A Real Crappy Week
SCompRacer
Posts: 8,509
Last weekend the wife walked into the kitchen around 11PM. Just night lights on here and there. She slips and falls due to water on the floor. Thankfully she is just a badly bruised and sore 72-year-old.
The sewer was plugged at foundation wall. The dishwasher was running and overflowed the sink in kitchen, water everywhere.
The reason for the plugged sewer, the cast iron was broken at the outside foundation wall. The outer 4" cast had dropped down a couple of inches and paper got jammed there. It appears to have been broken for years as tree roots had navigated there and were growing into the pipe and PVC inside the house. I had cleaned some of the roots out and was surprised to see the pipe hanging on the other side of wall.
I used the local Mr. Rooter as they have a good rep and the owner actually works on the excavation jobs. He said they have seen many broken 4" cast-iron sewer pipes in the area. The only time any heavy equipment would have been in that area was in 2000 when the house was built while backfilling the foundation.
The claim, it was due to poor quality cast iron. I dunno, it seemed pretty stout when he tried to break the removed section with a big hammer. I called Monday morning they sent a guy out who provided estimate, and they did the job Wednesday. Code allows a five-foot PVC repair from foundation, and they added an external cleanout. There was a good amount of stone under the old cast iron.
While they offered to use the backhoe to dig the plants and Rosebushes out of the excavation and backfill area, the wife and I did it so they would be a more manageable size. We scraped the mulch to the side. I dug the black dirt down to clay. The clay was rock solid due to lack of rain.
I didn't want to wait months for the clay backfill to settle so I dug a trench in center of clay fill, got a 30" long 2" auger and drilled lots of deep holes. The holes will allow water to get deeper. Took advantage of the rain today and added lots of water so it's settling nicely.
Waiting for the inspector. Stone was added/packed around pipe after approved. They also ran a camera in sewer pipe out to street, and it was clear.
The sewer was plugged at foundation wall. The dishwasher was running and overflowed the sink in kitchen, water everywhere.
The reason for the plugged sewer, the cast iron was broken at the outside foundation wall. The outer 4" cast had dropped down a couple of inches and paper got jammed there. It appears to have been broken for years as tree roots had navigated there and were growing into the pipe and PVC inside the house. I had cleaned some of the roots out and was surprised to see the pipe hanging on the other side of wall.
I used the local Mr. Rooter as they have a good rep and the owner actually works on the excavation jobs. He said they have seen many broken 4" cast-iron sewer pipes in the area. The only time any heavy equipment would have been in that area was in 2000 when the house was built while backfilling the foundation.
The claim, it was due to poor quality cast iron. I dunno, it seemed pretty stout when he tried to break the removed section with a big hammer. I called Monday morning they sent a guy out who provided estimate, and they did the job Wednesday. Code allows a five-foot PVC repair from foundation, and they added an external cleanout. There was a good amount of stone under the old cast iron.
While they offered to use the backhoe to dig the plants and Rosebushes out of the excavation and backfill area, the wife and I did it so they would be a more manageable size. We scraped the mulch to the side. I dug the black dirt down to clay. The clay was rock solid due to lack of rain.
I didn't want to wait months for the clay backfill to settle so I dug a trench in center of clay fill, got a 30" long 2" auger and drilled lots of deep holes. The holes will allow water to get deeper. Took advantage of the rain today and added lots of water so it's settling nicely.
Waiting for the inspector. Stone was added/packed around pipe after approved. They also ran a camera in sewer pipe out to street, and it was clear.
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Comments
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No fun at all.
I had that fun and the sewer line was orangeburg pipe, satan's own plumbing. It was also over 9 feet down and the backhoe couldn't dig effectively at that depth so they had to jump in the hole and finish the trench by hand. Had to dig up the whole lawn because the pipe was collapsing from just the inspection camera being sent down it.Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you! -
So sorry you had to deal with that, and a speedy recovery for your wife. Ours broke inside the wall behind the dishwasher 3 years ago next week. Because it was inside, our insurance covered everything and bought us a brand new kitchen… I turned the kitchen in a month, just in time for my second boy to enter this world.The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD
“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson -
Buy a home, they said.....it'll be great, they said....
Home ownership definitely has its ups and downs.
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Well Rich is sure gong out of his way to stay busy in retirement....
Cast Iron can be funny stuff, no two ways about it. -
Water issues are no fun. Sorry to hear of all the crap you had to endure this week. Hopefully everyone heals up and you can restore your landscaping soon.
I've been putting off a basement sewage lift pump issue for some time. Luckily the whole main floor is gravity drained, so I can just not use the water in the basement. I have just turned off the bathroom and mini-kitchen water down there. Don't really need it anyway. That's a part of the house that rarely gets used other than for storage.
For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore... -
I can fix any plumbing issues inside the house, but I draw the line at digging in the yard, too much work.
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Sounds like you went through it. Glad it wasn't' worse for your wife, sure could 'a been. Your landscaping is topnotch though dude. Looking good!!Source: BRP Panasonic UB9000, CDP Emotiva ERC3 - Display: LG OLED EVO 83 C3 - Pre/Pro: Marantz 8802A - Amplification: Emotiva XPA-DR3, XPA-2 x 2, XPA-6, Speakers, Mains/2ch-Focal Kanta No2's, C-LSiM706, S-702F/X, RS-RTiA9's, WS-RTiA9's, FH-RTiA3's, Subs - Epik Empire x 2
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I had a clean water leak in the basement a couple years ago. Not fun at all, but at least it wasn’t sewage. On the bright side, it led to me getting back into 2-channel listening again and finding this site. Hope all is well with your wife!
Brian
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No fun at all.
I had that fun and the sewer line was orangeburg pipe, satan's own plumbing. It was also over 9 feet down and the backhoe couldn't dig effectively at that depth so they had to jump in the hole and finish the trench by hand. Had to dig up the whole lawn because the pipe was collapsing from just the inspection camera being sent down it.
Our neighborhood has this orange burg and both our houses that our next to each other have it when we bought the second house the sewer inspection showed the orange burg starting to collapse so the seller had to replace it prior to selling it. It was a long run from the house to the street. What a mess, and not cheap either. I have water line insurance on the other house. Sorry the OP had to go through this but at least now you have peace of mind knowing it has been taken care of.Home Theater
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He fixed it the right way, used the good sleeves. Sucks when that happens and frankly, your house is too new for it to happen.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
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Kitchen
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lsi 9's -
Glad your wife is ok & hope she feels better soon Rich. I understand your pain on the pipe issue, as I have older home. May things look up for you..
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**** situation for sure, but looks like you got it taken care of properly so that's good. I hope your wife feels better soon and makes a full recovery.
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Yeah... water. Whenever I discover a leak, however tiny, all I can think of is...
so, @SCompRacer, you all definitely have my sympathy & empathy.
