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Well, well, well. You laughed at your neighbor when you saw him clinging to his roof like a mountain goat, holding onto a rented, bucking sewer machine, snaking through a vent stack with nary a clue of what he was doing. And now you find yourself in the same predicament. Before deciding on a remedy, you first have to diagnose the sewer blockage. Make sense? Thankfully, you DO have an advantage he probably didn't- you have…

What is a mainline blockage? This stoppage is the big one. You have just discovered that the main sewer pipe, which in residential households is almost always 3"-4" in diameter, has a blockage in it. The main lines emanate from your toilets and tie into each other, before exiting in a single pipe out of the house. From there, the main line typically runs out and ties into a larger municipal sewer pipe near the edge of your property. In most municipalities, the spot where your main line meets the municipal main line is YOUR responsibility. This is important because this connection area is oftentimes susceptible to root invasion. Roots, in case you had any doubts, are definitely not our friends. If you have a septic tank, the main line will exit your house and simply dump into the tank.
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Alright, let’s diagnose this sucker. If when you flush your toilet or run a load of laundry, sewage and other unmentionables come up in your bathtub, in your shower, or around the base of your toilet, you almost definitely have a main line backup. This is because all of your pipes tie into each other underneath your house and water will always show itself at the lowest possible elevation.
In this case, the bathtub, shower, and base of your toilet are innocent of the crime. They just are the place where the symptom has been revealed. If, during a main line backup, water comes out of the base of your toilet, it's because the wax ring that makes the connection between your toilet and the pipe in the floor has failed.
​Other classic symptoms of a main sewer line backup are when the toilet gurgles or the presence of standing water in the line when you remove the lid of a clean-out. A clean out is an access port into the sewer line that often has a white PVC cap with a big square nut on top of it.

Here is some important info for townhouse owners:

If you have a town-house or other dwelling that only has a 1/2 bath on the first floor, then a main line backup will start rising out the top of your toilet as long as the wax ring on the bottom is doing its job. This is because there is no shower or bathtub to sound the horn.
For those of you who are wondering, Well then, in this case, how could you diagnose the difference between a main line backup and a toilet auger situation?, the answer is that you can't. You would assume it is a toilet auger situation (a blockage isolated within the toilet itself) and try that first.
If that doesn't work, then it is a main line situation, And you Are Going to need Some Affordable  Drain Cleaning Done Asap .

If you cannot find a clean-out access and must pull the toilet to cable it, then be damn careful. If it is a main line backup situation, all that sewer water might come boiling out and soak your shoes in a gusher of fecal lunacy when the toilet is removed.
Alright, let’s diagnose this sucker.

If when you flush your toilet or run a load of laundry, sewage and other unmentionables come up in your bathtub, in your shower, or around the base of your toilet, you almost definitely have a main line backup. This is because all of your pipes tie into each other underneath your house and water will always show itself at the lowest possible elevation. In this case, the bathtub, shower, and base of your toilet are innocent of the crime.

They just are the place where the symptom has been revealed. If, during a main line backup, water comes out of the base of your toilet, it's because the wax ring that makes the connection between your toilet and the pipe in the floor has failed.

​Other classic symptoms of a main sewer line backup are when the toilet gurgles or the presence of standing water in the line when you remove the lid of a clean-out.
A clean out is an access port into the sewer line that often has a white PVC cap with a big square nut on top of it.

Here is some important info for townhouse owners: If you have a town-house or other dwelling that only has a 1/2 bath on the first floor, then a main line backup will start rising out the top of your toilet as long as the wax ring on the bottom is doing its job. This is because there is no shower or bathtub to sound the horn. For those of you who are wondering, Well then, in this case, how could you diagnose the difference between a main line backup and a toilet auger situation?, the answer is that you can't. You would assume it is a toilet auger situation (a blockage isolated within the toilet itself) and try that first. If that doesn't work, then it is a main line situation. If you cannot find a clean-out access and must pull the toilet to cable it, then be damn careful. If it is a main line backup situation, all that sewer water might come boiling out and soak your shoes in a gusher of fecal lunacy when the toilet is removed.

Listen up if you are a septic tank owner: If you have a septic tank and shit-water is backing up into your precious home, at this point we don't know if it is the fault of the septic tank or his brother, the drain field, OR if there is a blockage in the main sewer pipe leading to the septic tank. Of course, you could pull the septic tank lid and see if water is aching to flood out the top. That symptom will tell you that either the drain field is not accepting water, thus backing up into the septic tank (and, by extension, further back up into your house) or that the septic tank itself needs pumping. See the video "All About Septic Tanks" for a detailed explanation of how they work. You probably don't know where your lid is though, do you? So, you are going to assume it is a main sewer line backup and snake the line first. If you snake it properly and the stoppage is not relieved, then the main sewer line is probably innocent of all charges and you will have to call out a plumber specializing in septic tanks.

A Caveat: When cabling any sewer line that leads to a septic tank, you absolutely must make sure you know how many feet of cable you have in the line. You don't want to cable any further than just a couple feet into the septic tank. Any more and you risk the cable getting tied up in a knot. You think you are in deep shit now? Just wait unto your cable is bound up in a septic tank.
Alright, we've established that you have a main line stoppage, so what are supposed to do now? If you are feeling brave and want to ramp this party up to unimaginable heights, then get your work-boots on brother, because together we are going to march into the maw of waste-water madness. Well, not really together…I'm sitting here with my legs crossed and a cold bottle of sarsaparilla in my hand. But, I will be with you in spirit.

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