*** Official PLUMBING EMERGENCY!!1! Thread*** BIG UPDATE AT POST 25 (1 Viewer)

[The General]

***Update and Plumping PSA***

Pipes didn’t need to be relined immediately but need to be taken care of soon. Allowed us to shop around a bit.

Original place was def jobbing us a bit. They also used some inferior products and potentially some stuff not to code which is disappointing since we were paying premium.

Got a new guy coming in to redo a bit of previous guy’s work and do the lining. Will all be done next week and hopefully this issue is done for life of this house.

PSA portion — If you are in an older home and haven’t had pipes scoped in long time it would be worth it for peace of mind to get them aqua flushed and camera in there. This would allow you to avoid the oh shet emergency and have the work done on your terms.

 

[PIK95]

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

 

[massraider]

When we first moved in our house 20 years ago I had to rent an auger from Home Depot and unclog the main waste line starting at the basement floor all the way to the street.

It was caused by sewer mice*

*

Spoiler: You might not want to know if you don’t already

Used tampons. Never happened again after I enforced the no flushing them rule

I am angry on behalf of you and your main waste line.

Thought this was something all women knew.

 

[The General]

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

 

[PIK95]

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

Right, but city line should start at your property line.

 

[The General]

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

Right, but city line should start at your property line.

That makes sense to me but apparently not how they do it here. We are responsible up to the city line even under the street.

 

[PIK95]

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

Right, but city line should start at your property line.

That makes sense to me but apparently not how they do it here. We are responsible up to the city line even under the street.

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

Right, but city line should start at your property line.

That makes sense to me but apparently not how they do it here. We are responsible up to the city line even under the street.

Lawyer UP!

 

[The General]

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

Right, but city line should start at your property line.

That makes sense to me but apparently not how they do it here. We are responsible up to the city line even under the street.

BIG UPDATE

The pipe isn't totally busted and they were able to jet all the way to the sewer line in street.

BUT...there are 3 areas that are sort of ****ed. One is in the street which if that fails is disaster zone and crazy expensive.

This place has been great to work with thus far and explained everything well and fairly. They will charge an additional 16.5K to line the entire 80 feet of pipe and then it is good to go for 50 years.

How are you on the hook for that if it is in the street?

City should do that. Call public works. Street is town, city, or even state at times. Never fall for that. Some times they will jet that side and it sorts your pipe. We have huge root issues in my city with ceramic pipes.to the street. I did mine twenty years ago! Water main last year. I broke the know off turning the main off and caused water to come up into basement. So insurance covered the whole job.

In our case we are responsible up to the main city line.

If I understood properly the city also inspects to make sure the lining is done properly into the city line, if the plumber “messes up“ they make them redo it or address the issue.

Right, but city line should start at your property line.

That makes sense to me but apparently not how they do it here. We are responsible up to the city line even under the street.

Lawyer UP!

I just don’t want to deal with it but I do get the sentiment.

Biggest thing out of this I learned is this is something I should have done a couple years ago - cleaned and scoped the sewer line. Then I could have dug into it and done it on my timeline and picked the person I wanted.

Heed my warning FBG’s with older homes! To clean and scope the line would be about 800 bucks.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

When we first moved in our house 20 years ago I had to rent an auger from Home Depot and unclog the main waste line starting at the basement floor all the way to the street.

It was caused by sewer mice*

*

Spoiler: You might not want to know if you don’t already

Used tampons. Never happened again after I enforced the no flushing them rule

I am angry on behalf of you and your main waste line.

Thought this was something all women knew.

They should. I don't even put hair from my hairbrush in the toilet.

 

[QuizGuy66]

You should ask how much it costs to add a moat. FBG houses usually have a moat.

-QG

 

[Ron Swanson]

When we first moved in our house 20 years ago I had to rent an auger from Home Depot and unclog the main waste line starting at the basement floor all the way to the street.

It was caused by sewer mice*

*

Spoiler: You might not want to know if you don’t already

Used tampons. Never happened again after I enforced the no flushing them rule

I am angry on behalf of you and your main waste line.

Thought this was something all women knew.

They should. I don't even put hair from my hairbrush in the toilet.

Somehow I read that as toothbrush. Had to re-read 3-4 times and wretched each time.

 

[Gally]

PSA portion — If you are in an older home and haven’t had pipes scoped in long time it would be worth it for peace of mind to get them aqua flushed and camera in there. This would allow you to avoid the oh shet emergency and have the work done on your terms.

With older homes you cannot always "water jet" them out. I had the old paper/oil lines and they cannot withstand that process. It's good to get them videoed if possible to see what you are dealing with (we had a lot of root problems....any little crack and the root smells the sewage and attacks).

 

[Gally]

Flex Seal tape FTW

I tried this on a pin hole leak on my copper supply line. This stuff does not even come close to working. As soon as it got any moisture on it the stickiness when completely away. I didn't expect it to work like the commercial but it was like trying to put non-stick paper on the pipe. Absolutely terrible. Went to the old school bicycle tube and hose clamp and it worked just fine to hold me over to a real repair.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

When we first moved in our house 20 years ago I had to rent an auger from Home Depot and unclog the main waste line starting at the basement floor all the way to the street.

It was caused by sewer mice*

*

Spoiler: You might not want to know if you don’t already

Used tampons. Never happened again after I enforced the no flushing them rule

I am angry on behalf of you and your main waste line.

Thought this was something all women knew.

They should. I don't even put hair from my hairbrush in the toilet.

Somehow I read that as toothbrush. Had to re-read 3-4 times and wretched each time.

To be fair, I don't put hair from my toothbrush in there, either.

 

[Runkle]

FWIW: Many years ago, I had a crack in the ceramic drainage line right by our house (the ground had collapsed, and I saw a big, groggy sewer rat by the spot). I got a few rather expensive quotes to dig up and replace some of the line. But then the old handyman friend who lived a couple doors over came by. He told me to dig it out and expose the break, which I did ...a collapsed section on the top of the line. Without hardly a word, he went home and came back with some items. He proceeded to cut a piece of tin to an appropriate size, bend it to roughly match the tile below, set it over the break, mixed up a bag of cement ...and just dumped the big pail of cement over the tin. When it had dried, I just refilled the whole. Not pretty, but who cares when it's buried under a few feet of dirt. And it's not like the sewage/water is going to rise up to the top of the pipe. We just needed to keep more dirt from collapsing down into the hole. So ...just to mention an interesting solution.

I vote for this option. Sewer lines ain't rocket surgery.

Man I love this story and outcome but no way I’m doing this. I definitely don’t trust my neighbor Stan and any of his homemade solutions and if in 2 years the toilets back up I’d never hear the end of this

And a funny follow-up: Quite a number of years after that sewer repair, and after neighbor Ron had died, the new young neighbor next to me came by to ask for help with a new fridge where the copper water lines weren’t connecting (male/female plug). I looked it over, then with hardly a word, went home for a tool. I came back with a file, lightly shaved one of the copper lines ..and the connection popped together. My neighbor got wide-eyed and said “how did you know to do that?!” I just smiled and thought - I’ve become Ron, winging my way through a project.

I find I get pretty creative with my repairs when it's someone else's home

 

[Rustoleum]

FWIW: Many years ago, I had a crack in the ceramic drainage line right by our house (the ground had collapsed, and I saw a big, groggy sewer rat by the spot). I got a few rather expensive quotes to dig up and replace some of the line. But then the old handyman friend who lived a couple doors over came by. He told me to dig it out and expose the break, which I did ...a collapsed section on the top of the line. Without hardly a word, he went home and came back with some items. He proceeded to cut a piece of tin to an appropriate size, bend it to roughly match the tile below, set it over the break, mixed up a bag of cement ...and just dumped the big pail of cement over the tin. When it had dried, I just refilled the whole. Not pretty, but who cares when it's buried under a few feet of dirt. And it's not like the sewage/water is going to rise up to the top of the pipe. We just needed to keep more dirt from collapsing down into the hole. So ...just to mention an interesting solution.

I vote for this option. Sewer lines ain't rocket surgery.

Man I love this story and outcome but no way I’m doing this. I definitely don’t trust my neighbor Stan and any of his homemade solutions and if in 2 years the toilets back up I’d never hear the end of this

And a funny follow-up: Quite a number of years after that sewer repair, and after neighbor Ron had died, the new young neighbor next to me came by to ask for help with a new fridge where the copper water lines weren’t connecting (male/female plug). I looked it over, then with hardly a word, went home for a tool. I came back with a file, lightly shaved one of the copper lines ..and the connection popped together. My neighbor got wide-eyed and said “how did you know to do that?!” I just smiled and thought - I’ve become Ron, winging my way through a project.

I find I get pretty creative with my repairs when it's someone else's home

Best way to learn is on somebody else’s stuff.