Not as lively as you might think
Jan. 25th, 2023 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carbonelThere is no chance assembly of people who cannot make lively conversation about drains.
--Dorothy Sayers, in Gaudy Night
About two weeks ago, I did a load of laundry. When I went downstairs to move it from the washer to the dryer, I discovered a large pool of water. Clean water, not sewer water, which was the only good thing. This was on a Thursday night. On Friday, I called Ron the Sewer Rat (this is a company originally founded by Ron, but now it's just the company name). I was told that Monday was the earliest someone could come out, unless I was willing to pay the $450 Saturday surcharge.
I waited things out, which involved no showers, dishwashing, or toilet flushing until Monday.
On Monday, Trent from Ron the Sewer Rat came over. Before he tackled the basement drain, he went to check the main sewer line to make sure there was not a blockage there that was causing the subsidiary drain to back up. Unfortunately, there was. He was able to get his equipment about 25 feet down, but no further. Trent charged around $250 for his work; it was informational if not successful. He said this would need serious excavation work of the sort his company didn't do. He sent me a few referrals to local companies that did the kind of sewer work that involved making holes in the ground.
The basement puddle had slowly gone away over a couple of hours, so he said that it was probably safe to flush the toilet as long as no paper or other solids went down it. Oh, joy.
The first company on the list was Minneapolis & Suburban Sewer and Water. Ron (not a Sewer Rat) said he could come over the next day to check things out and give me an estimate. He wasn't able to get his camera more than a few feet down, which meant more digging and expense than the blockage at 25 feet would suggest. I suggested that we call Trent from RtSR back, since he had the proper sewer excavation tools. Unfortunately, there was no response at that end. Ron came back with more equipment and was able to get his camera to the 25-foot place, thus reducing things to a previously unsolved problem.
He also told me that my sewer pipes were made of something called Orangeburg pipe, which was basically tar paper -- a workaround against postwar shortages -- and it was amazing that the pipes had lasted the sixty years they had.
Before I signed the contract, I did try to get quotes from a couple of other sewer companies, but all of them had a several-week backlog. Ron said that he could start work on Monday, which meant that his company got the job by default (but they were recommended to me more than once).
In the meantime, I was warned not to flush the toilet at all, but that it was safe to wash dishes or use the shower. This turned out not to be the case. I did a load of dishes, and ended up with another large puddle of water in the basement. This time it didn't drain away at all. I will spare you all the gross details, but life at Casa Carbonel was not particularly fun.
On Saturday, Ron called and asked about the drainage situation. I said that nothing had changed. He said that he and his brother would come over on Sunday and try to get things sufficiently opened that I could flush the toilet. After an hour or so of work, he said that flushing should be okay as long as there were no solids to block things up again. That was a major improvement in my quality of life, which was a pretty sad thing.
On Monday afternoon (it was supposed to be Monday, but the previous job ran long, you know how it goes), Ron and his brother came over with much heavy equipment and dug large holes in my lawn. They finished the job on Tuesday afternoon. That work cost $6,700, which included an optional $250 for a new outside sewer access point in addition to the existing basement one.
However, Ron warned me that none of the work they'd done affected the basement drain -- which I could easily tell, because that puddle was still there. So I called Ron the Sewer Rat again and explained that we were now back to where we started originally.
Today, Trent came over and tackled the basement drain. There wasn't any one thing plugging it up, just accumulated yuck. He cleaned it out and checked the brand-new sewer line (in good shape, which it damned well ought to be), and for good measure cleaned the downstairs shower where things had backed up. That was another $250.
And now, after two weeks of limited water use and expenses of over $7,000, it's finally done. I plan to celebrate by washing a load of dishes and a load of laundry, and cooking a proper dinner and using all the utensils and pots and pans I want.
Last year, I needed a new hot water heater and furnace. This year, it was the sewer line. I predict that the roof will be the next major expense, since I don't know how old it was when I bought this house in 2003, but that means it's at least twenty years old. But I'm sure the house can provide additional surprises for me.
--Dorothy Sayers, in Gaudy Night
About two weeks ago, I did a load of laundry. When I went downstairs to move it from the washer to the dryer, I discovered a large pool of water. Clean water, not sewer water, which was the only good thing. This was on a Thursday night. On Friday, I called Ron the Sewer Rat (this is a company originally founded by Ron, but now it's just the company name). I was told that Monday was the earliest someone could come out, unless I was willing to pay the $450 Saturday surcharge.
I waited things out, which involved no showers, dishwashing, or toilet flushing until Monday.
On Monday, Trent from Ron the Sewer Rat came over. Before he tackled the basement drain, he went to check the main sewer line to make sure there was not a blockage there that was causing the subsidiary drain to back up. Unfortunately, there was. He was able to get his equipment about 25 feet down, but no further. Trent charged around $250 for his work; it was informational if not successful. He said this would need serious excavation work of the sort his company didn't do. He sent me a few referrals to local companies that did the kind of sewer work that involved making holes in the ground.
The basement puddle had slowly gone away over a couple of hours, so he said that it was probably safe to flush the toilet as long as no paper or other solids went down it. Oh, joy.
The first company on the list was Minneapolis & Suburban Sewer and Water. Ron (not a Sewer Rat) said he could come over the next day to check things out and give me an estimate. He wasn't able to get his camera more than a few feet down, which meant more digging and expense than the blockage at 25 feet would suggest. I suggested that we call Trent from RtSR back, since he had the proper sewer excavation tools. Unfortunately, there was no response at that end. Ron came back with more equipment and was able to get his camera to the 25-foot place, thus reducing things to a previously unsolved problem.
He also told me that my sewer pipes were made of something called Orangeburg pipe, which was basically tar paper -- a workaround against postwar shortages -- and it was amazing that the pipes had lasted the sixty years they had.
Before I signed the contract, I did try to get quotes from a couple of other sewer companies, but all of them had a several-week backlog. Ron said that he could start work on Monday, which meant that his company got the job by default (but they were recommended to me more than once).
In the meantime, I was warned not to flush the toilet at all, but that it was safe to wash dishes or use the shower. This turned out not to be the case. I did a load of dishes, and ended up with another large puddle of water in the basement. This time it didn't drain away at all. I will spare you all the gross details, but life at Casa Carbonel was not particularly fun.
On Saturday, Ron called and asked about the drainage situation. I said that nothing had changed. He said that he and his brother would come over on Sunday and try to get things sufficiently opened that I could flush the toilet. After an hour or so of work, he said that flushing should be okay as long as there were no solids to block things up again. That was a major improvement in my quality of life, which was a pretty sad thing.
On Monday afternoon (it was supposed to be Monday, but the previous job ran long, you know how it goes), Ron and his brother came over with much heavy equipment and dug large holes in my lawn. They finished the job on Tuesday afternoon. That work cost $6,700, which included an optional $250 for a new outside sewer access point in addition to the existing basement one.
However, Ron warned me that none of the work they'd done affected the basement drain -- which I could easily tell, because that puddle was still there. So I called Ron the Sewer Rat again and explained that we were now back to where we started originally.
Today, Trent came over and tackled the basement drain. There wasn't any one thing plugging it up, just accumulated yuck. He cleaned it out and checked the brand-new sewer line (in good shape, which it damned well ought to be), and for good measure cleaned the downstairs shower where things had backed up. That was another $250.
And now, after two weeks of limited water use and expenses of over $7,000, it's finally done. I plan to celebrate by washing a load of dishes and a load of laundry, and cooking a proper dinner and using all the utensils and pots and pans I want.
Last year, I needed a new hot water heater and furnace. This year, it was the sewer line. I predict that the roof will be the next major expense, since I don't know how old it was when I bought this house in 2003, but that means it's at least twenty years old. But I'm sure the house can provide additional surprises for me.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 09:45 pm (UTC)I'm glad you've got things back to normal again, but what a saga!
no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 09:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 10:11 pm (UTC)It was bitterly cold and very icy; I had plans in place to go over to Butter, use their bathroom, and get some food or vegan chai, if the job took longer than I could wait; but it didn't. Everybody else just didn't flush anything, or slept through it. But that was just six or eight hours.
I don't actually feel that any of us needs this kind of demonstration of how wonderful properly working modern plumbing is. But it is certainly wonderful.
P.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 10:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 11:14 pm (UTC)I think we paid about $9000 for the replacement.
I'm kind of impressed because the big cast iron pipes inside our 1951 house only lasted about 5 years longer than the Orangeburg did. Which kind of makes the Orangeburg less ludicrous. Except...
At any rate, you have my sympathies on the Orangeburg.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 11:20 pm (UTC)Long may you be untroubled by your drains!
(or roof, nor the special subset of roof where the chimney undergoes some inventive collapse.)
no subject
Date: 2023-01-26 08:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-02 01:17 am (UTC)