Do we really have to rip out the tub to fix the clogged drain?

[Kimberly T.]

Hi all, I haven't had time to post here on BP lately because I've been kind of preoccupied with being pregnant (2 more months to go!), but we're having a potentially major issue with one of our properties and thought I'd look for some advice.

We own a triplex (built in the early 1960s, all one story, slab on grade) near us, and got a call on Sunday that the tubs in 2 units were backing up and draining very slowly.  Nothing else is backed up, and flushing the adjacent toilets didn't cause water to back up into the tubs, so it's definitely just a localized drain issue at the tubs.  These tubs are back to back (the bathrooms in these units are mirror images of each other).  These tubs have occasionally backed up before, but we've always been able to get them unclogged with either drain cleaner or snaking.

We had a plumber come try to snake it yesterday, and he spent an hour or more trying to get a 1/2" snake down through the T where the 2 tubs' drains come together.  He said in his experience with 50+ year old cast iron drains in these back to back situations is that those connections are the first to go, and the only way to fix it is to remove one of the tubs, cut out a small piece of slab, and replace it.  He said a camera won't be able to get through the clog, and hydrojetting only works occasionally.

Anyone have any experience with this scenario before?  Any ideas/thoughts on our options?  We're planning to sell this property in the next year or two, so dumping thousands of dollars into it is not terribly appealing to us.

[Dale Stevens]

Drains all need to have a vent stack, usually up to the roof. I wonder if they can go up there, put a snake down that and get passed the "T" that way.