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Recently I've been experiencing some backup with my toilet and tub due to some roots in our line. I've had Roto Rooter come out a couple times to do their thing and cut out some of the roots to alleviate the problem and it's worked out pretty well except they needed to go through our toilet both times since there is no sewer clean out located on our property and we live on a slab so there is no basement.

Roto Rooter kindly offered to install one for us for around $3,500, however I was wanting to save at least some of that money and do it myself. I've heard the worst part is doing the digging and I'm looking for some advice. I believe our line is 4" cast to some poorly repaired 6" clay.

How difficult is installing a clean out yourself? What kind of supplies will I need?

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    If you're referring to an outdoor cleanout, you're probably looking at almost as much work as properly fixing the drain line, since both tasks involve digging a large hole and replacing a section of pipe. – BMitch♦ Jul 29 '13 at 1:31
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    +1 Regarding the proper fix. Look at it this way.....fix the problem and then when all opened up install the cleanout as a freeby. – Michael Karas♦ Jul 29 '13 at 10:50
  • Yes I am talking about an outdoor cleanout. I'm not entirely sure how bad the previous repair actually is, it's just what I was told when the guy ran his camera down the line. A few neighbors mentioned an area where a previous owner dug up and replaced a section so I imagine the two areas are one of the same and is the area where I'm looking to install the cleanout. – jolopy Jul 29 '13 at 13:47
  • Most of this work is hard manual labor, so difficulty will depend on how you are with this. If you're strong and love digging holes and moving dirt then this won't be that difficult. If you don't do a lot of physical activity then you might find this overwhelmingly hard. – Steven Jul 29 '13 at 20:11

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