Sewer clogs are a common occurrence, identifying the cause is important to avoid future back ups. A doctors office in Park Slope began experiencing sewage backups that were getting increasingly worse over time. They began by snaking the sewer, then jetting the sewer to finally determine that the pipe was broken. Their general plumber utilized a camera on the inside of the pipe. The video displayed several sections of the pipe broken. In addition, the pipe had a back pitch which was not allowing the sewer to flow on gravity.
We were notified that the primary issue was below the sidewalk and they were not completely sure if the remainder of the pipe was broken. For this reason we had to begin with the repair below the sidewalk and replaced the pipe from the building, to the curb on the first day of work.
When we were working below the sidewalk we became aware that pipe below the roadway was damaged. We were now required to excavate the roadway with a backhoe all the way to the city sewer. The excavation was completed at a depth of twelve feet and spanned twenty feet into the roadway. Due to the heavy traffic on the two way street, we were required to have two flagmen navigating traffic at all times.
When working below ground, we quickly became aware that there was a second city sewer on the opposite side of the street. One would think that our building was connected to the nearest city sewer. When working in the streets of NYC you never know what you will find! In this scenario it is possible that the closer sewer was installed after our building was built.
If we were required to install the new sewer from across the street, the installation would double in price. We notified the property owner of our findings and continued to excavate. After a few hours we were happy to see that the sewer was connected where we expected. The installation was completed on schedule and our customer was now ready to be back in business!
