If it isn't the roof, it is the other direction.

Well, the problem with water outside the sink and tub this time is not from the roof leaking. Today, we have the opposite problem, a clogged (and full) sewer line.

Richard was cleaning the bathrooms and ran out to find me when he saw a potential problem, the toilet started to bubble. He could not figure out why cleaning the sink made the bubbles pop up in the toilet when they were on other sides of the room and came running to get me (and I am very grateful he did it). I knew what the problem was.

I went down to the basement and checked. I thumped the pipes. They were full. All I could do it get everyone to help me move the boxes and such from that side of the house.

Richard and I ran the garden hose from outside to the basement and started opening the cleanout fitting. It was rather nasty emptying the contents of the lines onto the floor, but there was no choice. After dumping about 60 gallons on the deck and into the sump, we cleaned up everything by hosing it down.

There are three fans down there now, circulating the air to try and dry out the moisture caused by hosing down the concrete. The smell in minimal (by what Richard says) and should not be a problem. Not much was contaminated and only a couple of boxes should be needing a replacement.

Tomorrow, I will have to get a snake to clean out the line. I know the blockage is somewhere between the house and street. There is a cleanout just past the sidewalk and when I opened it up, was clear but the flow was a tiny trickle. Aside from a little contamination, I think we have done pretty well so far. Tomorrow's plumbing task will be the real mess with a big snake and all that implies.

I will also have to replumb the sump exhaust to a more manageable route. Currently, it all runs up hill to the exit pipe. That freezes up and we can not pump anything after that. If nothing else, this will give us an emergency pump in case this happens again this winter.

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New house, new problems

I was down in the basement on Friday to check on something related to lawn tools, when I heard the sound like water running through pipes. I knew that no one else was in the house so it could not be a toilet refilling, nor the ice-maker refilling because it was constant. So I followed the sound and there it was, a spray shooting out of the main inlet piping.

The spray was just like a big pinhole squirting out. Luckly it was shooting straight down otherwise it would have sprayed into the furnace and electrical system. We lucked out on that one. It was also lucky that I found it when I did. I must have only been leaking for half an hour when I found it.

This is what you get when you use ferrous and non-ferrous materials in the same system. bimetalic corosion is the result and nearly always caused problems, damage or worse. What it looked like to me was that someone had a big'ol piece of galvanized pipe and instead of using a piece of copper, they bridged a four foot section between copper. Thus, the corosion did us in.

Since 99% of the population does not know about this problem, they allow this type of problem to happen. The previous owners either didn't know about the plumber using the materials, or the plumber was taking a shortcut and wanted a little job security. If the plumber did know what he was doing, they realized that in a couple of years, they would have to return to fix another problem wher the pipe corroded through. Thus, he knew that he would have another payday.

I do not have much faith in people, so I always expect the worst (like this). I expect the worst, so I prepare for the worst. That way I am able to just move on and get through the day.

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