Adventures of the Sewer Urchin...

Here's my version of a DIY nightmare, but it has a happy ending. My main sewer line to the house has had clogging issues for a couple of years. Two years ago, I called a plumber and he used a power auger at the front cleanout to the street. He almost immediately broke through the clog, showed me some roots and charged me over $200. The whole operation took less than an hour. It was depressing but had to be done and then he told me that if roots were in there, eventually, I'd have to do it again.
About a week ago, the line started clogging again. This time I decided to do it myself. I knew where the clog was, so I went to the equipment rental and got a sewer auger for $60. I got it home about 3 in the afternoon. With the assistance of Sewer Urchin Jr, my son Matt, it took about a half hour to figure things out and make a breakthrough with the 1 1/2" blade. In an attempt to be thorough, I pulled out the snake and attached the 3" blade to make sure and get as many roots as possible. This step was something the original plumber didn't take the time to do. I snaked the auger back down the hole until I got tension and started grinding away. It just wouldn't bite. After about a minute of "drilling", I heard the tell-tale hiss and smell of a leaking natural gas line coming from the sewer. I immediately shut everything down and started unplugging things. I told Sissy to call the gas company.
I couldn't figure out how I had hit the gas line from inside sewer line, but obviously I had. Arnold, Chris and Reid from the gas company came to the rescue with backhoe in tow. They found the gas line and traced it to under the driveway. Enter the jackhammer. They cut away a 6x6 section driveway and started digging. When all was excavated, the problem was evident. The gas line was drilled right through the sewer line. They got everything patched back together pretty quickly after that. The whole operation went from about 3 pm to 10 pm. This Saturday night will be remembered for a while.

Hugh