What My Busted Sewer Line Taught Me

Reflecting:

This issue had been inexplicable, unimaginable, unbelievable and the solution appeared untenable.

And the lesson -- patience, trust, understanding, reflecting and decision making -- all virtues of 'RUNIN'.

We've had issues before with backups, but never this bad.

And the previous issues were caused by tenants pouring kitchen grease, hair and rag products down the drain -- at least that was the theory, which was partially substantiated and partially corrected by snaking the drain (by pulling up the toilet)

Sometimes, we used environmentally safe chemicals with plenty of hot water, which often opened up the drain. If this didn't work, we brought out our snake.

I remember two years ago, sending a camera from Grayton Plumbing. The plumber said that there was an issue perhaps due to a root, but it was extensive and recommended keeping an eye on it -- which I did.

Understanding:

We needed to act smartly, proactively QUICKLY.

Oh no, we have an issue. There was a backup in the sewer. The waste water was coming up from the drain in the kitchen.

And it was imperative that I take care of my tenants. At this time, I put myself in their shoes -- it was not a good condition to be in.

Negotiating:

Licensed plumber, Mike Lewis, snaked out the drain with the K-150. However, the route out through the house to the yard was too Rigid and couldn't negotiate the bends and turns.

The Rigid Snake was part of our Property Plant Equipment that we had purchased. And by using it for our properties, it was paying off. In fact, the price we paid for the Rigid Snake had had more than covered the use of it (Even without acomodating for depreciation)

Then we tried with a 75' snake we rented from Home Depot. This time, he went further, but he heard the grinding in the kitchen floor. We thought we ran into rocks.

MBWA (Managing by Walking Around):

So I included them (all 3 of them) as well as both my contractors (Mike Lewis and Milton Daley) in our thought process and decision making. We huddled around. Before we did anything, I asked the tenants both whether they agreed with what we were doing, explained to them why we were doing it and how. Yes, it required a buy-in -- but it game them an opportunity to provide ideas and input.

So the decision was to open up the floor where we thought we had run into rocks.

But as you can see, we ran into a T-fitting which explains why we had difficulty running the snake through and the cause of the grinding. We could have probably figured this out by the layout of the house which would have saved us time and trouble of digging up the kitchen floor.

Innovating:

It was no time to call the experts who had the latest technology: Grayton has the DrainVision Sewer Camera that can see where the rest of us couldn't.

We confirmed that we had a crack in the line. We also sent their snake down there (K-1500) and came up with dirt. Grayton used a Rigid 1500 gun which had a lot more power than the Home Depot snakes. We also found a lot of hair and rags.

The camera and snake also localized the crack. So this is where we dug and made the replacement underground. We did not replace the entire line, but approx. 8 feet of it.

The line was completely replaced underneath the basement. The depth was as much as 8 feet.

Commercial Boot, C-Clamp used for the new sewer line. This was used to connect the PVC pipe with the existing cast iron line.

Navigating:

The contractor recommended that we not replace the entire line underneath the bedroom but just an 8-foot section that had the crack. So still remaining there was about another 6 foot section that was cast iron which appeared to be fine because water was able to go through. However, time would tell whether this was a smart decision.