Sigh.  Yes, we had another major plumbing issue that cropped up in December and finally got resolved last week.  This wasn’t as bad as the one that did a big number on our basement, but it has left us with a sense of PTSD for fear of other issues.  It’s hard to imagine at this point, with all the scrutiny our plumbing has gotten over the last 5 months, that any major issues could remain.

The problem started when our basement toilets started overflowing sewage.  We managed to contain that with no permanent damage and a quick cleanup, thinking the issue was caused by two front yard clean-outs that dirt had gotten into when the plumbing from the house to the street was back-filled.

We cleaned the dirt out and the sewer started flowing again, thinking we had solved the problem.

But then, on Christmas morning, the sewer again backed up, this time coming out the surface drains in our mechanical room.  A plumber came out, and we were able to get the sewer flowing.  No lasting damage from this one either as we caught it minutes after it started.

The plumber suggested coming back to video our sewer system, and we agreed.  He came the next day and what he found was a serious bummer.  The entire stretch of line from our house to the sidewalk, was full of water.  As far as he could tell, the line was not back-filled properly, and had sagged in the middle, creating a water trap.  The problem is, that such a water trap makes the water flow very slowly across it, and the solids accumulate, and eventually clog.  This is what was causing our repeated back-ups.

The only solution was to dig it all up and replace it.    The commenced digging the following week, a giant gaping trench, 9 feet deep, 6 feet wide, and 40 feet long, right in the middle of our front yard.

What they found, was another major bummer.  Across the entire 40 foot stretch, there was only 1/2 inch of fall; code requires a minimum of 10 inches across that length.  Additionally, the pipes sagged down 2 1/2 inches in the middle, creating the water trap.

As far as we can tell, what happened was this:

1. The original plumber calculated the fall required from the farthest point in our basement to the sewer main in the street, and determined we had just enough fall for it to work without a well pump system.
2. The house was plumbed for this, and the sewer pipe that came out of our house was at the correct level.
3. Communication totally failed when the portion from the sewer main to our property was replaced, as was required by our city.  Instead of digging up the street and relaying the pipe to insure it came in at the correct level, they did a cheaper trench-less line replacement and locked in whatever level the pipe was at, which as almost the same level that came out of the house.
4. When they laid the pipe from the house to the end of the property, they didn’t bother to check that it had the required fall, and didn’t back-fill it properly, which allowed the pipe to sag.
5. We also discovered that the lines in the front yard didn’t have the proper number of clean-outs; some lines were missing them.

So now, we were looking at having to replace the entire stretch all the way out to the main, at more than twice the cost we were quoted for just the front yard work.

Two weeks of heavy rain ensued, during which the plumbers worked hard to stabilize the trench and surrounding dirt, and keep it from filling with water.  We did have one more minor sewer backup and overflow during that period, which was quickly resolved.

Once we had a break in the rain, they were finally able to commence the street excavation, and finish the replacement of the entire 70 foot stretch, which I am happy to say now works like a champ.

We finally got the last bit of work done last week, almost 5 weeks after we started.

The karmic implications of all this, is that we’ve worked through about 20 years of house issues in just 4 or 5 months; I think we will be good for a long while.  🙂