Many Clogged Drains - Landlord Forum thread 351688

Many Clogged Drains by Jeff (CO) on April 16, 2017 @13:14

I have been averaging a clogged drain a week recently. I have to bring in the snake guys for kitchen sinks and bathroom showers and tubs.

It's getting annoying. My old policy was to charge these back to tenants when it's their fault, but it's not always easy to determine who's responsible.
Any thoughts?

Thanks.

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Re: Many Clogged Drains by Anonymous on April 16, 2017 @13:46	[ Reply ]

Who else would be clogging the drains?

Re: Many Clogged Drains

Re: Many Clogged Drains by Anonymous on April 16, 2017 @17:13	[ Reply ]

Are the snakes guys (plumbers) finding anything? Toys, grease, sanitary pads, wipes, food, etc.?

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Re: Many Clogged Drains by Katiekate (New York) on April 16, 2017 @19:47	[ Reply ]

I had these sort of problems with a particular group of students. I changed my lease. Now, during the move-in walk thru, the tenant verifies and signs the walk thru stating that all drain were open and draining freely. The lease contains a paragraph that states the tenant is solely responsible for maintaining the drains in working order...and must return the unit with all drains open and draining freely. I had a tenant call because a drain was clogged. I told them to call their own plumber and reminded them of the lease. I did once have a tenant claim it must be roots closing up a drain. I told them I would get my plumber out to verify that and fix it. But..if it wasn't the case...they would have to pay for both the plumber and my maintenance guy to accompany him. Tenant decided to call his own plumber...never heard a word about it later, Granted..this won't fix the problem now....but, in the future...put it in your lease. Just be sure you have the tenant sign the move in walk thru or they might claim it was that way when they moved in. Over the course of many years of being a landlord...my lease has gone from a simple 2 page 4 paragraph document to over 12 pages and 36 paragraphs. Every new situation, I learn something more to handle thru the lease.

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Re: Many Clogged Drains by Anonymous on April 17, 2017 @01:17	[ Reply ]

Had the same issue. Had the plumber camera my lines. Yup, roots in old orange clay pipe. Had to replace all the sewers. But have your guy run a camera down there and see if the lines are clear first. And if it's the toilet, pull it and root that line. Not just thru the drain.

Re: Many Clogged Drains by Anonymous on April 17, 2017 @10:37	[ Reply ]

To me it sounds like you need the main drain from the building to the street cleaned out as well. And as long as they are there have them run the camera through it for piece of mind.

Re: Many Clogged Drains by LL (CA) on April 17, 2017 @13:34	[ Reply ]

Had a similar problem with two different houses in two different cities. First house drains were backing up into downstairs tub. Had the lines snaked but nothing seemed to help. Called the city and they came out to inspect the lines at their end - yup, their lines were backed up causing the backup in my lines - should have spoken to the neighbors and would have found out they were having similar problems. City fixed it, haven't had a problem since. The other house - well, because of the previous house, called the city first. They were very obliging and checked the lines. What they found at the end of my line was a wad of paper towel the size of a baseball. Turned out the students in my house were using paper towel as toilet paper. They didn't admit to it at first but then fessed up. Like KatieKate I changed my leases after these experiences. I will certainly pay for cracked lines or tree root removal but clogging of drain lines by cooking oil, hygiene products, paper towel, hair, bottle caps (yes, had those)etc. is at the expense of the tenant. You have to draw a line somewhere.

Re: Many Clogged Drains by Ronald Ivy (NJ) on January 25, 2018 @04:19	[ Reply ]

Haven't you tried to consult a professional plumbing contractor before to get the issue solved easily? If not, then I would advise you to do that. A professional plumber knows everything about the plumbing facts and can help you in making the things go smooth. Some of the professionals I know are drain cleaning company NJ, Benmanish Plumbing who can help you in solving the problem of your clogged drain. Hope this can help you.