Discussions

This isn't an emergency as my sewer isn't backing up into my house. If I run water or flush my toilet downstairs I find that water is coming back up through my tub and the toilet is over filling.  
 
Plunging the toilet also causes the tub drain to surge at the same time. Seems to me that the main line to the city sewer has a blockage.  
 
I have tried a made a few calls already and plumbers in town seem to be extremely booked up, but offer to try and squeeze me in or get to me after regular hours for a higher rate.  
 
Would like to see if anyone else has had similar problems, what kind of ordeal it was to resolve, what company you would most highly recommend, rates, customer service, etc.

Call unplug sewer service. They usually came the same day when we phoned them. Sounds like your lines just need to be cleared. Could be tree roots, or anything like that.

We had this problem, bought a 1L thing of Draino gel from Home Hardware, was about $10. I know it probably isn't recommended but I pour about half down our floor drain in the laundry room, and split the rest between the drains it was coming back up. Took about an hour to be able to flush without problems a few times and then about a day or so to have no problems.  
 
This is just a temporary fix as far as we are concerned, but it's been about a week and a half without issue now.

SC83 said "We had this problem, bought a 1L thing of Draino gel from Home Hardware, was about $10. I know it probably isn't recommended but I pour about half down our floor drain in the laundry room, and split the rest between the drains it was coming back up. Took about an hour to be able to flush without problems a few times and then about a day or so to have no problems.     This is just a temporary fix as far as we are concerned, but it's been about a week and a half without issue now. "

If you have tree roots, this will not help.  

Jellybean said "    SC83 said "We had this problem, bought a 1L thing of Draino gel from Home Hardware, was about $10. I know it probably isn't recommended but I pour about half down our floor drain in the laundry room, and split the rest between the drains it was coming back up. Took about an hour to be able to flush without problems a few times and then about a day or so to have no problems.     This is just a temporary fix as far as we are concerned, but it's been about a week and a half without issue now. " If you have tree roots, this will not help.   "

Save your money and get it done properly.

Last time we got it done it was around $140 or so. And because it was a tree on city property that clogged the lines, the city pays half.  
 
No big deal, it only takes a few minutes, and better to get it done right away, as it could get worse pretty quickly.

Whoever comes to unplug your sewer line and if it's tree roots get them to dump some tree root killer powder in the line, I can't remember what it's called but mine had tree roots and had to have it unplugged every 2 years. they put some powder in to kill the roots last time they where out and I never had any more problems since.

That's true! Sorry I should've mentioned we had our roots done about a month before. Almost forgot that! Just figured if the person has lived there for a long time, and this is the first time problem, it could be something other than roots as they likely would've encountered this before. But a $10 bottle of Draino is still cheaper to test than paying someone a bunch of money to unclog something.

Sounds like your sewer line is plugged. If you have a cleanout plug at the front of your house and there is water there then your line is plugged going to the street. If no wayer in pipe at the front of house then u are plugged under your house. If you have a backwater valve it may have closed due to overloaded sewer system with all the rain.

Unplugged sewer services

Last time I called them they didnt even call me back. Called Victory Plumbing and Heating and they came the next day.

try first call plumbing and heating they try to get there

We use Unplug every 10 months or so for roots in our lines. If you bring the receipt and a handful of proof (roots) to the City of Brandon Utility Building on Richmond they'll mail you a cheque for half the cost. If you have to do it on a regular basis you only need proof the first couple of times then they stop asking for it.

Larry Kolody said "try first call plumbing and heating they try to get there "

Call Manley at First Call Plumbing & Heating at 204-570-2255. We use him every other year. We have city trees that cause the problem. If you take your invoice to the city, & IF they determine that city trees are at least partially responsible for the blockage, they will reimburse at least a portion of the cost. You may need to bring proof (in the form of tree roots salvaged from the drain by the rooter) if you have never done so before.

Nate's is awesome. I don't know how their prices stack up, but they always get us in quick and they have great customer service and do a really good job. I called Roto-Rooter once here and the problem came back shortly after. I also know that Nate's prices are cheaper than Lance Wagner's (who we used to use). Good luck!

Does water appear in your downstairs tub when you run water upstairs? If not then the clog is before the main is before all your drains tie into a common line. You can probably snake it yourself if there is an accessible clear out downstairs, or use the toilet.