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What a crappy 4th of July . . .literally (WARNING: GROSS)
My day started out okay yesterday. Had to be at work by 7 and work til around 12. And I'm still feeling a bit tired, as I've been battling with sinus all week and it's been all I can do to work.
But no sooner did my Mom show up to pick me up (about 45 minutes after I'd gotten done with work) it went straight down the drain.
She'd been battling a stopped up sink in the kitchen and almost wore herself out (she's been battling an upper respiratory infection and had went to the doctor Thursday to have it checked out, but that's another topic) and had to go lie down for a spell.
We finally got home and no sooner did I get there, not only was the sink unstopped so I could finish cleaning up the kitchen for her, I had to pull the carpeting out of the bathroom to get it into the washer (it had gotten wet sometime during the night but I didn't have time to pull it up before I had to go to work.)
A little while later, the toilet was backing up while I was trying to clean up the bathroom. And even worse, black sludgy stuff was bubbling up into the bathtub.
So for the next few minutes, I alternated between plunging on the tub drain and the toilet. Finally got the water in the toilet to go down, but it was very slow. Same with the tub, so I grab the hand-held shower sprayer (love that thing, especially when I'm cleaning the tub and I can just rinse it out) and start washing the stuff down and try to scrub down the tub with Comet. Take a break and went back a bit later.
Meanwhile, the kitchen sink started backing up a little bit while my brother was in the bathroom. He was trying to plunge on the toilet (which had backed up yet again after he had to use it) so I couldn't get to the plunger. A few minutes later, I'm in there trying to unstop it and the tub started backing up again with greenish black grungy crud.
Got back to the kitchen a few minutes later and the water in the sink had went down. It started making a loud gurgling sound - I told my brother it was farting (that's what it sounded like to me.)
Mom cut the water off on the toilet yesterday evening . . . and while I was trying to get caught up here last night (around 9-10 somewhere in there) I heard a trickling sound.
Set the laptop aside, run to the bathroom (just outside my bedroom off the small doll room) and the toilet was OVERFLOWING and wastewater was covering the floor!!!!!
I grabbed some towels and tried to cover the floor and ran outside to the front porch where Mom was and told her.
That did it. She got to her chair in her bedroom, grabbed her phone book and started looking for Rick's number (he's one of the 4 nephews who inherited our house after their uncle died a few years ago and also the plumbing expert.) No answer at his house (she had talked w/his girlfriend and they were planning to go to her parents' house and then go downtown for the fireworks show) so she called his cell phone. No answer there, so she left an urgent voicemail. Got off the phone and found his cousin's phone number - no answer at home, so she called the emergency number.
While she was calling Scott's emergency number, he called back and Mom explained the problem. Meanwhile I'm in the bathroom again putting down more towels and the water had gone down just below the rim.
I got back to the bedroom and Mom relays to me what Scott said, which was basically he wasn't the plumbing expert (he has a flooring business) and that he'd try to reach Rick as well.
Flash foward to around 11. Mom and I are both on the front porch, exhausted and trying to think of whom else to call. The realty office doesn't have an after hours emergency number, and the plumber my Mom calls on occasion wasn't available. I checked back with the bathroom and the water had finally went down almost completely, but the floor was a sticky, icky mess. The bathtub was pretty gross too and there was a smell coming through that was not flowers.
Finally after we'd both went back inside, Rick called back. I took the phone to Mom and she told him what was going on. He told her it sounded like the sewage lines were backed up and that she needed to contact the city sewer department (they have an emergency number) and they can send someone out to unclog the trap.
It was almost midnight and we were all tired, so Mom decided to call first thing in the morning.
This morning, I got up around 8. Mom had called around 7 to the city sewer department so we were waiting for a crew to come out to see what was going on.
A two-man crew showed up before 8:30. My brother went out there to show them where the trap was located on the side of the house and they went to work. After a little bit, they brought out the large snake hose and got the line cleaned out as good as they could.
I went back inside, turned the water back on behind the toilet and flushed. The water went down fine with no overflowing.
Turns out the trap is almost worn out. They cleaned it out as best they could, but if it happens again, they'll have to come back and out and completely replace the sewer line running to the street from the house.
I went back in and started mopping the floor again after removing more towels, threw a bunch into the washer, and got everything rinsed out and scrubbed down good. The bathroom is clean again, the carpet is back down and the moldy smell is gone.
So literally my 4th of July was crappy. How was yours?
But no sooner did my Mom show up to pick me up (about 45 minutes after I'd gotten done with work) it went straight down the drain.
She'd been battling a stopped up sink in the kitchen and almost wore herself out (she's been battling an upper respiratory infection and had went to the doctor Thursday to have it checked out, but that's another topic) and had to go lie down for a spell.
We finally got home and no sooner did I get there, not only was the sink unstopped so I could finish cleaning up the kitchen for her, I had to pull the carpeting out of the bathroom to get it into the washer (it had gotten wet sometime during the night but I didn't have time to pull it up before I had to go to work.)
A little while later, the toilet was backing up while I was trying to clean up the bathroom. And even worse, black sludgy stuff was bubbling up into the bathtub.
So for the next few minutes, I alternated between plunging on the tub drain and the toilet. Finally got the water in the toilet to go down, but it was very slow. Same with the tub, so I grab the hand-held shower sprayer (love that thing, especially when I'm cleaning the tub and I can just rinse it out) and start washing the stuff down and try to scrub down the tub with Comet. Take a break and went back a bit later.
Meanwhile, the kitchen sink started backing up a little bit while my brother was in the bathroom. He was trying to plunge on the toilet (which had backed up yet again after he had to use it) so I couldn't get to the plunger. A few minutes later, I'm in there trying to unstop it and the tub started backing up again with greenish black grungy crud.
Got back to the kitchen a few minutes later and the water in the sink had went down. It started making a loud gurgling sound - I told my brother it was farting (that's what it sounded like to me.)
Mom cut the water off on the toilet yesterday evening . . . and while I was trying to get caught up here last night (around 9-10 somewhere in there) I heard a trickling sound.
Set the laptop aside, run to the bathroom (just outside my bedroom off the small doll room) and the toilet was OVERFLOWING and wastewater was covering the floor!!!!!
I grabbed some towels and tried to cover the floor and ran outside to the front porch where Mom was and told her.
That did it. She got to her chair in her bedroom, grabbed her phone book and started looking for Rick's number (he's one of the 4 nephews who inherited our house after their uncle died a few years ago and also the plumbing expert.) No answer at his house (she had talked w/his girlfriend and they were planning to go to her parents' house and then go downtown for the fireworks show) so she called his cell phone. No answer there, so she left an urgent voicemail. Got off the phone and found his cousin's phone number - no answer at home, so she called the emergency number.
While she was calling Scott's emergency number, he called back and Mom explained the problem. Meanwhile I'm in the bathroom again putting down more towels and the water had gone down just below the rim.
I got back to the bedroom and Mom relays to me what Scott said, which was basically he wasn't the plumbing expert (he has a flooring business) and that he'd try to reach Rick as well.
Flash foward to around 11. Mom and I are both on the front porch, exhausted and trying to think of whom else to call. The realty office doesn't have an after hours emergency number, and the plumber my Mom calls on occasion wasn't available. I checked back with the bathroom and the water had finally went down almost completely, but the floor was a sticky, icky mess. The bathtub was pretty gross too and there was a smell coming through that was not flowers.
Finally after we'd both went back inside, Rick called back. I took the phone to Mom and she told him what was going on. He told her it sounded like the sewage lines were backed up and that she needed to contact the city sewer department (they have an emergency number) and they can send someone out to unclog the trap.
It was almost midnight and we were all tired, so Mom decided to call first thing in the morning.
This morning, I got up around 8. Mom had called around 7 to the city sewer department so we were waiting for a crew to come out to see what was going on.
A two-man crew showed up before 8:30. My brother went out there to show them where the trap was located on the side of the house and they went to work. After a little bit, they brought out the large snake hose and got the line cleaned out as good as they could.
I went back inside, turned the water back on behind the toilet and flushed. The water went down fine with no overflowing.
Turns out the trap is almost worn out. They cleaned it out as best they could, but if it happens again, they'll have to come back and out and completely replace the sewer line running to the street from the house.
I went back in and started mopping the floor again after removing more towels, threw a bunch into the washer, and got everything rinsed out and scrubbed down good. The bathroom is clean again, the carpet is back down and the moldy smell is gone.
So literally my 4th of July was crappy. How was yours?
Mine was good, got to see some friends SO and I haven't seen in a long time.
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