Adding a backwater valve to 5” clay sewer.

Where would you be locating your backwater valve?

It would be go under my basement floor. Front of the home towards the street.

No roots caused your problem?
Under IPC the back water valve is only installed for your basement fixtures. Like the floor drain and basement bath. The upper floors can not be routed through the valve. The have a tendency to block with toilet paper and stuff.
I have only seen 4 inch clay and 6 inch clay pipe never 5 inch.


Clay pipe is measured by its inside diameter.

No roots. The whole street got hit. Main clogged up. I got off easy compared to others. Just deep enough to lose some carpet and some faith in my city’s ability to maintain the sewers. Unfortunately the whole house would have to go through the backwater valve. This rule is news to me to be honest. It seems all the contractors around here actually put them in the yard even closer to the main than I would. I have a saw. I may just cut the floor up and see what im dealing with. Worst case I get a bit of stone and bags of concrete and close it up. 5” seems to exist but im not 100% sure thats whats down there.

Measure the inside diameter of the pipe. That's the inner hole.

I mean, depending on the depth of your basement it is probably easier to excavate in the yard. What material would your valve be?