Plumbing Problems. A Vent. And a Rant

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Mary_Gail_36

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I just wanted to vent…

Since yesterday, I’ve had to have the plumber come twice, and he’s due back later.

Some back knowledge, currently our home has two bathrooms. Once functional.

The house is about 45 years old, and the non functional bathroom is due to be made functional next month. We cannot use the bath, toilet or sink for different reasons. The toilet I believe is the original one from 1971, so it died.

The bath leaks to downstairs and gives us a lovely waterfall whenever we shower or bathe.

This is just the back story.

Yesterday as I went to go take a shower in the downstairs shower (it is the first level, all our house is above grade, no basement)

The bottom of the shower stall started to fill with black, murky, yucky stuff.

The toilet, also would flush slowly and, make gurgle sounds. The flushing would cause more black yucky stuff in the shower. This has happened perhaps a hand full of times when there was air in the pipes.

I tried to fix it myself using the plunger, and buckets of hot water (worked before) this time it didn’t work, and water started to seep under the toilet. (I think there is a horror film with same concept)

Sigh. Plumber came at 9:00 pm. He left at 10:30. He snaked the trap, and discovered that everything was slow, there is probably a major defect. But the toilet flushed while he was here, the shower drained fine.

He left. Would be back with special camera to see where the defect is. If the defect is in the house, then we’d have to dig the floor from the bathroom to the trap, and replace the pipe. If the defect is outside, then sadly home owners insurance would not cover it.

At 10:35 kids used the bathroom, by the third flush, it happened again, black yucky stuff in the shower. Toilet seeping, me wanting to cry.

DH called plumber to come back. He was on another call. Then he had a third call. He could come back in about 4 hours. (It would be about 2:00 am)

At about 1:30 am DH called, it would be closer to morning.

At 8:00 another plumber from the franchise of the nationally known drain cleaner came. The clog was found at the toilet, right passed the bend. Yay!! He fixed it. We can flush, we can shower!!

Not so fast.

He used the little camera.

The pipe that leads out to the main line has sunk in a spot. It isn’t urgent to fix, just be aware that it’s there. And get it fixed eventually.

By this point I have many wet yucky towels that need to be laundered.

I happily put them in the wash. I checked my slop sink, and was relieved that it drained very nicely and quickly. Yay!

“Mom? downstairs is flooding!”

All the water from the washing machine drained not into the slop sink, but came out of a drain in the adjacent room.

(We had designated that room to be a second kitchen, so there is a hookup for a sink, and an outlet for a drain, no kitchen though)

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

So the plumber is coming back.

I am hoping that all that is required is a cap for that drain.

The main line is clear, except for a slight sinking.

Now I have about 1000 wet towels (not really 1000 but a lot) I have dirty dishes that I am afraid to wash.

This hasn’t really happened before.

Thanks for reading. Please say a prayer that I do not lose it.
 
Mary Gail, I feel your soggy pain! :hug1:

It seems like every time we have one plumbing issue, we have 2 more. Seriously, it is always in threes!

I hope it gets fixed “easily” very soon!!
 
I also have been dealing with plumbing issues this week, though nothing even remotely as severe as yours.

I pray that the fix for your issue is simple, quick, and cheap.
 
Yup. Our daughter’s bedroom is flooding as I write this.
Plumbers.
God bless them.
 
I’m so sorry you’re going through that. My parents recently had a similar nightmare at their house. I will pray that this gets fixed for you ASAP.
 
Ah yes, a house is indeed a black hole when it comes to repairs & maintenance. I just spent a minor fortune on a new roof, leaders, gutters & front steps. I’m praying for you.
 
My plumber told me that there should be a law against building on grade. He is a good plumber. If you live in the country it may be a septic tank problem. In towns they used to build on grade because it was cheaper and because of the bedrock being so close to the surface. I see a lot of the newer houses being built above grade so that servicemen can get under them and work. I have a slow drain, too, so I expect problems in the future. I hope it all works out for you.
 
You know the really sad thing is this. My brother is a plumber. He is in Texas-I am not.😦
 
Sending a prayer of sympathy. And since you seem to have a few good plumbers already, I guess this link to a helpful plumbing site is largely academic at this point. Still, maybe it can tell you what to expect.
 
I am going to look up the patron saint of plumbers and pray to him or her, if that be the case.
 
As a fellow with a basement set below the aquifer level in the area and whose draining pumps go boom on a frequent basis, I offer a sympathy prayer.

I also suggest you guys check if your house hasen’t got a septic tank that you aren’t aware of. Last January, a pump whose existence we weren’t aware of [my house has two basements, one on each side of the pool. We knew of the pump on one side, but not on the other] broke down and flooded the basement. Took us a month untill my parents beleaved my theory that there was a pump there and did something about it.
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
I just wanted to vent…

Since yesterday, I’ve had to have the plumber come twice, and he’s due back later.

Some back knowledge, currently our home has two bathrooms. Once functional.

The house is about 45 years old, and the non functional bathroom is due to be made functional next month. We cannot use the bath, toilet or sink for different reasons. The toilet I believe is the original one from 1971, so it died.

The bath leaks to downstairs and gives us a lovely waterfall whenever we shower or bathe.

This is just the back story.

Yesterday as I went to go take a shower in the downstairs shower (it is the first level, all our house is above grade, no basement)

The bottom of the shower stall started to fill with black, murky, yucky stuff.

The toilet, also would flush slowly and, make gurgle sounds. The flushing would cause more black yucky stuff in the shower. This has happened perhaps a hand full of times when there was air in the pipes.

I tried to fix it myself using the plunger, and buckets of hot water (worked before) this time it didn’t work, and water started to seep under the toilet. (I think there is a horror film with same concept)

Sigh. Plumber came at 9:00 pm. He left at 10:30. He snaked the trap, and discovered that everything was slow, there is probably a major defect. But the toilet flushed while he was here, the shower drained fine.

He left. Would be back with special camera to see where the defect is. If the defect is in the house, then we’d have to dig the floor from the bathroom to the trap, and replace the pipe. If the defect is outside, then sadly home owners insurance would not cover it.

At 10:35 kids used the bathroom, by the third flush, it happened again, black yucky stuff in the shower. Toilet seeping, me wanting to cry.

DH called plumber to come back. He was on another call. Then he had a third call. He could come back in about 4 hours. (It would be about 2:00 am)

At about 1:30 am DH called, it would be closer to morning.

At 8:00 another plumber from the franchise of the nationally known drain cleaner came. The clog was found at the toilet, right passed the bend. Yay!! He fixed it. We can flush, we can shower!!

Not so fast.

He used the little camera.

The pipe that leads out to the main line has sunk in a spot. It isn’t urgent to fix, just be aware that it’s there. And get it fixed eventually.

By this point I have many wet yucky towels that need to be laundered.

I happily put them in the wash. I checked my slop sink, and was relieved that it drained very nicely and quickly. Yay!

“Mom? downstairs is flooding!”

All the water from the washing machine drained not into the slop sink, but came out of a drain in the adjacent room.

(We had designated that room to be a second kitchen, so there is a hookup for a sink, and an outlet for a drain, no kitchen though)

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

So the plumber is coming back.

I am hoping that all that is required is a cap for that drain.

The main line is clear, except for a slight sinking.

Now I have about 1000 wet towels (not really 1000 but a lot) I have dirty dishes that I am afraid to wash.

This hasn’t really happened before.

Thanks for reading. Please say a prayer that I do not lose it.
Click to expand...
I feel your pain. Been through something similar, though not as bad as you. I had to use the service of a plumber about 4 times last year at my house. One time I had to crawl under the house, which was flooded with sewer water and I literally swam through it to fix a pipe. I know… that is disgusting but you would be surprised what you are capable of doing knowing that it is going to save you at least a thousand dollars. I had to do it. Plumbing problems are horrible. Hope you get your problem solved.
 
You’re making me mentally relive that crazy we had going on in hubby and I’s second apartment before we moved into our house.

We had the plumber there several times in a week because of a bunch of weird accidents that happened.

The first I was using the toilet and replacing the empty toilet paper roll with a new one on the holder.

The spring loaded holder slipped out of my hands just as I flushed the toilet and was immediately flushed too. It nearly broke the toilet and we needed the plumber to fix it.

Then a couple of days later I happened to notice that there was a mysterious brown stain on the same toilet paper roll. I thought my husband was being careless. I replaced the roll. It took hubby and I a day or two to figure out that it wasn’t either of us staining the toilet paper but a drip coming from the ceiling.

Our landlords had a major plumbing issue in their bathroom (directly above ours) that required the plumber to come over the course of a few days to fix it.
That was annoying because some of the work had to be done around the walls in our bathroom which meant we didn’t have a bathroom for a couple of days and we weren’t getting much of any sleep because the plumbers were there during the day and we both worked night shifts.

You have my sympathies and prayers.
 
Update:

So far everything seems to be going down the drain and staying down the drain.

:extrahappy::extrahappy:

Plumber 1: Thought the problem was the main line…:eek:

Plumber 2: Confirmed that the problem was with the toilet, He checked the main line with a camera. It is clear, just a slope. It isn’t urgent, but he suggested we periodically flush the line (fill up all sinks and tubs with hot water, and simultaneously drain them)

Plumber 3: Cleared laundry room line. Thinks it was just coincidental, found large ball of lint.

So far so good.

Yay!!

Thanks for the support!!
 
Kelfa28 said:
You’re making me mentally relive that crazy we had going on in hubby and I’s second apartment before we moved into our house.

We had the plumber there several times in a week because of a bunch of weird accidents that happened.

The first I was using the toilet and replacing the empty toilet paper roll with a new one on the holder.

The spring loaded holder slipped out of my hands just as I flushed the toilet and was immediately flushed too. It nearly broke the toilet and we needed the plumber to fix it.

Then a couple of days later I happened to notice that there was a mysterious brown stain on the same toilet paper roll. I thought my husband was being careless. I replaced the roll. It took hubby and I a day or two to figure out that it wasn’t either of us staining the toilet paper but a drip coming from the ceiling.

Our landlords had a major plumbing issue in their bathroom (directly above ours) that required the plumber to come over the course of a few days to fix it.
That was annoying because some of the work had to be done around the walls in our bathroom which meant we didn’t have a bathroom for a couple of days and we weren’t getting much of any sleep because the plumbers were there during the day and we both worked night shifts.

You have my sympathies and prayers.
Click to expand...
Ahh, ceiling drips.

DH and I rented an apartment from a sweet little old man. Sadly, he wasn’t up to date with home repairs. His children weren’t very helpful either.

One day I had gone to retrieve a towel from the linen cabinet, and it was damp. :confused: The next one, too. :confused: The roof had sprung a leak and the rainwater got into the linen closet and everything was a wet mess.

A number of days later we had guests for dinner. I had set the table. Everything looked nice. And I noticed one of the plates was wet. Leak right over the table. Thankfully it only dripped a little bit and we were able to not cancel.
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
Ahh, ceiling drips.

DH and I rented an apartment from a sweet little old man. Sadly, he wasn’t up to date with home repairs. His children weren’t very helpful either.

One day I had gone to retrieve a towel from the linen cabinet, and it was damp. :confused: The next one, too. :confused: The roof had sprung a leak and the rainwater got into the linen closet and everything was a wet mess.

A number of days later we had guests for dinner. I had set the table. Everything looked nice. And I noticed one of the plates was wet. Leak right over the table. Thankfully it only dripped a little bit and we were able to not cancel.
Click to expand...
I stayed at my grandparents’ house one time in their guest bedroom. They don’t have air conditioning and it was rather humid, so I figured it was just that when the bed felt just slightly damp when I got into it. I woke up several hours later and felt like my lower legs were on fire. I moved my legs around a bit and noted that not all parts of the sheets felt the same. I turned on the light and there were little bugs…still not sure what they were…that had bred in the damp and bitten me up all over. Looked up and sure enough there was a huge wet spot on the ceiling. My grandparents hadn’t noticed because they rarely went into that room.

I forget what all they had to do to repair it but it was a LOT.

I live in fear of plumbing problems. We’ve had some basement flooding but thankfully nothing dripping yet. Our roof is old though and due for replacement soon so I’m just praying until then. :o
 
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