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Feb. 28th, 2005 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThe plumbing work we needed turned out to be a little more extensive than we expected. Basically, all of the pipe connecting the sink drain to the main drain stack over by the basement stairs had to be replaced. There were five or six other smaller leaks along the length that hadn't soaked through the basement ceiling tiles yet, and we found a corroded patch bigger than my hand right about where the pipe went through the wall to get t the stack. That wasn't actually leaking, but it's a miracle that it hadn't simply disintegrated completely. A leak there would have hit the phone and a large bookshelf. (The shelves on the opposite wall were saved from the original leak by a slanted piece of wood paneling that the folks who refinished the basement used to accommodate the pipe while still keeping the window on that wall visible. The water couldn't get through that before it ran down to the ceiling tiles.) As far as we can tell, the glop in the pipe was all that had been holding everything together.
The fix cost us about $600. The original estimate was $700, so I was able to feel some relief at the final cost instead of just the pain of there-goes-our-state-refund. The old pipe had also been installed completely level which had made drainage difficult but had left the basement ceiling even (I suspect that that was that motive, anyway). The new pipe has about three inches descent on the way to the stack. That, combined with the increased diameter due to not being filled with glop and the air vent we had added under the sink, means that the sink now drains really fast. Well, really fast compared to what it used to do. We can also drain one side of the sink without having it back up the other side.
The plumber insisted on leaving the corroded section of pipe for Scott to see. I believe it was intended as proof that the work really had needed to be done and that it hadn't been the plumber's fault that the leak occurred, that is, that the pipe was bad before his coworker snaked it out. He didn't need to. I'd seen it, and Scott believed me about its awfulness, but there's a certain fascination in going and looking at that huge patch of corrosion and considering how close we came to domestic disaster.
On the plus side, we now know a local plumbing agency that's pleasant, quick and reliable. We'll certainly be calling them again if we need plumbing work done. (My mother has horror stories about plumbers she's worked with who wandered off in the middle of jobs and never came back. When some guy's got your toilet disconnected, you really want to know that he's going to come back to finish the job.)
We have about $600 left to do some work on the kitchen. My mother thinks we can still manage something. I have to do full measurements of everything for her, and then she's going to do some shopping around to see what we can get. Home renovations are her favorite hobby, so she really doesn't mind. I still feel weird, though, because I know I'd hate doing that sort of shopping. If we can figure out a way to make the money work, she and Scott will do the work on the kitchen the next time she visits. If we can't, she'll probably fix the ceiling in the basement.
The fix cost us about $600. The original estimate was $700, so I was able to feel some relief at the final cost instead of just the pain of there-goes-our-state-refund. The old pipe had also been installed completely level which had made drainage difficult but had left the basement ceiling even (I suspect that that was that motive, anyway). The new pipe has about three inches descent on the way to the stack. That, combined with the increased diameter due to not being filled with glop and the air vent we had added under the sink, means that the sink now drains really fast. Well, really fast compared to what it used to do. We can also drain one side of the sink without having it back up the other side.
The plumber insisted on leaving the corroded section of pipe for Scott to see. I believe it was intended as proof that the work really had needed to be done and that it hadn't been the plumber's fault that the leak occurred, that is, that the pipe was bad before his coworker snaked it out. He didn't need to. I'd seen it, and Scott believed me about its awfulness, but there's a certain fascination in going and looking at that huge patch of corrosion and considering how close we came to domestic disaster.
On the plus side, we now know a local plumbing agency that's pleasant, quick and reliable. We'll certainly be calling them again if we need plumbing work done. (My mother has horror stories about plumbers she's worked with who wandered off in the middle of jobs and never came back. When some guy's got your toilet disconnected, you really want to know that he's going to come back to finish the job.)
We have about $600 left to do some work on the kitchen. My mother thinks we can still manage something. I have to do full measurements of everything for her, and then she's going to do some shopping around to see what we can get. Home renovations are her favorite hobby, so she really doesn't mind. I still feel weird, though, because I know I'd hate doing that sort of shopping. If we can figure out a way to make the money work, she and Scott will do the work on the kitchen the next time she visits. If we can't, she'll probably fix the ceiling in the basement.
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Date: 2005-03-02 02:34 pm (UTC)