# is it ever acceptable for sewer line to run up hill?



## nickko (Nov 11, 2012)

i know. its a dumb question but i have to ask it. I bought a house by my house and the seller had to have the sewer line re done. i am having problems with water and have called the guy who sent his employees to do the sewer line. i can't get any satisfaction from the guy. 
the yard is still dug up from November and his contract said he would put three drains in the basement and he only put two.

he said he will make it right when he has time and i need to quit bugging him about it it has been eight months now. any way i had a guy come over and camera the drains and saw that he hit a downspout drain and never fixed it. i have been having water back up the drain since he did the job and he told me his employees hooked it back up but the camera proved otherwise.

then we ran the camera up his new sewer and found that from the house out ten feet the camera was under water, proving that it ran back to the house.
the reason i ask the question is it ever acceptable for a sewer drain to run up hill, even slightly is i think i am going to sue the guy and i wanted to be sure about everything before i go shooting my mouth off

thanks...................nicko


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## Alan M (Jan 18, 2015)

im in shock. 
this cowboy has a contract
the fall on a sewer pipe has to be a specific amount. too little and every thing will stop moving and the water will soak away 
too much and the water runs away and leaves everything else behind

even level is unacceptable. 

falling the wrong way is a major problem

I think it is time to get a lawyer involved and make sure your next move is by the book. 
then get someone (an actual plumber that known something) in to redo it. 
make the first guy pay


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## philcav7 (Jan 15, 2009)

Did you hire this guy or was the contract with the seller of the home?

Water doesn't flow uphill. Waste lines need to be sloped


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## jaydee (Mar 20, 2014)

remember "sh*t flows down hill"..


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## blacktop (Oct 28, 2012)

jaydee said:


> remember "sh*t flows down hill"..


And don't chew your fingernails !


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

It's fine as lone as it's after a big run downhill, so the sh*t flies up like it's going off a ski jump.

Kidding aside, it's only ok when a lift station is in use, but that has to be done to certain specifics as well.


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## nickko (Nov 11, 2012)

philcav7 said:


> Did you hire this guy or was the contract with the seller of the home?
> 
> Water doesn't flow uphill. Waste lines need to be sloped


i did not hire the guy it is mandatory in my county that when you sale a house you have to get the sewer line tested and replaced to keep ground water out of the sewer system.
the seller is responsible to pay and the money is held in escrow with an attorney until the job is done. Needless to say the seller finds the cheapest guy he can find to do the job. and all the sewer authority cares about is if it pressure checks.
the work was done after i took ownership of the house. the guy has been doing sewer work for more than twenty years but had bypass surgery during my job so his worker and the workers twenty year old son did the job.

they left a muddy mess in the basement and the guys daughter came and cleaned it up after i complained to him. he told me he would fix the yard when it is dry. we have had 12 inches of rain from June first to present so i was trying to cut him some slack.
but now that i discovered that the sewer runs up hill and he never hooked the downspout drains back up jam thinking about suing him

nicko


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## dave_dj1 (Mar 16, 2010)

Call your local code enforcement office. I'm sure they will make them fix it properly.


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## nickko (Nov 11, 2012)

dave_dj1 said:


> Call your local code enforcement office. I'm sure they will make them fix it properly.


Good idea. I did call the sewer authority and they never returned my call. I'm going to go to there meeting next Tuesday. This guy has been doing sewer lines for years and it's a small town. He knows everyone on the sewer authority. 

Nicko


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## trussme (Jan 18, 2013)

Yeah as long as it's on the discharge end of a pump......


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## GO Remodeling (Apr 5, 2005)

Most areas don't allow the gutter downspouts to be connected to the sewer line. Combined sewers usually are a no no.

Back pitched sewer lines clog with solids which clog more and more. How deep is the standing water in the pipe? What size sewer pipe?

The Plumbing Code will have the required pitched for the specific sewer pipe size and pipe material.


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