Welcome to Chez Cliff!

"This will break a broomstick in half," Mr. Rooter said as the high pressure hose descended into the sewer pipe.

Like the other plumbers, Mr. Rooter sent his snake into the nether-reaches of the plumbing but nothing happened.  Beyond all frustration, insistance on my part called for a video camera be used.  The objective:  what was the exact problem.

Roots, roots, everywhere roots.

When the snake(s) were lowered into the plumbing, they didn’t cut the roots because the roots are extremely flexible.  The snake, in turn, would go all the way through to the street without doing any good. 

Mr. Rooter sent a high pressure hose, nearing 4,000 psi into the pipe.  This, I was told, would clean the pipe out.  After they finished, the camera was lowered; the pipe was indeed clean.

The immediate problem was solved.  The tenant can now use all of her facilities.  We’re all relieved.  But as stated, this solves the immediate problem.  It won’t take long before the roots are back into the pipe. 

Within the next few days, decisions must be made about which course I’m going to pursue.  The first is the "old fashioned" dig up the yard and replace pipe.  Mr. Rooter says they can do this in two to three days.  All my concrete will be busted up and my yard will be ripped up.  That’s going to add more work for me.  The second option has really piqued my curiosity and this is the option I’m thinking I’m going to select.

Trenchless pipe replacement.  Essentially, two holes are dug in my yard.  One at the clean out, the other where the pipe connects to the street.  A chain or cable is sent through the pipe from one end to the other.  Then a large "condom" is attached to the cable and sent through.  The condom is then inflated, via a bladder, and a new tube is formed.  Once the epoxy has dried, a new pipe is formed.  This is a two day operation.  One day to dig; the other to pipe it.

The cost difference between the two is a few hundred dollars.  But don’t kid yourself.  Both are super expensive.  The question is which is going to be less work, not only for them but for me.  Whatever damage they do to the yard I’m going to have to repair.

I want these houses done.

On a personal note . . .

La Tour de France Champagne Weekend Congrats Floyd!  And thanks for making this Tour an exciting one to watch. I took your advice bud.  Madame Clicquot once again visited my home.  I tried "Champagne Rose" for the first time.  Oh, that was delicious!

This still cracks me up.

It never ceases to amaze me how things have a way of working out.

My plumbing is completely blocked.  Nothing has changed.  Yesterday, the plumber installed a clean-out.  This was necessary in order to send a camera down into the pipes to find out where the clog/break is.  Hopefully, that takes place today.

As I’m chatting with the plumber, the cost of all this is going to run me up to $3,000.  At first, I choked on this.  Most of the money I had taken out under the HELOC is gone.  What money is left has already been spent on the last few remaining projects.  The question I asked myself was simple.  "Where the heck am I going to find $3,000?"

Well, the answer came 5 minutes later.

Where I work, the company is issuing all the employees shares of stock.  And the stock price is doing quite well.  After taxes and fees are taken out, my stock will be valued at (you guessed it!) $3,000.  The stock will be issued to me next week.

I’ve had 3 plumbers out.

Here’s where I’m at.

The second house has complete blockage in the line.  Somewhere.  The plumber with the most years of experience tells me the super large lemon tree next to my house has pushed one pipe out of alignment.

This means ripping up concrete.

This means another week.

This means I’m losing my sanity.

No, not really.  Just more learning going on.

And the insurance doesn’t cover it!  They pay for all the snaking in the world but that’s it.  They won’t pay for any pipe-replacing or replacement.

The poor tenant is about to freak.

I just love this photo.

More on the adventures of Astrid, Rose et Uwe.

My phone rang last Thursday.  My tenants toilet no longer drains.  It overflows beautifully but it doesn’t drain.  I attacked it with a plunger, but to no avail.

That got me worried.

To complicate issues, I had to leave town this last weekend.  I called my insurance company, issued an emergency request, and waited.  No one showed up.  Friday, I had to leave.  I told the tenant that she could use my bathroom in the meantime.

My tenant didn’t like this and took the initiative about contacting a plumber on her own, without telling me.  Whomever came out said he snaked up to 150 feet and was unable to remove the blockage.

This much, she left me in a voice message this morning.  Upon hearing that, I said to myself "Well, this is a problem the city can fix.  It’s obviously not on my property and the city will fix it."  I called my insurance company and canceled my work order.

As the day dragged on, I started thinking about this.

First off, the tenants house isn’t 150 feet from the street.  It’s more like 60 feet.  If this plumber snaked 150 feet, then he snaked my yard and half the street!  I doubt that highly.  Also, the clean-up for the second house is about 15 feet away.  His snake should have stopped there.  Because my house and the tenants house share the same sewer line, we should both be having problems.  But we’re not.  The problem must be between my house and the tenants house.

In any event, I called the insurance company once again and restarted the ticket.

The good news out of this is that the plumber didn’t charge the tenant because he was unable to remove the blockage.  This could have turned into an ugly battle because I could envision her trying to stick me with the bill.  My way costs $35 and hers could have cost hundreds.

Fortunately, that’s not something I have to deal with.

In the meantime, she’s continuing to use my bathroom.  Fortunately, I’m house-sitting for a friend these next ten days so there won’t be any awkward "bathroom moments".

I’ll keep you all posted!