| Author | Message | |||
     greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9359 Registered: 5-2001  |
basement. On a holiday weekend. With family visiting. Saturday, the basement smells a bit sewage-y. So, I scoop the litter box & figure it's the poop & dampness from all the rain. Sunday, TS comes up from the basement and says "we got a little water from the rain, but it's coming from the back of the house." Strange. The back of the house is deck, with stone underneath and the backyard drainage was fixed last year. We usually get it, if at all, from the side. But wait. We have the classic Maplewood basement toilet, aka, underground outhouse. My cheeks have never touched it. TS's have never, either. We never open that door. Yes, we know that you are supposed to flush it once in awhile to prevent gas build up (oh, the irony) but, well, we forget. The contractors used it during the kitchen renovatio two years ago, even fixed the connection and bought a new seat. Other than that, nada. I ask TS "did you open the bathroom door and check in there?" No. So, down I go to the basement. The water is trickling out from under the door. There's not too much of it. I open the door. Whoa, Nelly! I slam the door. I break the Golden Rule of "When Your Pro is Your Neighbor" and go knock on my plumber's door. I describe the mess. He tells me that I appear to have a sewage blockage and that his sewer-snaking-apparatus machine thingy is being fixed. He tells me that it could be a one time fluke. Have someone watch the toilet while someone else flushes another in the house. If it happens again, I'm literally in deep ••••. I get the job of watching. It was not pleasant, but at least it was some minor bubbling, pre-eruption volcanic activity, as it were. TS says "let's flush another one and see if it still happens." Hell, no. But, it could be worse. We have sewer line and water line protection from our wonderful water company, NJ American! I place a call to NJ Am. Describe the problem. They'll send someone. Fortunately, our neighbors are away and we have a key. I announce "until the plumber gets here, we have a new rule: if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, here's the key to the neighbor's house." NJ Am contractor gets there, but it's in the line between the house main and the basement toilet. We spend 20 minutes going back and forth w/ NJ Am on the phone as to whether or not this is covered. It's not. Now we have to pay this guy $50 just for showing up (courtesy of our useless NJ Am policy). He tells us what he needs to do. Estimates $375-ish. I run calculations in my head. Sunday. Holiday weekend. $175 per hour, high but not outrageous plumber cost. Hostage. Screwed. Crap. We tell him to go ahead. He suggests snaking all the way to the curb. We know it had to be done, just hadn't gotten around to it. (don't say it) OK, go ahead. Almsot three hours later, he tells me that he had to remove the toilet to get to the blockage but that he capped the hole. I say "I thought there was a whole process involved in decommissioning a toilet, that you can't just cap it off." He agrees with me; this is only temporary. Then what, I ask, is the advantange to having you cap as opposed to putting the toilet back? (Other than he doesn't have to touch the •••••• toilet again). It takes twice as long to put it back ($$$$) as to cap it. Cap it, we say. Whew; the bill was only $500. So, I have this disgusting toilet sitting in the basement. The outhouse and floor have had one bleach wash down, but need a more thorough one. We're going to get a new cheap toilet and just clean up that room. Never hurts to have a 3rd toilet, I guess. What pisses me off is that it wasn't clear that the job wasn't covered by our policy until the guy was already here. If I'd known that I would have to pay a plumber and mine wasn't available, I would have liked to pay one of my choice. This guy was fine, but I would have called Gateway. Words to the wise: 1. Remember to flush your basement toilet every once in awhile. 2. If you've been meaning to have your sewer line snaked, but haven't gotten around to it, get around to it. 3. If you have the NJ Am insurance, ask lots of questions before you have them send out the plumber. I just love spending what will end up being $1k on a basement outhouse when we have tiles (lovely, sky blue, Mediterranean tile) falling off our main bathroom which is in dire need of redoing.  | |||
| K_soze Citizen Username: K_soze Post Number: 831 Registered: 11-2005  |
Damn, that's some crazy •••• | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9362 Registered: 5-2001 |
Yeah, it really stinks. | |||
| MeAndTheBoys Citizen Username: Meandtheboys Post Number: 4533 Registered: 12-2004  |
That really sucks Greetetree. Sorry. Ain't home ownership grand? | |||
| combustion Citizen Username: Spontaneous Post Number: 522 Registered: 4-2006  |
Sorry to hear about your misadventure, I'm sure the smell and the cleanup weren't pleasant. I am constantly receiving NJ American water literature in the mail. I know this info does little to help you now, but every time I read the fine print, it seems as though almost nothing is covered, so I've never purchased it. | |||
| daylaborer Citizen Username: Upondaroof  Post Number: 928 Registered: 4-2003  |
greentree, something doesn't smell right (pun intended) with this plumber. If the clog is in the section of drain before the main, how would it back up to the basement? | |||
| LilLB Citizen Username: Lillb Post Number: 2363 Registered: 10-2002  |
I wish I didn't know what you were going through, but I do. This happened to us actually in-between removing our basement outhouse toilet and putting in a new bathroom. And....I know this is stupid....but the line hadn't been capped (just loosely covered) because it was just temporary. Cleaning that mess up was a fairly humbling experience... | |||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 3177 Registered: 9-2003  |
Sounds like you have your preferred plumber, but I will say that we had a MAJOR backup when we first moved in during a March blizzard in 1993. Had no idea who to call, so called All Clear from the yellow pages. One of their network of plumbers (or whatever it is) came and took care of it pretty quickly for a couple of hundred bucks. Some waste pipe to the street coupled with internal waste pipes... | |||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 12571 Registered: 5-2001 |
We had the same thing (the clog was betweeen the house and the street which is what I think Greenie means) a couple of years ago, also on a Sunday. We called Ronnie at Maplewood Sewer and Drain and he cleared the blockage in about 20 minutes for a cost of less than $100. He arrived within a half an hour of our call btw. Using Ronnie for work that requires a license is up to you. However, for snaking drains and other work that doesn't require a license I highly recommend him. | |||
| LilLB Citizen Username: Lillb Post Number: 2365 Registered: 10-2002 |
Bob - Ronnie bailed us out also in this situation and we had the same great experience. He's great for this type of thing | |||
| Morrisa da Silva Citizen Username: Mod Post Number: 541 Registered: 12-2003 |
Weve had a back-up (major) and some mini-back-ups - where we catch it before it gets going. We have had our main snaked a few times and finally called Ronnie to check things out. He was great. My husband had managed to clear out a blockage so when Ronnie came all was clear but he listened to the pipe and spent time while we ran high volume of water (washer, diswasher and toilets) to see if the problem was with some cracks or obstructions in the main. He basically told us that our main was sound and clear and running fast for Maplewood. He suggested that we get a kind of balloon thing which goes on the end of a hose to put down our main if and when it ever gets a blockage. He explained that what we were getting were small blockages of toilet paper and the like which were moving through our system but getting hung up somewhere in the beginning of the main. He said it happens and the balloon/hose thing would take care of it. He charged me nothing at all because he said he really didn't do anything. Ronnie is an honest/nice guy. Last week we noticed a slight odor in the basement and checked the main. There was water up to the cap-line (kind of a pre-back-up) so we used the balloon/hose combo and took care of it before it could get worse. Thank you Ronnie. | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9370 Registered: 5-2001 |
If the blockage had been between the house and the street, it would have been covered. I think that the sewer line coverage is probably a good thing to have, similar to oil tank insurance. You'll probably never need it, but if you do..... I have attempted to attach a diagram. I don't know how to just make the diagram show up on screen.
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| daylaborer Citizen Username: Upondaroof Post Number: 929 Registered: 4-2003 |
"I have attempted to attach a diagram." One picture worth thousand words! I was confused by your wording, but now I see. So you're only covered from the street to the outside of the house. But how did he ascertain where exactly the blockage was? (Just curious!) | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9380 Registered: 5-2001 |
He opened the main (front of the house) and it was completely clear. When the toilet was flushed, no activity there, but plenty at the toilet (the defacto new main drain). When he started the unblocking process, he said that the pipes from the upstairs came down and went horizontal with very little bend, right under the outhouse. He couldn't get it completely clear, so he took the toilet off and found the blockage in the drain there. Don't ask me if this makes sense. Given that the toilet is at the back of the house and the water/waste pipes all run straight down into the outhouse, I tend to believe him. Once the toilet was off, he was able to clear everything. Our plumber came by this morning. He's going to take the nasty old toilet away and install a new one. We're going to clean that room out first. It will be easier to scrub down and paint without the toilet, methinks. So, what cheap toilet should I buy? | |||
| daylaborer Citizen Username: Upondaroof Post Number: 931 Registered: 4-2003 |
Why not let the plumber supply low end commode. This way if there is a problem, it's his problem. I wouldn't spend a lot on a pot that you're not going to use or use only occasionally. As far as his scenario, I'd buy into it. Usually bathrooms (in older homes) are stacked up. What does your plumber think? | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9381 Registered: 5-2001 |
Day - good idea. The we don't have to worry about how to get a toilet home and into the basement. He hasn't really had a chance to look into all the issues, he just stopped by (actually, had his guys stop) to make sure everything is OK for now. He always stops by or sends one of the guys over whenever I have a problem (which he knows because I call the office and leave a message) and if it's not an emergency and/or there are people with bigger issues, I don't bug him he and gets to our job as soon as he can. Just one of the many reasons I love the guy. | |||
| daylaborer Citizen Username: Upondaroof Post Number: 933 Registered: 4-2003 |
"He always stops by or sends one of the guys over whenever I have a problem (which he knows because I call the office and leave a message) and if it's not an emergency and/or there are people with bigger issues, I don't bug him he and gets to our job as soon as he can. " The way it should be!  | |||
| eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1733 Registered: 5-2001 |
We had this problem multiple times (yuck!) until we switched tp types... no more Charmin Ultra for this family! | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9384 Registered: 5-2001 |
Not to get too graphic here, but I hate those "extra-soft" tps. Seems like it melts in your •••. | |||
| Morrisa da Silva Citizen Username: Mod Post Number: 543 Registered: 12-2003 |
No Charmin and I'm beginning to think those cottonelle flushable wipes are just too much for our 1920-30's plumbing. | |||
| eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1735 Registered: 5-2001 |
Flushable wipes would definitely gunk up our very tempermental waste pipe. Still trying to train the mini-me not to use half a roll of tp every visit. | |||
| Oregon gal Citizen Username: Oregon_gal Post Number: 107 Registered: 6-2006  |
Immediately after reading this I went and flushed our nasty basement toilet twice. Thanks for the heads up! | |||
| irl Citizen Username: Irl Post Number: 274 Registered: 6-2001 |
We had our main sewer line back up once...on the day of our first child's first birthday...when we invited 50 people over for the party that lasted until about 11:00pm. When we went into the basement to put the left over food in the freezer and, well...you can imagine. The plumber suggested that it probably started to back up sometime that afternoon. It happened again some years later when we had workmen in the house replacing the windows. They kept forgetting to NOT flush the toilet and well...you can imagine again. | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9388 Registered: 5-2001 |
Has anyone ever heard of a sewage line back up happening on a regular weekday, when the plumber had some time, the home owner had no where to be and nothing to do? You haven't, have you? It's rather suspicious. We also had two furnace failures in our early years in the house. Both were the day of a Christmas party we were hosting. There must be some rational, scientific explanation for this. I'll just be damned if I know what it is. | |||
| Bob K Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 12576 Registered: 5-2001 |
We use old Sears catalogues and have for generations. Just nail the old one up on the side of the outhouse when the new one arrives. Never had a flushing problem. | |||
| eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1737 Registered: 5-2001 |
GT - that's so true. The first time it happened to us we had invited some friends for a dinner party. The door to the basement is from our kitchen and I was smelling something unpleasant in the kitchen where my husband was fixing drinks. I kept giving him the evil eye as if he, ahem, was the cause ... finally it was so strong I realized it couldn't be him  . Not a great beginning to a dinner party. | |||
| doulamomma Citizen Username: Doulamomma Post Number: 1816 Registered: 3-2002 |
So true - we have also seem only to have plumbing emergencies on holidays...sort of like the kids getting sick on Friday night of a holidy weekend | |||
| Bklyngirl Citizen Username: Bklyngirl Post Number: 223 Registered: 10-2005 |
I have no idea what an "underground outhouse" is. Can someone please explain. bklyngirl | |||
| greenetree Supporter Username: Greenetree Post Number: 9394 Registered: 5-2001 |
It's the toilet in the basement surrounded by cheap old walls that you've probably never used. At tax assessment time, it's the disgusting toilet in the basement that doesn't even have a sink in the same room and can't possibly be considered any sort of bathroom. At appraisal time, it's .25 bath, the convenient basement powder room which comes in handy with all the family visiting at the holidays. | |||
| Bklyngirl Citizen Username: Bklyngirl Post Number: 224 Registered: 10-2005 |
I see.  My basement is completely finished and the 1/2 bathroom is in the back of the house. Sounds like we, too, had an "underground outhouse" at one time. Lucky for us, however, we use that bathroom a lot. Sorry to hear about your bad weekend. Hope things are back to normal or at least getting there. bklyngirl |
