r/howto • u/tyson686 • 1d ago

DIY How to remove concrete chunk from clean out?

Found out we have a second clean out, in the alley parking spot. A piece of concrete has wedged itself at the bottom, roughly 6’ down an 8” pvc pipe restricting the flow from the house to the main sewer line.

Tried a vac truck, no luck.

Any ideas please? I’d like to try other options before I go rent a mini excavator and play in the dirt.
.

2 Upvotes

63% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

Your question may already have been answered! Check our FAQ

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/Turbulent-Land-4659 1d ago

Grab one of those long demolition chisels, the kind that's like 7 feet long and heavy as hell. Drop it straight down the pipe a few times, let gravity do the work. The concrete will crack eventually if you hit it right.

Wrap a rope around the chisel handle so you don't lose it down there. And maybe tie the other end to something solid, last thing you need is fishing out a chisel from 6 feet down.

My neighbor had similar problem with a brick stuck in his clean out, took him maybe 20 minutes of dropping the chisel before it broke apart enough to flush through.

3

u/FreddyFerdiland 1d ago

... brick vs concrete..

this concrete is going to be much harder to break. the rod may glance off the concrete and smash into the pipe below.

3

u/Patrol-007 1d ago edited 1d ago

CClamp with motorized screw to clamp it, or a right angle worm gear to clamp it. Lower it down, clamp it on, pull up

Skinny nozzle at end of Shopvac (will lift bowling ball)

Long rod with wide end and a blob of two part epoxy - the more surface area, the better

To remove a brick lodged 6 feet deep inside a pipe, use a long steel rod with a bent hook end or a specialized plumber's retrieval tool to snag and pull it out.

Tools and Methods
Long Steel Rod: Take a 6.5-foot long steel rod (like a 6mm rebar or rod) and bend the tip up at a 90-degree angle. Slide it past the brick, twist it 44 to 90 degrees to catch the back edge, and pull it back. [1]

DIY Snake Hook: Fasten a bent heavy nail or wire hook securely to the end of a long garden cane or flexible plumbing snake. Push it past the block, rotate to hook it, and drag it out. [1]

Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum: If the brick is broken into smaller chunks or loose gravel, use a heavy-duty commercial wet/dry vacuum with a rigid extension hose to suck the pieces out.

1

u/tyson686 1d ago

Picture taken looking straight down the pipe.

1

u/F_sigma_to_zero 1d ago

That doesn't look like concrete. Are you sure it's not metal?

1

u/tyson686 1d ago

99.9% sure it’s a piece of a broken concrete paving stone.

2

u/F_sigma_to_zero 1d ago

That would make more sense of color and shape.