We've finally done the little procedure we should have gone through back in November, and had Roto Rooter + camera film the guts of our side sewer. The camera is on the line to the left, and the little viewer off to the right shows the sewer line and simultaneously films the movie (VHS sadly).
The average life of a concrete sewer, which we have, is 50-70 years, so at 76 it appears age has caught up with us. There are 4 holes in it, one of which is enormous, and an ominous looking crack. Essentially what’s been happening is that we get “buildup” – my euphemism, not theirs – in the enormous hole, which eventually dams up the sewer line, and then we get our lovely backups. 
Ever wanting to know if I did anything wrong, I asked Mr Rooter if there was anything we could have done….poured their special enzyme down the drain, given up my predilection for Squeezably Soft Charmin tissue….but he says the only thing we could have done was fire up the garden hose, shove it down the cleanout and give the sewer line a weekly blast. And that would only solve the backups, not our sanitation issue.
Next activity: sewer replacement quotes. They will use the ‘pipe burst’ method, where they run PVC pipe along the previous sewer route and break apart the old sewer, then they reconnect all interconnecting drains. Roto Rooter marked the interconnecting drain locations, which they could spot using the camera , and they can see the sewer plan maps online at the Seattle DPD site.
Now, since it’s Friday night, Martin & I can curl up with popcorn & watch our sewer video. If I can find the VCR that is, it’s been awhile.
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