I hope everyone read the front page article in the recent Independent re water/sewer lines. At least 3 houses on my street had to have their lines replaced within the last year at a horrific cost. Last year I took out the American Water Resources insurance for water line, sewer line, and in home plumbing at a cost of around $300/year. Within 2 months I had to have my sewer line unclogged. It only cost $50. AWR advertises on TOSC. You might want to take a look. Snowbirds are probably particularly vulnerable because their lines are not used - sometimes for 6 months. It would be advisable for them to have someone turn on their water about once a month, run the water, and flush the toilet. Dry pipe lines are not good. But, that's just my personal opinion. Others?
If the main sewer line is dry part of the year (snowbirds) it should extend the life of the lines, but ultimately they will need to be replaced. The lines are probably cast iron and for a 50 year old home it is only a matter to time which is probably soon. There is a process called slip lines which is basically like a stint in a vein, but your main line has to be intact (not collapsed) for it to work. It saves quite a bit of expense because there is less excavation involved. Might be a good investment before the lines collapse. Having a dry trap in the sink is a bad thing, this allows sewer gases to get into the home... not pleasant. I have heard that a bit of oil in the drain before you leave the home empty will help.
I've had 3 sewer lines replaced in the past 7 years (I have a tri plex) Quite expensive. I did have the trench-less procedure (you called it slip line). But if that is a good choice for you depends...and it's not always cheaper. I did it because my lines went under the driveway and I didn't want my driveway concrete removed. In hindsight I wish I could have removed the driveway and done it open method because my driveway needed replacing anyway. And they still dig several large holes in places to get in and out. After I was able to price both out it would have cost about the same to have a new driveway. I have tenents, however, and one of the lines was blocked so I had to do as quickly as possible. What a mess.
Good to know Cynthia, wasn't sure how much less the slip line expense was. That does sound like quite the mess. When we lived in Livermore, CA we had terracotta lines, bad because tree roots like to infiltrate the joints. The terracotta was doing fine until the city decided to replace hard gas lines with flex pipe (earthquake safe) and broke our main terracotta sewer line the day before thanksgiving. We had a house full of people and quickly discovered the breakage, yuck! Replacing sewer mains might be a good "planned expense" for those like me that plan on moving to Sun City in a few years. Kind of like the PIF, but on a more personal basis. ;-)
