The Plumbing Problem

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The plumber came today to look at the blocked drain. When the toilet is flushed or the washing machine is operating it floods the floor drains in the laundry. This surprised me because I felt certain the toilet had a totally separate drainage connection. Then again, I know nothing about plumbing.

The plumber ran his auger through the sewer connection on the footpath outside and said he couldn't get through the blockage. Whatever it is, it's very big and very old. It might have been created when I first moved into the house or perhaps even earlier.

He went to the side of the house to find the inspection point. Apparently we don't have one. He said building a house without an inspection point is a very bad idea. He also said that the plumbing in this house was of very poor quality.

I strongly suspect that the previous owner actually built this house himself. There are clues all around like the slightly dodgy wiring (made even dodgier by my own modifications) and the way all the wardrobes and cabinets have Ikea labels.

The plumber will come back tomorrow. He'll have to remove the toilet so he can stick his auger in the whole, in lieu of using an inspection point. the plumber says he strongly suspects the sewer connection has collapsed, judging from the way the cement path at the side of the house has sunk into the ground.

This frightens me. I don't how much it costs to replace a sewer connection pipe that has already been cemented over. I wasn't brave enough to ask. Maybe I can save money by not having the path recemented after the pipe is laid. I'm really scared that the bill will be some ridiculous phone number amount or a 1 followed by a whole page of zeroes. I'm really worried yet I know that having a functioning toilet is an absolute necessity.

Oh dear. Yep, that is a bit of a stress.
I can't solve it for you, can wish it be as low cost and low drama as possible.

So they didn't have to dig up all the cement. The plumber came back the next day and unblocked it. It only cost a relatively small amount. I guess I was just panicking.

I’m so glad this was resolved in your favor.

Yep.....definitely could have been worse!

Most of the time, those clogs are easily cleared out, and there are no more issues. At least, it's not a cracked or burst pipe which can be expensive if you have to replace old pipes.

It's really a b***h owning your own home.

Even though my apartment is small, it's a co-op, and the co-op is responsible for sewage and that sort of thing.

I'm not a "project" sort of person; I feel fortunate that I don't have to maintain most things that have nothing to do with the interior of my apartment.

I was going to say, it's likely clay pipes that collapsed, or tree roots which broke through the pipe. The first time I had that happen it cost me $20 000 to excavate the entire front of the house, plus more to redo the landscape, replace trees, and rebuild my driveway. The repair was guaranteed - but it happened again last March on a tiny part of the sewage line that my neighbour wouldn't let me fix last time because it went across her property. Last year's repair cost me about $5000 all things considered and involved this hole being dug in my driveway. Ironically I just finally started repairs on the driveway today (14 months later) because of Covid restrictions. The driveway is costing me $2000 on top of the $5000 for sewage repair. Plus $2000 for my insurance deductible for repairs inside the house.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but I feel your pain. I hope it's cheaper there.


This is the dig from last March.

I know this is a strange thing to say, but in your case it was reasonable to panic.

I am glad it all worked out for you, and I am sorry it caused you all that trouble and anxiety.

Whoops. I didn't see this! Awesome news!

Sucks to be me I guess!

If something had damaged the pipes it would have been even worse than I thought. After the plumber removed the toilet bowl he found that the sewer connection does not go under the path at the side of the house as he had previously thought. It goes inwards. In towards the centre of the house.

If the pipe was damaged there would be no need to dig up the footpath on the side of the house. Instead we'd have to dig up the foundation and rebuild half the house. Similar to IsabellaLinton's problem I think.