What type of company do I call for buried gutter drain pipe repair?

[The Composer]

We had a very rainy weekend, in fact, on Saturday alone we received about 5 inches of rain. As a consequence, some water seeped into my basement and wet some carpet.

To make a long story short, I believe my underground gutter drain pipes are clogged (after inspection on Sunday) and water backed up and poured down the foundation. What type of company do I call for the gutter drain line repair? Does Roto-Rooter do that kind of work? I've only thought of them as indoor plumbing or sewer work.

The buried pipe is the corrugated black pipe. I thought about renting a snake, but am unsure whether or not the snake would damage the pipe.

Any suggestions?

[Victor Frankenstein]

Yup. This is a job for a plumber. Roto-Rooter should be able to unclog it.

[Joey P]

Do you know where the pipe exits? Can you get at the exit? If you can, I would start with a flashlight and see if I could find the blockage. You might be able to reach up there with a stiff piece of wire and break the clog.

Also, if you know where the exit is, you might just want to put a garden hose in the down spout and see if it's flowing freely. Even if it's perfectly clear, 5 inches is ALOT of rain.

[KidVermicious]

Doesn't matter what your gutter is doing, water shouldn't make it through your foundation. You might want to call a home inspector to check that out, too.

[The Composer]

Originally Posted by Joey P

Do you know where the pipe exits? Can you get at the exit? If you can, I would start with a flashlight and see if I could find the blockage. You might be able to reach up there with a stiff piece of wire and break the clog.

Also, if you know where the exit is, you might just want to put a garden hose in the down spout and see if it's flowing freely. Even if it's perfectly clear, 5 inches is ALOT of rain.

I know where all the "daylight" exits are for the drains, and checked all of them. A few are blocked partially, and one is complete blocked. I was able to remove some debris and root growth from a couple of them, but the pipes are too long (probably 75-100ft) to check completely. I was able to run a hose in the gutter to check the flow (or lack of it). I have been in this house for a year, but the house was vacant and unmaintained for a year before that while it was on the market. This was one of those jobs I "was gonna get to." Unfortunately, I was too late.

[The Composer]

In case anyone was interested...

I patched a few holes (created by phone/cable/power companies drilling and installing various cables/lines) I found in the brick on the side of the house where the water came in by using a combination of expandable foam and silicone caulk made for brick/mortar.

A plumbing company unsuccessfully tried to use a motorized "snake" to clear the buried drain pipes. The pipes are corrugated black plastic, so the plumber was afraid to run the machine too forcefully in fear of damaging the pipes even more. He recommended (as did several online sites) that I replace the corrugated pipe with PVC. For now, I'm routing the flow over the ground and away from the foundation until I can repair the underground pipes.

I was able to dry my carpet and pad without pulling it up, but, there is a distinct "damp-used-to-be-wet" smell to it so I'll probably pull up the section that was wet and replace the pad and call a company to tack it all down again.

We had more rain the past two nights, but so far, no more water has seeped into the basement floor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I've fixed the problem.

Thanks again for the replies and advice.

[Rodak from Zortron]

If there aren't buried ultra deep they're usually installed by a landscape outfit. Having a plumber/roto rooter guy run a snake of some kind down in them might locate where the blockage is so you don't tear up much yard. Not the same as a household drain though service wise. Hmmm. You know for sure it's not in the downspout? The black pipe could have been crushed by grading and it's just stopped up with debris. Snake it and dig it up. Construction landscapers could probably do it. Good luck.

[Panacea]

The only other thing I can think of is a water jet that some sewer companies will use. If the pipe is close to the diameter of a smooth-walled pipe, you *might* be able to slip-line the old corrugated one with a rigid one.

[Dudley]

Wow. Spam with needle-point precision.

[The Composer]

Originally Posted by Dudley

Wow. Spam with needle-point precision.

For sure!

And, since this was resurrected, we eventually had to repair...no, ADD, the foundation drains. Apparently, the builder didn't do it correctly. And the previous owner of the house tried to fix the problem by pouring a concrete footer around the foundation wall.

Now that the foundation drains have been installed and the area around the house regraded, we've had no water problems.

Yay!

[Uthrecht]

Oh, that's exciting. The only thing better than a bad drainage problem is someone that came along and fixed it improperly. Glad to hear you got it sorted! Re-grading is usually the best option, although you don't always have enough room between houses to do it right in a suburban setting.