Clean outs

[Pete T.]

To all of my plummer friends out there-

Would you cut open a hole in a brick building just to add a clean out or would you make due w/ what you have?  There is a clean that runs under the parking lot in the front, but nothing in the back to tie into or for ease of access if (when) something happens.  Water is expensive!  Thoughts?

[Jon Holdman]

I wouldn't add a cleanout just to add a cleanout.  If, at some point, you need to work on that sewer line, add a cleanout then.  Code specifies where cleanouts have to be installed.  So, if you end up needing to work on some part of it, add cleanouts to bring it up to code.

Its pretty common to have pair of cleanouts somewhere in the main line.  These go down to a U shaped connection into the line.  When you drop a tool (camera, auger, etc) down one of them, it gets pushed by the U in the direction of the other cleanout.  They overlap at the bottom of the U, so that pair of cleanouts allows you to clean the entire line.  That's really all you need in the main.