Of all the things I tried to prepare myself for in owning my first home, nothing could have prepared me for the horror I’ve seen. On the morning of August 25th, a typical weekday, as I took my normal morning shower before work I noticed water pooling around my ankles. Frustrated, I knew this was signaling the beginning of another sewer line clog. The next morning, the plumber came and he was the bearer of bad news. The line was collapsing and it was only a matter of time before it was going to completely collapse. He got us back up and running, however, it was short lived. On the morning of August 30th, I awoke to 2 inches of raw sewage in my bathtub. I’d had minor backups before, but this was enough to make even the strongest of stomachs turn. It was the worst Monday in the history of my life. I called the plumber back and he said he’d be there by lunch. I took the morning off work to clean up the mess.
Joe, my plumber came and was able to snake enough of a hole to allow us to flush liquid only. That meant that toilet paper had to go in a bucket in the bathroom and number twos had to be done at the office. Seriously, I had to drive 4 miles to go poo! Late night weekend treks to the office are less than exciting and obviously this wasn’t much of a long term solution. The line required a section to be replaced. Faced with a rather high labor cost to dig a twenty foot long by three foot wide, by three foot deep trench, I opted to dig it myself. I sent out an email to my wonderful friends and promised a pizza party if they would show up for a few hours with a shovel. On a Wednesday night, 12 people strong, we started digging. We weren’t prepared for Oklahoma’s red clay soil. It was hard as a rock, and full of hundreds of roots. The goal was to uncover approximately 12 inches of useable concrete pipe to make a connection to. We also needed to expose the cast iron section of pipe coming from under the house so that we could make a connection there. After 4 hours of 6 shovels in the ground at all times and people rotating on breaks, we reached a depth of two feet. This gave me a big head start on the trench, but it was just that, a head start.
As the weekend came we were still digging. My siding contractor was there working on the siding too, so my yard was one busy place. We encountered tree roots the size of our legs that were resting right on top of the old, brittle concrete pipe. Every time we would take a pick axe or shovel to the ground around the root, the concussive force on the root transferred to the pipe below it and the concrete would crumble. This led to having to extend the trench several times. Finally we got a hand saw and delicately sawed the root by hand to uncover the pipe. Success! We also managed to disconnect the other sections of pipe that connected to the cast iron pipe outlet at the house. At the house end of the pipe, it was criss-crossed by a 2 inch steel gas line. This made digging a delicate, tedious undertaking. In this area the pipe was also so full of roots it was a wonder we were able to pass anything through before the collapse. On Monday morning, Joe showed up with a nice clean length of pipe to connect and within a couple hours we were back in business. Now we wait for the City to inspect, and then we can fill in the hole. I’m in no rush though, I rather like having a large section of yard I don’t have to mow.
If you’ve got any kind of digging to do there are a few items I recommend.
- RUBBER BOOTS (leaking sewer line… need I say more?)
- PICK AXE (worth it’s weight in gold!)
- LEATHER WORK GLOVES (blisters suck)
- HAND SAW (for roots… you will encounter them)
- HATCHET (for roots and hacking at hard clay)
- DIGGING BAR (for roots and hard clay)
- GARDEN HOSE (for softening up hard spots)
- PATIENCE (seriously, LOTS of patience)
Of all the projects I’ve tackled on my house in the last year, this was by far the most stressful, labor intensive project. I can honestly say I know why the plumbers charge so much. If you’ve got a hole to dig bribe your friends with lots of food. I was lucky to have such wonderful friends throughout the project who came to help me dig at all times of the day, never complaining. They made this tall order short work and lots of fun.
I was also fortunate to have found a great plumber who was honest, fair, and did great work! I certainly hope you don’t have any major plumbing problems like I did, but if you do, call Joe at A Perfect Fit Plumbing and Gas. Give Joe a call at (405) 802-7769.
Also, for safety’s sake, before you dig, don’t forget to visit Call Okie or call them at 1-800-522-OKIE. Until next time, happy homeowning!
I’ve owned two houses in the Village, so I have experienced this ordeal twice. It was worth it to me to pay someone to replace my sewer line. After all that trauma, I’ve never had a problem since!
natalie