Well, it has been quite a week at home!
It all started innocently enough with the bathroom sinks not draining properly which I fixed by running a snake down the drains. I thought it was just a common clog in the pipes.
That escalated to a slow draining in the tub - my big soaking tub. That was followed by the shower drain stopping followed by the toilet stoppage.
I decided that I had to call a plumber which I did... They ran a powered snake from the lower cleanout and then from the toilet out toward the lower cleanout.
Still a problem existed... upon looking in the crawl space they found a broken pipe and all the pipe hangers (plastic bands) were broken leaving no slope for the drain. They also found that sewage was spilled when the pipe broke or maybe when they snaked the pipes. FULL STOP!
I had to get a hazmat crew out to clean the area before the plumbers would fix the pipe. I called a local crew and they came out to give a quote on the clean-up. $5000 at least to do the clean-up! So I called my insurance company and filed a claim. Two days later (after the weekend) I got a return call and they asked the questions to decide whether it was a "covered loss". I was then informed that they would have a hazmat crew come out for a second quote. I agreed and Tuesday the crew showed up. Well, they went to work to clean it up without any pause and had it cleaned in about two hours!? I called the plumbers back and the soonest they could be there was Wednesday evening. I agreed because I didn't want to put it off for a week or more. The plumbers showed up about a half hour early - with no phone contact (they had a wrong number) but they made a preliminary inspection and went to work. I made it clear that I wanted steel straps that would hold the pipes in place after the job was done. They had to get some special screws to anchor the straps to the steel framework and went to get the job done. After only 2-1/2 hours they were done and had me flush the toilets in both bathrooms multiple times to make sure it was all clear and working properly. I turned the water back on to the toilets and flushed away. No leaks and drains that worked! Yea!
I spent a couple of hours cleaning the bath and shower of the ... "residue" from the backup and made sure that those drains were also working. I ran a hot bath and soaked for an hour and then showered and shaved.
So, the bottom line is it cost about $1000 for the plumber and I have a $1000 deductible for the insurance company. I have a written guarantee for 5 years on parts and labor for the plumbers. I don't feel too bad and although it was an unexpected cost at a very inconvenient time I had a great Thanksgiving on Thursday with my two sons and their families. It's OK because we gathered for the funerary rites of the turkey that died so no rules were broken.
It all started innocently enough with the bathroom sinks not draining properly which I fixed by running a snake down the drains. I thought it was just a common clog in the pipes.
That escalated to a slow draining in the tub - my big soaking tub. That was followed by the shower drain stopping followed by the toilet stoppage.
I decided that I had to call a plumber which I did... They ran a powered snake from the lower cleanout and then from the toilet out toward the lower cleanout.
Still a problem existed... upon looking in the crawl space they found a broken pipe and all the pipe hangers (plastic bands) were broken leaving no slope for the drain. They also found that sewage was spilled when the pipe broke or maybe when they snaked the pipes. FULL STOP!
I had to get a hazmat crew out to clean the area before the plumbers would fix the pipe. I called a local crew and they came out to give a quote on the clean-up. $5000 at least to do the clean-up! So I called my insurance company and filed a claim. Two days later (after the weekend) I got a return call and they asked the questions to decide whether it was a "covered loss". I was then informed that they would have a hazmat crew come out for a second quote. I agreed and Tuesday the crew showed up. Well, they went to work to clean it up without any pause and had it cleaned in about two hours!? I called the plumbers back and the soonest they could be there was Wednesday evening. I agreed because I didn't want to put it off for a week or more. The plumbers showed up about a half hour early - with no phone contact (they had a wrong number) but they made a preliminary inspection and went to work. I made it clear that I wanted steel straps that would hold the pipes in place after the job was done. They had to get some special screws to anchor the straps to the steel framework and went to get the job done. After only 2-1/2 hours they were done and had me flush the toilets in both bathrooms multiple times to make sure it was all clear and working properly. I turned the water back on to the toilets and flushed away. No leaks and drains that worked! Yea!
I spent a couple of hours cleaning the bath and shower of the ... "residue" from the backup and made sure that those drains were also working. I ran a hot bath and soaked for an hour and then showered and shaved.
So, the bottom line is it cost about $1000 for the plumber and I have a $1000 deductible for the insurance company. I have a written guarantee for 5 years on parts and labor for the plumbers. I don't feel too bad and although it was an unexpected cost at a very inconvenient time I had a great Thanksgiving on Thursday with my two sons and their families. It's OK because we gathered for the funerary rites of the turkey that died so no rules were broken.
