I usually follow that rule, and not following it really cost me.
Saturday, my daughter was upstairs taking a shower and then I noticed some bubbles coming up in the downstairs toilet. Then I noticed some water backing up in the bathtub. She was done before I could tell her to cut the water off. OK, stopped up sewer line, been here before.
I hook up one of those expandable pressure fittings to my garden hose and feed it into the cleanout in the backyard. I crank the water on and quickly move inside to see what's going on in the bathroom. It's not working too well, so I tried the pressure with a little toilet plunging. After about a dozen times of cutting the water on, plunging, turning the water off before the toilet overflows. I gave it a break.
My wife got home and I had her cut the water on and off a couple times. That would save me a little effort running back and forth. It still wasn't moving. I left another message with a buddy who is a plumber.
Tried my little 20' snake on it and it did no good. OK, let's try the pressure thing again.
Here's were it gets interesting.... The water was starting to fill up the toilet again so I hollered at my wife to cut it off. She says it's off, except that the toilet keeps rising, and rising. I really seat the plunger and slow the flow into the toilet a little. Too late, the toilet over flows. I yell at my wife to get a bucket and a mop, quickly. The water keeps flowing, and now it's coming into the tub. Getting agitated, I yell something about "Where's the da** bucket" The water in the bathroom is getting deep, nice, it's spilling over the threshold onto the carpet. I'm bailing the toilet with a cup I found nearby, the other hand is trying to hold the plunger in place.
I’m bailing as quick as I can. The water keeps flowing. My wife comes in with the bucket and mop complaining about me yelling at her. And exclaims ‘Oh my’ when she sees the problem. I asked her if she is sure the water is off in a very abrasive way. She runs off, I hear the back door close again. I hear her exclaim ‘It’s out here too”, from the hall. I loudly asked her again if the water is off, and she says “Now it’s off” just as the flow starts to slow in the bathroom.
While I was in the bathroom making a futile attempt to stop the flow from the toilet and make it back up into the bathtub, I didn’t realize that the black water with the wonderful smell was flowing up through the AC condensate drain in the hall.
Lovely, just lovely…
I could go on about sucking it up with a shop vac, her comment about “look on the bright side, at least we’ll get some new carpet out of this” My explanation about an $1,800 deductible and where I don’t have a money tree growing, the big pile of carpet and padding out in the drive, getting bit**ed at for missing another Saturday Date, the extra Roto-rooter bill for coming out on a Sunday, or the roots and feminine products lodged in them, but I won’t.
Needless to say, most of my shop time got shot this weekend.
Saturday, my daughter was upstairs taking a shower and then I noticed some bubbles coming up in the downstairs toilet. Then I noticed some water backing up in the bathtub. She was done before I could tell her to cut the water off. OK, stopped up sewer line, been here before.
I hook up one of those expandable pressure fittings to my garden hose and feed it into the cleanout in the backyard. I crank the water on and quickly move inside to see what's going on in the bathroom. It's not working too well, so I tried the pressure with a little toilet plunging. After about a dozen times of cutting the water on, plunging, turning the water off before the toilet overflows. I gave it a break.
My wife got home and I had her cut the water on and off a couple times. That would save me a little effort running back and forth. It still wasn't moving. I left another message with a buddy who is a plumber.
Tried my little 20' snake on it and it did no good. OK, let's try the pressure thing again.
Here's were it gets interesting.... The water was starting to fill up the toilet again so I hollered at my wife to cut it off. She says it's off, except that the toilet keeps rising, and rising. I really seat the plunger and slow the flow into the toilet a little. Too late, the toilet over flows. I yell at my wife to get a bucket and a mop, quickly. The water keeps flowing, and now it's coming into the tub. Getting agitated, I yell something about "Where's the da** bucket" The water in the bathroom is getting deep, nice, it's spilling over the threshold onto the carpet. I'm bailing the toilet with a cup I found nearby, the other hand is trying to hold the plunger in place.
I’m bailing as quick as I can. The water keeps flowing. My wife comes in with the bucket and mop complaining about me yelling at her. And exclaims ‘Oh my’ when she sees the problem. I asked her if she is sure the water is off in a very abrasive way. She runs off, I hear the back door close again. I hear her exclaim ‘It’s out here too”, from the hall. I loudly asked her again if the water is off, and she says “Now it’s off” just as the flow starts to slow in the bathroom.
While I was in the bathroom making a futile attempt to stop the flow from the toilet and make it back up into the bathtub, I didn’t realize that the black water with the wonderful smell was flowing up through the AC condensate drain in the hall.
Lovely, just lovely…
I could go on about sucking it up with a shop vac, her comment about “look on the bright side, at least we’ll get some new carpet out of this” My explanation about an $1,800 deductible and where I don’t have a money tree growing, the big pile of carpet and padding out in the drive, getting bit**ed at for missing another Saturday Date, the extra Roto-rooter bill for coming out on a Sunday, or the roots and feminine products lodged in them, but I won’t.
Needless to say, most of my shop time got shot this weekend.
LCHIEN
Loring in Katy, TX USA
Comment