In this video I’m going to point out a few ways you can go about removing a sewer cover that’s most likely never been touched since the day it was put into service. Most of us don’t think about the clean-out access to our sewer system, but trust me the day will come when either the professional plumber or you will have to remove them to service the sewer.

Here in the New York City area a majority of the existing sewer covers have never been removed and when a blockage of the trap or main sewer occurs, they’ve got to come off in order to perform the service. Being a professional with years of experience I’ve developed my own technique for chopping them out with a sharp cold chisel but would caution the novice from attempting this for fear of damaging the cast iron hub the covers screw into.

If your going to be bold enough to attempt a job like this, I recommend you drill a series of holes around the raised brass section of the cover you would normally place a wrench on to remove it. Once that’s drilled out and removed you can then proceed to use a reciprocating saw and make a couple of cuts and remove a small piece of the cover. You can then get a cold chisel and proceed to collapse the remaining portion of the cover.

My preferred replacement cover is a lead fit-all cover which simply secured in place by striking them head on with your hammer and for quick removal, tapping them on either side will do the trick. Lately I’ve been coming across these rubber test plugs in lieu of the lead fit-all cover and can tell you from experience that they sometimes don’t remove very easily. When faced with a house trap or main sewer blockage the last thing you need is to be struggling with a sewer cover when you have boat load of sewage ready to shoot up and hit you in the face!

Why not check out the video and see exactly what I mean. I personally would recommend calling in a professional for this type of repair but if you’re bold enough, go for it. If their is something in the video you’re not quite sure about you can always reach me at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com.

Best of Luck and…
HAPPY PLUMBING!