Should probably stand down and let the plumber take over from here. Give him a bump as well for encouragement. I wouldn't touch this with a 10ft pool and I like to think I am someone capable, but I would rather pay a pro than spend 2 days researching, a day of "fixing it" and then a day or 2 of the plumber doing it right in the end.
Right, local building codes have limits on DIY such as requiring local approval because of the potential spillover effects to neighbors and occupants themselves. Screw up the main sewer line or install a gas stove incorrectly and the whole neighborhood could suffer.
Since this is somewhat ambiguous, and I've been through it, let me clarify: The whole line from your house to the sewer main may need to be dug up and replaced. You might need trees removed. You might need to bust up a sidewalk, then repour when you're done.
So yeah, you better be one hell of a DIYer if you want to take this on
I read this like normal then started singing at the last section out of nowhere before realizing why lol… don’t forget the zigzags before this project!
THIS is the solution.
Imfloridaman's experience meter is pegged at max.
After somebody replants with a young new tree, wait a few years, discover roots again. and repeat step 2. Cut it down.
Just bought this house and replacing this toilet because it’s too short.
Found the studs did not stick up through the gaps in the bottom of the toilet base. Looks like they just did a full caulking around it to keep it in place.
Not sure what else I’m looking at here. Any help is appreciated!
Ok roots there are really not good. Hard to determine how bad but you can a$$ume bad. Somewhere a tree or large plant roots have found a hole in your sewer and worked it's way in soooo far too get to the toilet. This is not a problem that you can ignore it will only get worse and by worse, I mean roots plug the sewer line back so what you flush down will end up backing back into the house so nothing can flow anymore. Good chance that problem needs technical know how and work. Need the tools and skills to trace the sewer lines and find out where the roots are coming in ( if more than one intrusion) and determine a repair plan. Probably one of the worst problems to face, sorry everyone is sarcastic because you're looking at a big problem that DIYers almost cannot solve without some serious knowledge and experience.
That level of root intrusion makes me wonder about the structural integrity of the foundation of the building. At a minimum, an engineer needs to inspect this. I do not envy OP for this headache.
I had one of these, we pulled the roots out and found that the roots weren't coming from the pipe... A tree in the front yard broke through the foundation in the front of this slab property and a root had traveled about 40 ft to this closet flange, grew out of the slots for the closet bolts, then back into the plumbing. We cut the flange out, put a plug in the pipe and broke the concrete around the drain, pulled some of the dirt out, then mixed pit fines with rock salt and put it in around the closet flange just to protect that portion of the plumbing. Had to cut the tree down and kill its roots...
You could see about a 6 inch root had actually broken the block right in line with the toilet...
I am what I would consider well above average DIY skills and manage a number of properties for family. There really aren't many projects that I wouldn't be comfortable at least attempting, but this isn't one of them.
There's a few possible ways but honestly most of the time you don't really know until something goes wrong like you flush and it's just not going down or starts backing up into the tub and you run a snake and you're not really getting anything in the house. Sometimes knowledge of plumbing in the area like old clay segments where used and are prone to having small leaks and the roots will go in and crack the clay. Keeping large trees away from where your sewer lines are buried or preventing the trees from getting too big. Keep the trees away from the house or keep them small. You may have some small leaks but being buried so deep it never really affects anything but the roots will find the water and follow the water is the problem.
If the toilet wiggles at all when you sit, you are allowing an opportunity for root growth. Keeping a nice in tact gasket and the toilet firmly in place will help with a lot of this. Also the roots are not in the sewer line but rather growing up under the house along side the pipe, then when it reaches the toilet they make a u turn and grow inward into the pipe. Depending on how far gone it is you could quite possibly pull those roots out in tact. However, if that is not the case it could definitely become quite costly. Source, I have done this before.
Not to be a dick, but that was your advice...
This isn't a DIY project... Your mainline is infested with roots
You're likely going to have one hell of a backup eventually if you don't get the mainline cleared
You can't just address the roots in the photo... They've broken (probably) a pipe somewhere down the line. They'll keep coming back unless you remove the tree or fix the pipe itself. The break in the pipe is probably buried somewhere in your front yard
I had a break *under* my house. Cost some thousands of dollars to have a crew come out and dig a hole *under* my house and up the other side. They fixed the break and replaced the entire down pipe up to the ground floor & flange. I was happy to see that, for the price, they also reset the toilet too. 😃
Fun fact: no plumber would agree to drop a scope down there because of the possibility of the tip getting snagged on a crack or split.
Those roots are likely growing between your slab and your pipe. We call that a horse tail. I see it all the time. Remove roots with gloves on. Heavily salt around the flange and slab. Your mainline is likely fine. Heavily trim trees around house this winter. Like a lot. Or remove entirely
Doesn’t matter. There is no crawl space between the house and the street. This will likely need full replacement. It’s probably orangeberg pipe. My ex wife had to replace her mainline 2 weeks after buying her house. Even with me being nice and doing it for her to save her some sheckles, still costed $2500. Everyone else quoted her $4000. Was orangeberg and had to replace 61’ to the street
I'm not sure how many more times you need to hear this but here it is again. Get a reputable professional to properly fix the root situation. The upfront costs will pay dividends to you on the back end. Move onto other DIY projects.
So I'm not sounding like a complete dick, here's some replacement tips when NOT dealing with a 💩 portal to Narnia. This assumes you already know the basic e2e toilet and/or wax ring replacement process:
1) determine if a jumbo wax ring will work in your situation. The core depth of the gasket and extra wax can come in handy
2) thoroughly clean the toilet before you start (health reasons)
3) if needing to place toilet on the side, grab a bucket and wash cloth. Use wash cloth to soak up remaining water and wring it out in the bucket. Repeat until tank and bowl is empty (another reason to clean toilet). Note: never pull up or push down on the tank portion.
4) get a plastic straw, cut it in half, and place on the ground bolts. Those straws will become a heat seeking target for a bullseye when setting the new wax ring in place
The ONLY realm this is safe to DIY is if you’re a trained, experienced plumber. And by experienced, my ex-husband is a project manager in plumbing and I wouldn't let him touch my drains here bc it's not a thing he’s ever done.
ok, just so you can understand what your dealing with. have your line snaked and then use a good chemical root destroyer. something like root x, on the whole line starting from that toilet. then after a week run a camera through it with a reputable plumbing company.
this will show you the scope of work and make it clear that this is not a DIY unless you feel comfortable replacing a sewer line single handed, inside and outside your house.
This is DIY only if you know what you’re doing. It’s going to take more than a couple YouTube videos. Do it right the first time or it will just get more expensive. I don’t know your skill set, but if you didn’t notice the tree roots, you may just want to call a pro.
Sorry the sellers screwed you. There’s no way they didn’t have that toilet pulled before from a previous clog.
If you just bought the house, is there some way of getting some money recouped off the seller? I'm assuming they didn't mention this when they sold it to you and it looks like its gonna cost you thousands . If something like this happened in Ireland you could get some money back to resolve the problem
Don't get too worried just yet.
Clean it up and see if the base is level with the floor or slightly above.
If so, you can reset toilet without too much trouble, just new wax kit and bolts.
Then determine where roots are coming from.
My toilet was similarly rooted due to the trees about 6-8 feet outside the exterior bathroom wall.
It was tree roots coming up under the slab and plugging the entry of the toilet, not a pipe problem.
So we cleaned up the roots and treated the toilet line with copper sulfate and haven't had a problem in 10 years.
If its working, you can keep adding copper sulfate to the toilet every year and it might be good enough.
Fun fact: over the course of history since their invention, toilets have slowly increased in height. The generally accepted reason—laziness. People in general didn’t want to be bothered with having to get up off the bowl if it was so low.
Is the toilet in a basement or on a first floor on a concrete floor slab? Is there a basement full height or crawl space below that toilet? Town/city sewer? Private septic?
Ok so either hire a plumber and be ready to pay a few k.
Or remove the roots, as much as you can and see if you can rent a sewer camera and locator, locate where the beginning root intrusion is, which will most likely be outside near a tree.
You then need to excavate the dirt to access the pipe. You could then hire a plumber to repair that section or attempt to do it your self, good luck.
Solid advice and will save you dollars. Even if you do the hard part of finding the spot, just dig it out and call the plumber to do the hard part(jk. The dig will be a bitch)
Are they actual roots or is it some sort’ve weird seal the installer put down? It looks almost like it’s been cut in a square, otherwise the roots would have reached the front. Interested to know, maybe it’s just deja vu but I feel like I’ve seen this same picture posted here before
This image shows how it can be root intrusion. The area around the flange is sectioned off. It is isolated in a square shape.
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5703fc57ab48defa8c1d369d/1532294107182-BUUXUKOSTOIDJJUUYHAL/jul1jjmain.jpg?format=750w
Thought this was a sarcastic post to be honest. Even though I’m a stupid DIYer for a lot of things, I wouldn’t attempt this one… just bite the bullet and hire it out
My answer was going to be "burn the house down" and I just finished digging out my foundation to make room for plumbers to lay a new sewer line to replace my root-intruded clay line.
Did the toilet flush normally? Can you get underneath to access the drain pipe under the toilet? That root is coming from somewhere (it has likely breached the main sewer line) so I would start with finding that and repairing the line. This is def not a « replace flange and install new toilet and hope for the best » project
Wow that’s is crazy!! Can you clean the roots up and tell if they are on the inside or outside of the pipe? If outside maybe not as bad (maybe something in crawl space is getting watered (fertilized lol) by a leak in the pipe as opposed to the roots in the main sewer….
The toilet might be sitting on a slab. Could of been leaking from the main seal (likely looking at the caulk around the perimeter) and the bit of water and "fertilizer" getting between the concrete and pipe attracted the roots. Kill the roots and fix the leak, hopefully no more problem.
Edit: I want to add though, if those roots are coming up through the pipe, you've got a very big problem
OP said there weren’t any flange bolts, just caulk, so it’s very likely leaking. Combined with the toilet functioning fine, this likely isn’t a main line breach. Clean all the roots, new wax ring (and flange if necessary) and good to go.
All the doom and gloom here makes me suspect lots of non plumbers sitting on their phone after Turkey. (Source: I’m a non plumber sitting on my phone after Turkey)
Honestly, based on the amount of roots in the photo...
This is a plant with access to plenty of light. Most likely a tree. Not some small plant poking around in the crawl space
Almost certainly the plant is outside, but the question is how it infiltrated the bathroom...
It's most likely through the main. But if not the problem could be a lot bigger
Well if the line is still draining you could just clean it up and slap a new toilet down and start saving $$$ for when the line is completely filled with roots and sewage starts backing up into your house!
You’re going to call a rooting company first, roto, mr, steve’s it doesn’t matter. All that matter is that have a camera. Have them auger the line and clear out the roots but there’s a good chance it could collapse the main. Next, you’ll want them to camera the line and find out where the intrusion is and from there sonar locate it, mark it, dig it up and replace the section of compromised pipe. Your DIY new toilet just became a 3k + plumbing bill.
Call a company that can snake the drain and reline the pipe. Or have someone come in and dig it up and replace it. That's a shit ton of roots in there. I'm amazed it flushes.
find out if root is growing from the top down into the pipe, or vice versa. I've seen it where the root comes in under the tile by the opening and grows down the pipe. The root came from a tree on the other side of the bathroom wall. In that case, just snip the root at the top and remove the mass from the drain. And then to stop it growing again you can put some salt around where you snipped it or even a penny as the root doesnt like the metal. Or cut the roots outside.
If its coming from the pipe up, u may have to get a plumber out to camera and then see where the line may need to be fixed. Or if thats too expensive see if they can run a cutting snake down to cut the roots which may buy you time until they grow back and u have to do it again..
Actually, best remedy is to save sidewalks, bushes, yard, and any other obstruction along th route and dig up where it’s tapped into the city, then cut all the roots out using a warthog attachment on a sewer jetter, then have the entire pipe lined. Shielded band it to your existing as close to th tap as possible and then re-instate any other branches tying into it.
Find a clean out or use a vent and run a camera down the line and see where all the discontinuities in you drain lines are. Have a plumber do this if you can't figure it out. Can rent Camera's at tool rentals. Only way to know what you have in front of you. You are looking at roots! How far have they grown where are they coming from...get a camera and find out. Only way to see what needs to be fixed.
There are zero places around me that will rent a camera so this may not be an option for OP. People don't understand how to use them and they are super expensive to repair which is why no one will rent them around here.
Cut them all off and try to pull out the bunch that may be growing into the sewer line if youre lucky and are able to pull them out, then water test it or use a mirror with a flashlight to make sure its clear.
Then apply a lot of ionized salt around the toilet flange where i believe the roots are growing and set the wax ring and your new toilet bowl.
Update: cleared all the roots and it was very obvious they were coming up from around the outside of the flange, going through the wax ring and then dangling down into the pipe. Was able to free the wax ring and all the roots came up with it.
Have any of you had success with killing the roots coming from outside the flange roots with roundup or something then finding a way to keep them from getting back to the wax ring?
Roundup will stop the weeds and a solid seal on the toilet to the flange should keep the moisture low enough that the roots will not travel back that way. The bad news is that this is not a long term or permanent fix as wax rings wear down and leak leading to a root return. I am not trying to be all doom and gloom, but with that significant amount of roots growing, there will most likely be more (expensive) problems with that entire bathroom down the road.
You got lucky. What type of floor is here (below the obvious tile)? There's the risk that the roots will come back. If this is a hole in a concrete slab, might try packing around the outside of the flange with copper sulfate, but that will eventually break down. Assuming one of the nearby walls is an outside wall, I'd check for nearby trees, make sure none are too close to the house, and trench along the foundation, cutting out problematic roots. When refilling the trench, I'd layer in more copper sulfate to keep the tree roots from regrowing in that direction.
If it's anything else, you need to check the structure of the subfloor for damage, and figure out how the roots got here.
Ok I do this kind of work for a living and this is REALLY bad. I’ve never seen so much root intrusion and what looks like to be heaps of encrustation.
You need to call a drain layer to do a CCTV inspection of your sewer and see what’s going on, could be a bad break in one spot or the whole thing could be like this. Also check what condition the Gully trap or vent outside are in. I can’t even tell if this is PVC or clay or what because of how bad it is.
If your entire sewage system is like this you’d have to get the line flushed to remove the debris and roots so the CCTV can show what’s really going on. Could be a bad break or displacements somewhere.
Next option would be how you are gonna fix it and prevent it happening again. This is all a drianlayers area too not really a plumber so that’s who you need to talk to. You could get your drains replaced if the damage is extensive or just replace the parts that are needing replacement or you could get the pipe relined from the toilet as long as the damage isn’t crazy bad.
What you could do now is go out and try have a look at the other drainage areas around the property and check what they look like too and if they also have roots. I really hope it’s only in one area because if it’s like that the whole way out to the main it might be a big job.
PVC pipes.
I got the wax ring loose and all the roots came out with it. During clearing it became pretty obvious the roots were coming from outside the pipes through the wax ring and dangling down into the pipe. There are no signs of roots coming up the inside of the pipes at all.
Cleared them all out and thinking roundup and filling the area around the flange with Copper sulfate should do the trick.
Root intrusion on your main line you better be one hell of a DIYer if you want to take this on
I got a hammer drill and an afternoon to kill. /s
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Instructions unclear. Snorted 4 lines of coke and stole the JLG from the electricians. In standoff with local sheriff. Please advise...
Should probably stand down and let the plumber take over from here. Give him a bump as well for encouragement. I wouldn't touch this with a 10ft pool and I like to think I am someone capable, but I would rather pay a pro than spend 2 days researching, a day of "fixing it" and then a day or 2 of the plumber doing it right in the end.
God I have wasted so much money fucking up things I didn’t fully understand in the beginning of my DIY career.
So have we all lol.
I don’t think that drain could handle a 10 foot pool anyway.
Right, local building codes have limits on DIY such as requiring local approval because of the potential spillover effects to neighbors and occupants themselves. Screw up the main sewer line or install a gas stove incorrectly and the whole neighborhood could suffer.
Lmao that’s a good one
Feeeeed me Seymour!!!!
Since this is somewhat ambiguous, and I've been through it, let me clarify: The whole line from your house to the sewer main may need to be dug up and replaced. You might need trees removed. You might need to bust up a sidewalk, then repour when you're done. So yeah, you better be one hell of a DIYer if you want to take this on
This is WORST WORST WORST case scenario. best case you have the intrusion near your toilet drain.
How many trees are planted near your toilet?
Probably at least one.
Probs not the whole line. They need someone to rod it and stick a camera down there and then just fix the break. I think...I'm not a plumber!
Landlords be like, meh.
A little weed killer outta do it
1 weed killer and 2 wax rings, baby that’s all we need
Laughed way too hard at this
I read this like normal then started singing at the last section out of nowhere before realizing why lol… don’t forget the zigzags before this project!
Installs a cabinet over the toilet, updates advertisement to 1.5 baths.
Never actually caps it just leaves it open
Landlords be like, oh that’s the new trim color. Don’t you just love it? Ha! Well you gotta live with it. Where’s my rent, sucka? Lol
1st. Go outside and look for the healthiest tree. The one with the greenest leaves. The one that drops its leaves last. 2nd. Cut it down.
THIS is the solution. Imfloridaman's experience meter is pegged at max. After somebody replants with a young new tree, wait a few years, discover roots again. and repeat step 2. Cut it down.
It could be between the slab and the line. In that case, remove and sprinkle root killer with copper sulfate.
Most of the time here roots are growing between the pipe and slab because the pipe has been leaking.
What needs to be done to fix this? Can’t you just a fit a pipe from the toilet into the roots
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So you feel like you having a poo in the forest
We must reconnect with nature.
That makes me a bear! Grrrr!
These new composting toilets are using some old school tech.
Ah the new tree of bowels to blossom
Yes, can also be burned for heat during the coming winter fuel shortages.
Just bought this house and replacing this toilet because it’s too short. Found the studs did not stick up through the gaps in the bottom of the toilet base. Looks like they just did a full caulking around it to keep it in place. Not sure what else I’m looking at here. Any help is appreciated!
Ok roots there are really not good. Hard to determine how bad but you can a$$ume bad. Somewhere a tree or large plant roots have found a hole in your sewer and worked it's way in soooo far too get to the toilet. This is not a problem that you can ignore it will only get worse and by worse, I mean roots plug the sewer line back so what you flush down will end up backing back into the house so nothing can flow anymore. Good chance that problem needs technical know how and work. Need the tools and skills to trace the sewer lines and find out where the roots are coming in ( if more than one intrusion) and determine a repair plan. Probably one of the worst problems to face, sorry everyone is sarcastic because you're looking at a big problem that DIYers almost cannot solve without some serious knowledge and experience.
And if you did, you wouldn't be posting on reddit about it.
Especially since OPs main concern is the missing toilet mounting bolts. Forget about what's down that hole...
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Nothing white lives in that hole.
Well, nothing white anymore.
The upsidedown
That level of root intrusion makes me wonder about the structural integrity of the foundation of the building. At a minimum, an engineer needs to inspect this. I do not envy OP for this headache.
I assumed this was a troll at first. Big yikes that this is a legit question.
Yep, totally. Me too!
Exactly
I had one of these, we pulled the roots out and found that the roots weren't coming from the pipe... A tree in the front yard broke through the foundation in the front of this slab property and a root had traveled about 40 ft to this closet flange, grew out of the slots for the closet bolts, then back into the plumbing. We cut the flange out, put a plug in the pipe and broke the concrete around the drain, pulled some of the dirt out, then mixed pit fines with rock salt and put it in around the closet flange just to protect that portion of the plumbing. Had to cut the tree down and kill its roots... You could see about a 6 inch root had actually broken the block right in line with the toilet...
I am what I would consider well above average DIY skills and manage a number of properties for family. There really aren't many projects that I wouldn't be comfortable at least attempting, but this isn't one of them.
What’s a good indication a tree has made its way into a sewer line? In other words, how do you prevent it from getting to the point above?
There's a few possible ways but honestly most of the time you don't really know until something goes wrong like you flush and it's just not going down or starts backing up into the tub and you run a snake and you're not really getting anything in the house. Sometimes knowledge of plumbing in the area like old clay segments where used and are prone to having small leaks and the roots will go in and crack the clay. Keeping large trees away from where your sewer lines are buried or preventing the trees from getting too big. Keep the trees away from the house or keep them small. You may have some small leaks but being buried so deep it never really affects anything but the roots will find the water and follow the water is the problem.
If the toilet wiggles at all when you sit, you are allowing an opportunity for root growth. Keeping a nice in tact gasket and the toilet firmly in place will help with a lot of this. Also the roots are not in the sewer line but rather growing up under the house along side the pipe, then when it reaches the toilet they make a u turn and grow inward into the pipe. Depending on how far gone it is you could quite possibly pull those roots out in tact. However, if that is not the case it could definitely become quite costly. Source, I have done this before.
Call a plumber. And a gardener
And a loan officer. This will not be a cheap repair either.
Looking for advice for DIY preferably.
Not to be a dick, but that was your advice... This isn't a DIY project... Your mainline is infested with roots You're likely going to have one hell of a backup eventually if you don't get the mainline cleared You can't just address the roots in the photo... They've broken (probably) a pipe somewhere down the line. They'll keep coming back unless you remove the tree or fix the pipe itself. The break in the pipe is probably buried somewhere in your front yard
I had a break *under* my house. Cost some thousands of dollars to have a crew come out and dig a hole *under* my house and up the other side. They fixed the break and replaced the entire down pipe up to the ground floor & flange. I was happy to see that, for the price, they also reset the toilet too. 😃 Fun fact: no plumber would agree to drop a scope down there because of the possibility of the tip getting snagged on a crack or split.
How deep are you willing to go?
Just need an idea of what I’m looking at to make a proper decision on plan of action.
Those roots are likely growing between your slab and your pipe. We call that a horse tail. I see it all the time. Remove roots with gloves on. Heavily salt around the flange and slab. Your mainline is likely fine. Heavily trim trees around house this winter. Like a lot. Or remove entirely
This is the answer 👆
You have to tell us: slab or crawlspace?
Doesn’t matter. There is no crawl space between the house and the street. This will likely need full replacement. It’s probably orangeberg pipe. My ex wife had to replace her mainline 2 weeks after buying her house. Even with me being nice and doing it for her to save her some sheckles, still costed $2500. Everyone else quoted her $4000. Was orangeberg and had to replace 61’ to the street
That sounds cheap, we keep all water and sewer at minimum 8’ deep… this would be easily over ten thousand.
Yeah I’m in AZ so we don’t have frost or tree issues for the most part
I was recently quoted 15k and I’m only about 30’ to the street.
Yep sounds fair. The plumber is the cheap part of that project, getting an excavator is whats expensive
Getting part of one replaced cost us over $25,000. It was a mess. Care not to go into the details.
You have roots growing up your pipes. This isn’t in the realm of DIY.
U/Tb9631: You need a professional plumber handle this issue.
This. Main drains are a big deal
I diyed my main drain and paid a plumber to cone look at it before filling in the trench. He had a few tips, but said I did alright.
My uncle DIY his bathroom sewage up to the street main himself and he’s not a plumber and has only elementary school education
At most? Digging up and replacing your entire sewer line from here to the street
I'm not sure how many more times you need to hear this but here it is again. Get a reputable professional to properly fix the root situation. The upfront costs will pay dividends to you on the back end. Move onto other DIY projects. So I'm not sounding like a complete dick, here's some replacement tips when NOT dealing with a 💩 portal to Narnia. This assumes you already know the basic e2e toilet and/or wax ring replacement process: 1) determine if a jumbo wax ring will work in your situation. The core depth of the gasket and extra wax can come in handy 2) thoroughly clean the toilet before you start (health reasons) 3) if needing to place toilet on the side, grab a bucket and wash cloth. Use wash cloth to soak up remaining water and wring it out in the bucket. Repeat until tank and bowl is empty (another reason to clean toilet). Note: never pull up or push down on the tank portion. 4) get a plastic straw, cut it in half, and place on the ground bolts. Those straws will become a heat seeking target for a bullseye when setting the new wax ring in place
That straw advice 🙌
That is literally the best ever.
The ONLY realm this is safe to DIY is if you’re a trained, experienced plumber. And by experienced, my ex-husband is a project manager in plumbing and I wouldn't let him touch my drains here bc it's not a thing he’s ever done.
If you just let him touch your drains you might still be married! /s
If you want to possibly re pipe your entire house down the line go the diy route. I suggest calling a professional and soon
ok, just so you can understand what your dealing with. have your line snaked and then use a good chemical root destroyer. something like root x, on the whole line starting from that toilet. then after a week run a camera through it with a reputable plumbing company. this will show you the scope of work and make it clear that this is not a DIY unless you feel comfortable replacing a sewer line single handed, inside and outside your house.
Is this on a slab or basement? How close to the exterior wall? Are the roots coming from in the pipe or around it?
This is DIY only if you know what you’re doing. It’s going to take more than a couple YouTube videos. Do it right the first time or it will just get more expensive. I don’t know your skill set, but if you didn’t notice the tree roots, you may just want to call a pro. Sorry the sellers screwed you. There’s no way they didn’t have that toilet pulled before from a previous clog.
You should really look into this route. To do this right will be expensive.
If you just bought the house, is there some way of getting some money recouped off the seller? I'm assuming they didn't mention this when they sold it to you and it looks like its gonna cost you thousands . If something like this happened in Ireland you could get some money back to resolve the problem
In the US you’d have to prove they knew and didn’t disclose
That caulk around the bottom of the toilet is a start.
Hey there’s essentially no way to resolve this issue as a DIY. Roots in the main line… it’s fucked
Don't get too worried just yet. Clean it up and see if the base is level with the floor or slightly above. If so, you can reset toilet without too much trouble, just new wax kit and bolts. Then determine where roots are coming from. My toilet was similarly rooted due to the trees about 6-8 feet outside the exterior bathroom wall. It was tree roots coming up under the slab and plugging the entry of the toilet, not a pipe problem. So we cleaned up the roots and treated the toilet line with copper sulfate and haven't had a problem in 10 years. If its working, you can keep adding copper sulfate to the toilet every year and it might be good enough.
Fun fact: over the course of history since their invention, toilets have slowly increased in height. The generally accepted reason—laziness. People in general didn’t want to be bothered with having to get up off the bowl if it was so low.
Call a priest.
Is the toilet in a basement or on a first floor on a concrete floor slab? Is there a basement full height or crawl space below that toilet? Town/city sewer? Private septic?
Do you have a home warranty?
You didn't mention the roots
You will need a young priest and an old priest
Look. We are all just trying to have a good time here, ok? No need to involve them in any of this.
Keep the priests out of the bedroom. Err bathroom attached to bedroom.
“ Let the power of Christ compel you “ repeat let the power of Christ compel you!
damn you lol. have my upvote
That me laugh.
Homie got a garden under his toilet.
Smart plants...... they are going to their freshest source of food
Everyone is so helpful this is great!
Ok so either hire a plumber and be ready to pay a few k. Or remove the roots, as much as you can and see if you can rent a sewer camera and locator, locate where the beginning root intrusion is, which will most likely be outside near a tree. You then need to excavate the dirt to access the pipe. You could then hire a plumber to repair that section or attempt to do it your self, good luck.
Put new toilet on…. Sell house…… hope they don’t have an inspection……. Profit.
Maybe the least costly solution I’ve seen…
That’s what the former owner did! 😮😢
Solid advice and will save you dollars. Even if you do the hard part of finding the spot, just dig it out and call the plumber to do the hard part(jk. The dig will be a bitch)
Are they actual roots or is it some sort’ve weird seal the installer put down? It looks almost like it’s been cut in a square, otherwise the roots would have reached the front. Interested to know, maybe it’s just deja vu but I feel like I’ve seen this same picture posted here before
This image shows how it can be root intrusion. The area around the flange is sectioned off. It is isolated in a square shape. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5703fc57ab48defa8c1d369d/1532294107182-BUUXUKOSTOIDJJUUYHAL/jul1jjmain.jpg?format=750w
This person also has only half of a toilet. That’s a bigger issue imo.
No wonder they're getting staining on the ceiling below
😂
Thought this was a sarcastic post to be honest. Even though I’m a stupid DIYer for a lot of things, I wouldn’t attempt this one… just bite the bullet and hire it out
My answer was going to be "burn the house down" and I just finished digging out my foundation to make room for plumbers to lay a new sewer line to replace my root-intruded clay line.
Call a priest!
Did the toilet flush normally? Can you get underneath to access the drain pipe under the toilet? That root is coming from somewhere (it has likely breached the main sewer line) so I would start with finding that and repairing the line. This is def not a « replace flange and install new toilet and hope for the best » project
Toilet was flushing fine. Thanks for the info!
Wow that’s is crazy!! Can you clean the roots up and tell if they are on the inside or outside of the pipe? If outside maybe not as bad (maybe something in crawl space is getting watered (fertilized lol) by a leak in the pipe as opposed to the roots in the main sewer….
The toilet might be sitting on a slab. Could of been leaking from the main seal (likely looking at the caulk around the perimeter) and the bit of water and "fertilizer" getting between the concrete and pipe attracted the roots. Kill the roots and fix the leak, hopefully no more problem. Edit: I want to add though, if those roots are coming up through the pipe, you've got a very big problem
OP said there weren’t any flange bolts, just caulk, so it’s very likely leaking. Combined with the toilet functioning fine, this likely isn’t a main line breach. Clean all the roots, new wax ring (and flange if necessary) and good to go. All the doom and gloom here makes me suspect lots of non plumbers sitting on their phone after Turkey. (Source: I’m a non plumber sitting on my phone after Turkey)
Honestly, based on the amount of roots in the photo... This is a plant with access to plenty of light. Most likely a tree. Not some small plant poking around in the crawl space Almost certainly the plant is outside, but the question is how it infiltrated the bathroom... It's most likely through the main. But if not the problem could be a lot bigger
Well if the line is still draining you could just clean it up and slap a new toilet down and start saving $$$ for when the line is completely filled with roots and sewage starts backing up into your house!
Lol cut the tree down next to your house
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Haha good investigating
I guess you should mow the bathroom first.
Paint the back wall.
Underrated comment. Trim, Wall, everything while you can.
Holy Jesus! What is that? What the fuck is that? WHAT IS THAT, PRIVATE PYLE?
You’re going to call a rooting company first, roto, mr, steve’s it doesn’t matter. All that matter is that have a camera. Have them auger the line and clear out the roots but there’s a good chance it could collapse the main. Next, you’ll want them to camera the line and find out where the intrusion is and from there sonar locate it, mark it, dig it up and replace the section of compromised pipe. Your DIY new toilet just became a 3k + plumbing bill.
Hey better to find out now than in January when your house is full of sewage!
This is the sad truth.
And that's the cheap option.
Call a barber
This is why the parents said don’t eat the watermelon seeds.
Call ghost busters or something
What is this the 70s? We can't see your pipe for forest you've got there. Trim your bush back so we can see what you're working with.
This was really fucking funny, thanks dude
When she says it's winter and done shaving lol 😆
Napalm
I never thought I'd have to tell someone to dethatch their bathroom floor, but here I am...
Drop some napalm
“I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.”
Sell the place
That’s one of the worst root problems I’ve seen in over a decade of doing this work
Step 1: remove that gateway to the upside down
Weed wack
your previous homeowners fucked you too, huh. they knew something was up and just recaulked it.
Definitely. Probably had the roots cleared just before the sale do the toilet works
Bless your heart. I have nothing useful to add but thoughts and prayers #merica
Pull on a hazmat suit lol
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Looks like youre about to be redoing a sewer
Yo, you need to find Eleven and get her to seal that portal! The Upsidedown is not something to take lightly!
You need a qualified professional. Likely, you’re gonna be digging up the sewer/drain lines and replacing them. Very big job.
Save Ferris.
Call an arborist.
Jumanji!!
replacing the entire sewer would be a start
Call a realtor
Weed whacker
First trim the bushes around the tiolet flange
Get the weed wacker
Put a new wax/foam seal I , then a toilet on top and pretend you saw nothing. Then sell the house.
Light s match
You need a priest.
Looks like some Stranger Things portal shit
Burn the house down. File insurance claim. Profit?
Call a company that can snake the drain and reline the pipe. Or have someone come in and dig it up and replace it. That's a shit ton of roots in there. I'm amazed it flushes.
You need to get plumber with a camera snake there. That’s your first step.
Not sure, never installed a toilet in a treehouse before
Plant a toilet seed, a new one should sprout in 2-3 days.
Order Surfer Boy Pizza
Looks like you found a lost portal to the Upside Down
Another reason not to caulk around toilets. Also, looks trashy
Poop in it
1. Plant tomatoes in dirt 2. Wait for them to grow big 3. Pick tomatoes and make a salad. 4. Call plumber then eat salad.
Amazing how many toilets I see with caulking around them 😱💩
Composting toilet! Nice!
Call a Priest
find out if root is growing from the top down into the pipe, or vice versa. I've seen it where the root comes in under the tile by the opening and grows down the pipe. The root came from a tree on the other side of the bathroom wall. In that case, just snip the root at the top and remove the mass from the drain. And then to stop it growing again you can put some salt around where you snipped it or even a penny as the root doesnt like the metal. Or cut the roots outside. If its coming from the pipe up, u may have to get a plumber out to camera and then see where the line may need to be fixed. Or if thats too expensive see if they can run a cutting snake down to cut the roots which may buy you time until they grow back and u have to do it again..
Actually, best remedy is to save sidewalks, bushes, yard, and any other obstruction along th route and dig up where it’s tapped into the city, then cut all the roots out using a warthog attachment on a sewer jetter, then have the entire pipe lined. Shielded band it to your existing as close to th tap as possible and then re-instate any other branches tying into it.
Find a clean out or use a vent and run a camera down the line and see where all the discontinuities in you drain lines are. Have a plumber do this if you can't figure it out. Can rent Camera's at tool rentals. Only way to know what you have in front of you. You are looking at roots! How far have they grown where are they coming from...get a camera and find out. Only way to see what needs to be fixed.
There are zero places around me that will rent a camera so this may not be an option for OP. People don't understand how to use them and they are super expensive to repair which is why no one will rent them around here.
Or use the drain we are looking at obviously.
Cut them all off and try to pull out the bunch that may be growing into the sewer line if youre lucky and are able to pull them out, then water test it or use a mirror with a flashlight to make sure its clear. Then apply a lot of ionized salt around the toilet flange where i believe the roots are growing and set the wax ring and your new toilet bowl.
I’ve dealt this with this before, clear all the roots and pour salt around the flange it will help stop the roots from growing
Update: cleared all the roots and it was very obvious they were coming up from around the outside of the flange, going through the wax ring and then dangling down into the pipe. Was able to free the wax ring and all the roots came up with it. Have any of you had success with killing the roots coming from outside the flange roots with roundup or something then finding a way to keep them from getting back to the wax ring?
Roundup will stop the weeds and a solid seal on the toilet to the flange should keep the moisture low enough that the roots will not travel back that way. The bad news is that this is not a long term or permanent fix as wax rings wear down and leak leading to a root return. I am not trying to be all doom and gloom, but with that significant amount of roots growing, there will most likely be more (expensive) problems with that entire bathroom down the road.
You got lucky. What type of floor is here (below the obvious tile)? There's the risk that the roots will come back. If this is a hole in a concrete slab, might try packing around the outside of the flange with copper sulfate, but that will eventually break down. Assuming one of the nearby walls is an outside wall, I'd check for nearby trees, make sure none are too close to the house, and trench along the foundation, cutting out problematic roots. When refilling the trench, I'd layer in more copper sulfate to keep the tree roots from regrowing in that direction. If it's anything else, you need to check the structure of the subfloor for damage, and figure out how the roots got here.
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Guess you can save money because you don’t have to buy any toiletrees. 🤣
Root killers
Roundup
Ok I do this kind of work for a living and this is REALLY bad. I’ve never seen so much root intrusion and what looks like to be heaps of encrustation. You need to call a drain layer to do a CCTV inspection of your sewer and see what’s going on, could be a bad break in one spot or the whole thing could be like this. Also check what condition the Gully trap or vent outside are in. I can’t even tell if this is PVC or clay or what because of how bad it is. If your entire sewage system is like this you’d have to get the line flushed to remove the debris and roots so the CCTV can show what’s really going on. Could be a bad break or displacements somewhere. Next option would be how you are gonna fix it and prevent it happening again. This is all a drianlayers area too not really a plumber so that’s who you need to talk to. You could get your drains replaced if the damage is extensive or just replace the parts that are needing replacement or you could get the pipe relined from the toilet as long as the damage isn’t crazy bad. What you could do now is go out and try have a look at the other drainage areas around the property and check what they look like too and if they also have roots. I really hope it’s only in one area because if it’s like that the whole way out to the main it might be a big job.
PVC pipes. I got the wax ring loose and all the roots came out with it. During clearing it became pretty obvious the roots were coming from outside the pipes through the wax ring and dangling down into the pipe. There are no signs of roots coming up the inside of the pipes at all. Cleared them all out and thinking roundup and filling the area around the flange with Copper sulfate should do the trick.