Plumbing Update
As you all know, I had an overflowing drain problem in my bathroom, which is also my laundry and the toilet is in there too.
Plumbers were arranged on Friday and arrived on Saturday, pipes were reamed out and tree roots blockages removed as much as possible.
All was well by Saturday evening.
For a while.
Sunday morning my toilet began making the usual gurgling sucking noises that indicated things were not well. I hoped it would settle down, after all the pipes had been cleared, right?
It's Monday morning now, 4:31am as I type this and I have been up since 2am which is when I woke to the sounds of the drain overflowing.
Again!
I've never seen so much sludge (and poop too) and what appears to be noodles from chicken noodle soup. I don't eat chicken noodle soup.
I laid newspapers to soak up as much of the mess as possible and gingerly stepped around and over to rescue things I'd need when bathing and washing my hair in the kitchen sink.
I'll wait until 5am (I like to let people get a decent amount of sleep) and then I'll try phoning the emergency maintenance number and ask them to send a plumber immediately.
Hopefully I won't need to use the toilet....
Added at 9:37am; plumbers are just now packing up after clearing drains for an hour and a bit, they said a lot of muck that came up was food waste so apparently some people around here are flushing leftovers down their toilets.
Oh, my godfathers, that is awful. I hope they come immediately and sort it out once and for all.
ReplyDeletejabblog; plumbers came around 8am and are just now packing up. My bathroom floor is covered in muck and I can't just wash it down the drain of course, so I will let it dry and then scrape it up and put it in the bin before I mop the floor.
DeleteI hope they come quickly. And as Jabblog says that the problem is sorted. Until next time.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; they did come quickly and are now done. I think I may have to speak to my immediate neighbours about what not to flush down the toilets.
DeleteNOOOO!!! I hope you can get it fixed quicky, and correctly!
ReplyDeleteVal; fixed for now, but with cracked pipes tree roots will always be a problem. This time much of what came out was food waste so I'll have to speak to the neighbours.
DeleteOH GROSS!!!! Save the orphans and go to a hotel!
ReplyDeleteLinda Sue; out of the question, no $$$$ and I can't take the cat. Plumbers are packing up now so all is good again.
DeleteYuck. I hope you get this mess solved.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte; solved for now, see my reply to jabblog.
DeleteBathroom plumbing is sooo complex. You need the best plumbing team in the country.
ReplyDeletehels; even more complex when it's subsidised housing and no one wants to spend money on actual proper repairs like replacing pipes for 110 flats. it's good again for now.
DeleteI sure hope that gets taken care of quickly and that they don't charge you! Obviously, they didn't get the job done the first go round.
ReplyDeleteMMM; they won't charge me, the bill goes to Housing since this wasn't my fault. They thought it was done first time but without putting camera down the drains they can never be sure. If it happens again they will do the camera thing.
DeleteYou were lucky to have enough newspapers to soak up the mess. Newspapers are a rare thing these days. News comes on the internet or on the telly.
ReplyDeleteShammickite; I buy a newspaper every day to do the puzzles so I usually have a big stack, but I used some on Friday and the rest this morning. I'll start building a new supply in case I need them again.
DeleteThat is awful! I hope you get it sorted out.
ReplyDeleteJenn Jilks; the worst was the mess and the smell. It's done for now, we'll see how long it lasts.
DeleteI was thinking that myself when I read your earlier post. I would have thought other residents would be having issues too, unless you are the low point or the closest to the blockage.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; I am on the ground floor and closest to the gully traps. It seems most of the blockages this time was food waste, so now I need to speak to the neighbours about not flushing food waste down the toilet. Of course they will all say "Not me, I would never..." but at least they will be aware. And hopefully stop.
DeleteI'll try to make you feel a little better. I had a friend that had a blocked sewer line just outside his house in the main sewer line. Because he was down hill from most of the rest of the subdivision, the whole subdivision sewer line drained up through his floor drain, went all the way across his basement, and out his patio doors. He has a foot of sewage flowing through his basement until the sewer company came out and cleared the blockage.
ReplyDeleteMike; thank you, at least my sewage was only about an inch or so and confined to the bathroom. And I worry that it isn't over yet, I just now heard my toilet gurgle which usually heralds another gushing drain. And I'm all out of newspapers and rags.
DeleteMay it be fixed now! From my lips to god's ear.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; oh yes please!
DeleteIt been a few years since we had plumbing trouble. No fun!
ReplyDeleteDora; no fun at all and twice in less than a week is worse.
DeletePeople need to be informed what's going on with their food waste. It's not meant to go down the toilet.
ReplyDeletemessymimi; I did knock on some doors but three people didn't answer and one swears she never puts food down the toilet. Oddly enough, her toilet flushing causes my toilet to gurgle. I shall mention that if I have to call the plumbers again.
DeleteOh, BIG YUCK. To be honest, I´d needed to puke, just where? We never throw food in the toilet, doesn´t every kid know this?! I am so sorry to read this.
ReplyDeleteWhat is next? Inform neighbours not to do this anymore with notes on trees - go to the newspaper? Ask the landlord won´t help much, huh? If people keep doing this it´s just a matter of time .
Oh, yuck, this is 10 times worse than what happened around our cabin. Glad you had newspaper at least, I´d be helpless.
Iris; The "landlord" used to be the government and years ago in the 70s and before, regular maintenance was carried out every year and problems were speedily fixed. The government sold housing to a private investor and now nothing is done unless an emergency happens. For the sake of some quick cash, the government really let down the people on this. I'm glad I had newspapers too, a big stack, but now none are left and old cleaning rags are all used up and thrown away too.
DeleteOh good heavens what a mess.
ReplyDeleteWhy would people put food rubbish down the loo! Beats me.
Hopefully the pipes will all be good from now on.
Of course neighbours are going to say they don't do anything wrong!
Margaret D; I suspect it's things like soup which are mostly liquid, but maybe other things too and one neighbour who isn't well regularly vomits, so there's that too. I hope things stay well now too, but of course the tree roots will grow back.
DeleteOh God River what an awful mess and twice too, I am glad they came but it sounds frighteningly temporary with the tree roots. It does rather sound like the neighbours are causing this though. Nothing worse than sewer/sewage issues.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Wisewebwoman; twice this year so far. I had the plumbers out four times last year, though things weren't nearly as bad then. I have my suspicions about a certain neighbour but there's nothing I can do about that. I'm just glad my dad was a plumber so I learned very early what not to flush down drains and toilets. With so many trees in this area I really wish the cracked pipes could be replaced.They are around the back in an area which is very hard for trucks and equipment to access, not to mention the lack of interest from whoever owns "SA Housing" now.
Delete