Branch line versus mainline versus do I have a clean out? Or do I not have a clean out? People don’t understand that vocabulary when you are speaking to them.
But often I get a call and it’s usually a slow draining toilet, or toilet that just isn’t flushing, That’s always the first thing I ask, if your toilet flushing?
Because it could be branch line. A branch line usually branches off from the main line, just like a tree. With plumbing, the mainline is your sewer line, usually a 3 1/2 to 4 inch drain line, which requires typically a 100 foot mainline snake; 5/8 inches with a little blade on the end which will breakthrough or cut through any possible roots, obstructions, blockages.
Those blockages often come from the wipes on the, a low line, usually called a belly on the line, or an offset to the pipes, not joined together. So that’s where the roots get in or where the snake get’s caught up. And or the debris as well.
The main difference between a branch line and a main line is the size. Branch lines are 2 inches, 1 1/2 inches are for a sink, a tub, or the laundry. Those are your branch lines. Those require a 1/4 inch snake or a 3/8ths inch snake which a mid size snake.