A new trench-less sewer line
Just when I thought we might actually end 2015 without another major home project, surprise! An ominously slow basement drain after the rigors Thanksgiving weekend brought out the plumber yesterday with his sewer line camera.
The worst was quickly confirmed. The 100+ year old terracotta sewer line had basically collapsed, and was acting more like a long, sludgy, leaky septic tank than a working pipe. Ugh.
We knew a section of it was already "compromised" so it's not like this is a real surprise. We babied it along for years on a wing and a prayer, but who wouldn't finally collapse after all those millions of flushes, baths and loads of laundry?
Every cloud has a silver lining. We found out before the line completely failed, and the basement flooded with municipal sewage on say, Christmas Eve? The job can start soon, and we're working with a small West Seattle company that comes highly recommended by friends who had a similar problem. It is expensive of course, but I don't think we are being ripped off, always a bonus.
Best of all, the installation is trench-less which means "just" a couple of big holes near the house and the sidewalk. You can Google it, but we'll be getting a first-hand education about this process in December. There won't be any bulldozer ripping through the yard, yanking out the poor old brick patio, flower beds and fence.
The job should take about a week, and Phil guarantees it will hold up for the "next 100 years." At any rate, long after our flushing days are over.
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