# Snaking disaster



## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

What was your worst one?

I remember working for a guy who was snaking out a line from in the basement. I told him that it sounded as if the snake was going upstairs. He told me to shut up, what do you know? So as he sat there snaking I went upstairs. I thought I heard it in the wall, so I went to the second floor and as I got up there I heard a terrible clatter, there was the snake! It dad come through the toilet and broke it and the snake was whipping around tearing up towels, throw rug, sheetrock. I went back down and told him. He came up and his jaw hit the floor!

Well, I tried to tell you so!


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

worst one for me was probably going up a vent and bringing christmas lights back. it's one of those things that just doesn't process in your head for the first second or two. where did those come from? oh crap!


i've heard some good stories about broken toilets though. one guy that worked for the same company as me went to clear a mainline at a medical office when they were closed for some reason. he ran his cable backwards and blew the toilet out and the cable went out of the restroom and down the hallway for something like 20 feet. ruined the walls, carpet, probably even the ceiling. it's funny if it doesn't happen to you.:laughing:








paul


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## service guy (Jun 26, 2008)

I am always extra cautious when cabling inside a building. Outside cleanouts are so much 'safer'. I have never went out a vent too far, or blew out a toilet, or got wrapped in a septic. Come to think of it, I have been extremely lucky over the years. The worst job I can think of was when I snapped a cable in some heavy monster roots and couldn't get it out. A backhoe ended up getting it out when I replaced the sewer. Luckily the customer was understanding that his sewer was beyond hope. But I'll never forget that awful feeling in my stomach when the cable snapped and I couldn't get it too budge at all. It was wrapped in about 20 feet of godzilla roots.
Btw paul, the Christmas lights story made me :laughing:


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

yeah, usually i can hear it after a few feet if it's going up instead of down but this one fooled me. i've also never broken out a toilet or tangled my cable in a septic but i think it has to do with experience. i was lucky in my younger years but now i chalk it up to just paying attention and knowing what i'm doing. 


i had one wierd one when i was camera-ing a line. i think i was looking for something near or under the house, i can't remember exactly. i was running the camera from a c.o. in the yard, toward the house and everything was going fine. then all of a suddon i see what looks like gravel, "huh, that's wierd". keep going and there's a cat! a live and moving cat! what the hell? get the cover alls on and crawl under the house. the camera had run right out a broken section of line and was sitting on the ground, with this confused cat staring at it.







paul


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## A Good Plumber (Jun 18, 2008)

"the camera had run right out a broken section of line and was sitting on the ground, with this confused cat staring at it"

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: I dont care who you are, thats funny right there!


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## ROTOR KING (Oct 7, 2008)

I got nailed ounce,went up towards the vent,and all the rust scale,around the pipe came down,and jammed my cable,I had to open up the walls cut the pipe to remove my cable.TY + 90 full of rust scale.I think the rust rust scale in the 90 was done by the roofers.home owner told me it was a 100 year old house,and said **** happens.paid me with a smile.


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## Wethead (Oct 13, 2008)

Oh not good, yea we all have those snaking disasters


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## cougfan (Jan 2, 2009)

Our drain cleaner called me up one time to help retrieve a cable he'd gotten stuck,so I ran over to help and he'd gotten it wrapped up to an ejector pump at a business.The employees couldn't figure out what this thing buzzing in the break room was and turned the alarm off a couple days before they called us


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## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

I once drove up to a house ,and another plumber had beat me to the job his spartain machine had been on ground outside house and had been snagged by a county mainline machine workng down at the corner .I cant imagine how he felt when something grabbed his cable and jerked his machine up to roof stack and down thru roof .I about messed my pants laughing thinking how that could have been me The county guys un tangeled his cable and he was on his own Dont know how the story ended.Bet that was biggest fish he ever hooked


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## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

I guess my goofiest act was running most of my cable into a septic tank that was not suppose to be there the,backho found it and the customer had been paying sewer tax over 30 yrs We hooked him up to the sewer and left him to slug it out with local officials ps I made more than enough to buy me a new cable


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

retired rooter said:


> I guess my goofiest act was running most of my cable into a septic tank that was not suppose to be there the,backho found it and the customer had been paying sewer tax over 30 yrs We hooked him up to the sewer and left him to slug it out with local officials ps I made more than enough to buy me a new cable


Oh yea we're on a city sewer!:laughing:

Been there done that! Kinked the cable all to snoot!


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## super plumber (Oct 19, 2008)

Bill said:


> What was your worst one?
> 
> I remember working for a guy who was snaking out a line from in the basement. I told him that it sounded as if the snake was going upstairs. He told me to shut up, what do you know? So as he sat there snaking I went upstairs. I thought I heard it in the wall, so I went to the second floor and as I got up there I heard a terrible clatter, there was the snake! It dad come through the toilet and broke it and the snake was whipping around tearing up towels, throw rug, sheetrock. I went back down and told him. He came up and his jaw hit the floor!
> 
> Well, I tried to tell you so!


lmao :laughing::laughing::laughing:


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## Sewerologist (Jun 29, 2008)

I remember snaking a house that just happened to be on the same lot as another (Washington county, Pa. typical) The skake did a fine job of chewing the roots and clearing the sewer. Until we looked in the basement of "the house in the front". **** everywhere. Just so happens the old guy who owned the whole property thought it was best to connect the house in the back with the front. What a unique experience. Rear house sewer dumping numerous gallons of wastewater into the basement of the front house. I'm sure a few guys can picture it, lol.

Disaster Restoration


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## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

so many tales too little time and who would buy a book called Times and stories of old drain cleaners and sewer man stories ?I still wonder why I studied so hard to get my master for plumbing and gas when I enjoyed and made more money cleaning drains


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## sweetness09 (Feb 26, 2009)

Nice ones... I snaked out a 2" galv drain line on the first floor of a frat house, it felt rough then was super easy.. then someone came up and said there was water pouring our of the ceiling onto the pool table. I guess there wasnt much left of the 90 the snake busted through. :-(


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## Plumber (Jan 18, 2009)

Not many things go wrong that I don't make money from, so its all good.

I did go up the other side and break the toilet on a back-to-back installation. Dumbies roughed it in with a double santee. Customer bought a new toilet...


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## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

Laying in a cs under a dorm at a local college we take care of. 2" CI lav drain. Been stopped up for weeks. Maintenance men have no clue, been pouring bleach down the line until it completely stopped draining. I had a shut down scheduled for later in the evening across town so I was strapped for time. Cut the stub up and broke out the cut piece. Keep in mind I had this s**t splattered all over me. Ran over 100ft and my machine locked up. Pulled back a pair of women's underwear and what looked like a Trojan Magnum..... I love drain cleaning!


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## cameron brandon (Mar 4, 2009)

*wicked*

:thumbup: awesome stroy i have never personally used a snake although i know what they are. After your storys i dont think im looking forward to it.


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## cameron brandon (Mar 4, 2009)

:laughing::thumbup:that is a wicked story i have none of my own though.:thumbup::laughing:


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## Plumber Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

How about cabling a tub to find your cable smacking around in a ceiling and water raing down.  turns out it had a lead drum trap but someone remodeled and left it in but left no access so you can know its even there.:furious:


Plumber Jim


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Plumber Jim said:


> How about cabling a tub to find your cable smacking around in a ceiling and water raing down.  turns out it had a lead drum trap but someone remodeled and left it in but left no access so you can know its even there.:furious:
> 
> 
> Plumber Jim


Not a problem...
I'm not responsible for the customers crap plumbing...


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## Plumber Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

I wasn't either, I told them i had no way of knowing what was hiding in those walls and ceilings.


Plumber Jim


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## Kyle181 (Sep 5, 2008)

i havent had problems with galvonized or cast but ive seemed to have an issue with pvc tubular a couple times, i sent my snake through a tubular waste and overflow and thought i cleared the line but really just sent 20' of snake into a dead space in a wall


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## Plumber Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

Kyle181 said:


> i havent had problems with galvonized or cast but ive seemed to have an issue with pvc tubular a couple times, i sent my snake through a tubular waste and overflow and thought i cleared the line but really just sent 20' of snake into a dead space in a wall


Eww. You have to love when someone uses a pvc tubular p-trap. hehe


PLumber Jim


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## cougfan (Jan 2, 2009)

Snaked out a quarter full tub in the second story and as the tub was draining the HO was screaming about water coming out of the light fixture,opened the ceiling and had poked the snake through a chrome p-trap Not alot of love shared as we played the blame game


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## Plumber Jim (Jun 19, 2008)

Not fun at all. did you finally get him to understand that is was not installed correctly? that you can conceal such a trap?


Plumber Jim


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## cougfan (Jan 2, 2009)

Yeah,they were pretty cool once the fix was made and they saw how much better the ABS glue trap was and cut them a little slack on the bill:thumbup: No one is happy when the light fixture is dumping water.Like I always say never any secrets in a house after the plumbers been there


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## Dr Steevil (Jan 25, 2009)

Wow, can't really top some of these, but I guess for me it had to be one where I thought I was powering through some mud (new house less than a month after closing - common problem). It was slow going, but I kept at it. The homeowner was standing there watching me and she says, "isn't that the end of your cable thingy over there?" Confused, I turned to see where she was pointing to see the end of the cable coming up out of the ground near the corner of her lot. I started laughing and she asked if that was a problem. I had to regain my composure and explain the reason I was laughing was that I had never seen that happen before, but yes indeed it was a problem, and worse one that I couldn't do anything about at that time.

Her lot was a corner lot and there was a brick and wrought iron fence bordering her property with the public easement along the side street. When they bored a hole in the ground for the column's footing, they hit the sewer line. Gotta love it when others break stuff and don't let anyone know.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

Dr Steevil said:


> Wow, can't really top some of these, but I guess for me it had to be one where I thought I was powering through some mud (new house less than a month after closing - common problem). It was slow going, but I kept at it. The homeowner was standing there watching me and she says, "isn't that the end of your cable thingy over there?" Confused, I turned to see where she was pointing to see the end of the cable coming up out of the ground near the corner of her lot. I started laughing and she asked if that was a problem. I had to regain my composure and explain the reason I was laughing was that I had never seen that happen before, but yes indeed it was a problem, and worse one that I couldn't do anything about at that time.
> 
> Her lot was a corner lot and there was a brick and wrought iron fence bordering her property with the public easement along the side street. When they bored a hole in the ground for the column's footing, they hit the sewer line. Gotta love it when others break stuff and don't let anyone know.


I had pretty much the same thing happen pushing a snake through a house trap in a dirt floor basement. I was a bit surprised when it came out of the dirt next to me...


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## Bollinger plumber (Apr 3, 2009)

when i was a helper in maryland i was helping a plumber snake out a main line. we had been at it for a while with no result. so we took a little break and after the break the plumber told me to go ahead and get some experience and run the machine. so iwent ahead and ran the machine for about five minutes when we heard a big crash. the home owner came in all ticked off. the snake had gone up the vent out the roof stack and came down and broke the window in her master bedroom. It took a while to calm her down but after we explained what happened she chilled and called her g c and got it straightened out.


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