in Seattle. Out of all the yummy foods I've had, places I've seen, and things I've experienced, it comes down to a broken sewer in a house that's older than the excuses most sewer  companies give homeowners - "The pipe's broken all the way to the main line, it's gonna cost $60k", "If you don't replace this sewer, there's gonna be a sinkhole in the middle of your street big enough to eat up your nine-year old", etc., etc.

I found Bryce and his crew on Yelp and took a chance. After calling about 3 other companies - one of whom was recommended by a friend, I chose Bryce as I had no other options: Nobody else returned my calls. 

The receptionist on the phone was thorough and professional, Bryce came out a few days later to do a free estimate, going so far as to snake his camera down the toilet in question. He then gave me the different options and possibilities and prices. Being that it was an old house with very compromised drainage, Bryce never made any promises in advance till he could access the entire situation.

Without any deposit beforehand, he and his crew came and dug out the very tough dirt on the side of my place within two days revealing the drain pipe. Instead of suggesting I replace the entire pipe, which is what most companies would do, he suggested patching the compromised areas, as were only one or two. We'd also found that roots had gotten to the pipe at one point. But instead of digging up that area (which was underneath a sidewalk on a busy commercial street), he came on a Sunday and tried to whack away at the roots for hours. He finally succeeded, saving me yet another tens of thousands of dollars.

Bryce truly stands out among a crowd of questionable drainage people I've encountered in the past. He's truly passionate about his work, always thinks from the homeowner's point of view (ie. Trying to help homeowners save money WITHOUT cutting corners, instead of suggesting the most expensive options), and is straightforward and honest about what can or can't be done. When you call him, he'll return your calls promptly, and his follow up is great.

That being said, I really hope never to encounter Bryce again, as this means I'll be having some drainage issue of some sort. But I won't stop at recommending him to people who need a good drainage company.


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

On Yelp reviews like that really boost business. But it shows I made no promises, I really thought a utility had punched through the pipe.


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## germanplumber (Sep 13, 2011)

Whats that smoke in the line? Is that from you or methane. Or am I just an idiot that missed something?


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

The sewer gas? It's funny some streets don't have any and some streets it looks like fog.


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