An Idaho Falls couple got more than they bargained for when they bought their first house.
Their sewer pipe is acting up and getting in their way, to the point they are afraid to turn on the faucet.

When Janae and Michael Dye bought this house in October they had no idea what they were in for.

Michael Dye: "I'm pretty frustrated."

Janae Dye: "When we take a shower we have to plug the drain so no water goes down because can't hold any amount of water when you shower and then we take out the buckets and pour it out."

Basically when it comes to their basic necessities with water, they're out of luck.

Dye: "If I even put five gallons down the drain it backs up.

Back in December they had their sewer pipe flushed out, but it didn't take long for it to back up again.

Dye: "What my issue is that where I'm a corner, I have a neighbor to the side on the left and I have a neighbor to the north and my sewer runs through both their properties.

So Dye started digging to see just how connected he and his neighbors really are.

Dye: "You can see where he dug, wanted to see were it went, but it goes right down to the garage, don't really have any easement to that line.'

Dye says it's a good thing his neighbors have been understanding.
So much so that one of them let Dye chop down this enormous willow tree.

Dye: "Pretty sure what's happened its routes have gotten into it."

Chad Stanger, Public Works Director: "Willow trees are notorious for having routes that invade sewer lines and crack."

Dye had the city of Idaho Falls come out and take a look, but to his surprise they said it wasn't their their job to fix it.

Stanger: "The city doesn't maintain any city sewer lines at all. It's the responsibility of the homeowner or the property owner to maintain the sewer line, from their residence out to the city sewer main on the street."

So it looks like its back to square one.
Dye has some friends in construction and they've offered to help.
He's guessing it'll cost him close to two thousand dollars to dig up the sewer line and re-route the entire thing.