Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of owning my very own Victorian home.
Well, be careful what you wish for.
I own a 110-130 year old house (we can't determine factually when it was exactly built, but it was before 1903). I bought the house in 2010.
The sewer that exists leads to the city sewer through the old ceramic pipe system. It runs through my backyard passing along a large elm tree, where clumps of roots and such have clogged it in the past few years.
A year ago, it backed up significantly into the basement when a friend's family temporarily moved in while they bought a new house. I believe it was due to the increase in usage.
After clearing the clog using a rented power auger (the clog was about 30 feet off the house near the old elm), my husband and the husband of my friend decided that they would install a new sewer.
I knew that this had catastrophe written all over it, and I protested loudly. However, I lost the battle. They ended up digging a trench through my backyard (3 ft wide x 8 ft deep x 40 ft long). The goal was to lay PVC along the existing ceramic to tie into the sewer main. Unfortunately, they were unable (even with the city's assistance) to precisely locate the main off our house, coming up around 15 feet short, give or take.
Well, as I predicted, and I wish I had been wrong, this was just the catastrophe that we didn't need. The boys ended up filling one of the 8 inch ceramic pipes near the elm with a PVC pipe that was 6 inches in diameter thinking that, if that pipe was broken (which they suspected it was as they were finding large clumps of tree root in it) that the new PVC pipe would combat against further root blockages. However, what they didn't take into consideration but which I did (I sure sound bossy but no one listens
) was that now the 2 inch gap they'd created between the two pipes would probably cause even more of a back-up.
They filled in the trench, replacing the ceramic pipes they'd broken along the way and put in a vertical clean-out pipe.
Now, a year later, we are having to snake the clean-out about every 2-3 days, depending upon usage. Typical usage to equal a back-up is one shower, one load of clothes, toilet flushing and two or three hand-washed loads of dishes. This has been nothing short of a total disaster.
My question is this - my husband, who seems to have had a lightning bolt moment in recognizing that the gap in the tubes is probably creating havoc , now thinks that the solution would be to dig a new trench, remove the PVC tube that he put in and reconnect the ceramic tube. (This mortifies me...I don't want anyone but a person with PROFESSIONAL PLUMBING CREDENTIALS to touch our sewer ever again. I think it's bad enough now.) Is there anything that can be done in the meantime to unclog the sewer for longer than a few days?
I personally think that hiring a plumber to use that stuff that they blast through old pipes to seal up cracks and reinforce even shattered pipes is a good option (can't think of the name off the top of my head).
Any other suggestions, ideas, comments are hugely welcomed.
I apologize for my LONG post...I've been stewing about this problem for a year now, and I finally felt I had to vent!!!
Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope all of your plumbing problems are far less aggravating (and costly) than our's!!
Kimm
Well, be careful what you wish for.
I own a 110-130 year old house (we can't determine factually when it was exactly built, but it was before 1903). I bought the house in 2010.
The sewer that exists leads to the city sewer through the old ceramic pipe system. It runs through my backyard passing along a large elm tree, where clumps of roots and such have clogged it in the past few years.
A year ago, it backed up significantly into the basement when a friend's family temporarily moved in while they bought a new house. I believe it was due to the increase in usage.
After clearing the clog using a rented power auger (the clog was about 30 feet off the house near the old elm), my husband and the husband of my friend decided that they would install a new sewer.
I knew that this had catastrophe written all over it, and I protested loudly. However, I lost the battle. They ended up digging a trench through my backyard (3 ft wide x 8 ft deep x 40 ft long). The goal was to lay PVC along the existing ceramic to tie into the sewer main. Unfortunately, they were unable (even with the city's assistance) to precisely locate the main off our house, coming up around 15 feet short, give or take.
Well, as I predicted, and I wish I had been wrong, this was just the catastrophe that we didn't need. The boys ended up filling one of the 8 inch ceramic pipes near the elm with a PVC pipe that was 6 inches in diameter thinking that, if that pipe was broken (which they suspected it was as they were finding large clumps of tree root in it) that the new PVC pipe would combat against further root blockages. However, what they didn't take into consideration but which I did (I sure sound bossy but no one listens
) was that now the 2 inch gap they'd created between the two pipes would probably cause even more of a back-up. They filled in the trench, replacing the ceramic pipes they'd broken along the way and put in a vertical clean-out pipe.
Now, a year later, we are having to snake the clean-out about every 2-3 days, depending upon usage. Typical usage to equal a back-up is one shower, one load of clothes, toilet flushing and two or three hand-washed loads of dishes. This has been nothing short of a total disaster.
My question is this - my husband, who seems to have had a lightning bolt moment in recognizing that the gap in the tubes is probably creating havoc
, now thinks that the solution would be to dig a new trench, remove the PVC tube that he put in and reconnect the ceramic tube. (This mortifies me...I don't want anyone but a person with PROFESSIONAL PLUMBING CREDENTIALS to touch our sewer ever again. I think it's bad enough now.) Is there anything that can be done in the meantime to unclog the sewer for longer than a few days? I personally think that hiring a plumber to use that stuff that they blast through old pipes to seal up cracks and reinforce even shattered pipes is a good option (can't think of the name off the top of my head).
Any other suggestions, ideas, comments are hugely welcomed.
I apologize for my LONG post...I've been stewing about this problem for a year now, and I finally felt I had to vent!!!
Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope all of your plumbing problems are far less aggravating (and costly) than our's!!
Kimm
