Week before last we had some sewer problems with our house in Chicago. Uncommon rain showers (for February) caused a pool of water around the floor drain in our basement, and Calamity Jean was pushing for me to get the line rodded. So I called the plumber a week ago this past Thursday, and he came out and gave it a try, and that's where the fun started. But first, a word from our sponsors:
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So the line was rodded, and it was determined that the line was infiltrated enough that it was probably damaged, and would need to be replaced from the house to the sidewalk. Additionally, the cap on the cleanout had corroded, so the plumber had to knock it off the riser with a hammer, so that had to be dealt with. The plumber recommended putting in a new cleanout close to the sidewalk, but we eventually wanted them to cap the old riser rather than take it out, since it would require taking out more of our remaining bamboo to do that.
So, bright and early last Friday they set the two younger guys on their crew to digging the trench, by hand, since there ended up being a lot of roots from the old ash tree, and the bush that was removed (Calamity Jean never liked that bush), getting them roughly 2/3rd's down. They returned the following day (Saturday) and got the sewer line exposed.
The old pipes indeed were damaged, and loaded with a dense network of fine roots. They set about replacing the pipes, packing the joints with treated oakum, and sealing them with fast-setting hydraulic cement. The only thing they lacked was a second cap assembly for the old cleanout riser next to the house, so they put a temporary cover over that, and covered everything back up.
Monday arrived, and we were a little worried, as they weren't there as early as the other days. We had told them we were going out to Orangeville to do a walk-through of the new house. They did show up later in the morning, and did the repair quickly, and we got on the road before noon. The walk-through happened the following day (Tuesday) and we headed back to Chicago in the afternoon.
The new house looks nice, but work still needs to be done on the stairs, the outside steps, and the balcony railings. The rest of the appliances need to be installed, and cleanup and adjustments are to be done. Once we get our certificate of habitability, we can start moving in. Our architect and contractor are working on those items. So, my FP's are these: first, the new house is still not completely finished, though I suspect we will be able to start moving in at the 3-1/2 year mark from when the shell kit was delivered in September, 2012. Second, we are $5,800 poorer for the sewer work, but we have to keep the old house as livable as we can until we move out.
Finally, there's my usual FP, the schedule. How about some new authors stepping up?
February 27: JeffW
March 5:
March 12:
March 19:
March 26: Yo Bubba
What are your's? Floor's open.