I just skimmed through this thread to find my May and October reports of having the rotorooter guys come get the roots out of the sewer line, the outcome of needing a new line, and I've set everything in motion. The excavator arrives today, the yard is flagged by the various utility services to protect any existing lines nearby, and tomorrow it happens. I have to sign for the equipment when it's delivered today, then all will be revealed to the neighborhood - something big is happening. If, until then, I work in the back yard and leave the garage door closed with the SUV inside, the code enforcement guys (who cruise past regularly in their white pickup trucks) won't see I'm home to ask about it. They're off on weekends (they suffer from the "big fish in a small pond" syndrome and are busybodies in their little fiefdom).