What a crappy week!
 

I've barely been home for the past month or so, between work trips and visiting my kids and then my Dad in Phoenix. This week, I was gone for four days for a training in Spokane.

I get back from Phoenix last Monday (holiday) to find the sewer backing up into my basement. Those of you who have read my story might recall that the same thing happened my fourth day of sobriety, back in 2008. (Neighbor showed up at my door with a cold beer, which I refused--politely--and it was what I think of as my "spiritual experience.")

I had a backflow prevention valve installed so it wouldn't happen again, but this time the water was coming in AROUND the valve. And it was flooding all over my nice new flooring I'd installed down there. So I call the MUA and a plumber, and the MUA managed to stop it but the plumber wasn't able to do anything till the problem with the sewer was fixed. I had the water remediation guys come out, they cleaned everything and set up fans to dry it all out.

A friend came over on Friday to shut off the fans, but he noticed there was still some water and so he left them on. He checked the "problem valve" and it looked OK--no water coming in.

I get home from my trip this evening, and walk into a house that smells and feels like a swamp. It's happening AGAIN!! Sewer water gushing into my basement.

So the MUA is here again to clear the lines (which they didn't do completely, earlier this week), and I'm trying to get the cleanup guys to come out BEFORE the plumber comes on Tuesday to replace the valve. The place, frankly, stinks, and it's making me feel a little nauseous.

I am SOOOO aggravated. But still sober.

Thanks for listening to my vent. (Actually, a bit of venting is what this place needs right now!)

gawd, first four days in SPOKANE and then home to backed up sewage?? how simply dreadful. i'll light some incense for you! is this covered under homeowners, I hope?????

Lexie....you are a monument of tolerance to get through this so calmly.

for homeowners....outside of having your house burn down...water problems are the worst problems there are, in my experience!!!!

dandylion

I enpathise...I've had that happen a number of times...thankfully in Australia such things are situated outside mostly.

You have a great attitude tho, Lexie - hope they really fix it this time :)

D

Backed up sewer because my teenager stuffed the toilet...overflowed from the bathroom thru the hall onto the new floor my AH installed. I thought for certain he would crack wide open! He maintained..not sure how but he did! As for myself, I laughed hysterically. You would have thought I was a crazy woman!!

Good for you for venting. Sure hope your week gets better. :e058:

Actually, the trip to Spokane was better than anticipated (considering how disorganized the arrangements were). Ate at a couple of really awesome restaurants--especially the one at the Steam Factory (pretty cool architectural revision of an old steam plant--now housing shops and restaurant).

Incense, though, sounds like a good idea. I have a bundle of white sage I never burned--now might be a good time. Although I think a full-blown exorcism might be more effective.

My insurance adjuster (who has seen me through numerous home disasters) commented on how amazed he was that I could still crack jokes. But seriously, what good does freaking out do? (Though I AM slightly freaked out, but I know I just have to wait and take the action necessary to get through this.)

Burn candles...burn incense. Take a few deep breaths (maybe outside?). Hugs and kudos for a job well done!

That sounds awful!!! I've always been envious of the American basement...but in times like this I'm glad our sewer stuff is outside!!! Good on you for handling it so well!!

Yuk I hope the problems get fixed quickly and correctly! Glad you're taking it in stride!

Aww sorry to hear about all that.... hope all is sorted out quickly!

This made me laugh so hard I almost woke my toddler who's sleeping next to me. Woooo Spokane! Lol

You need an aromatherapy necklace. I call mine my Woosah Medallion. I holds my Calm the #&$! Down blend.

i will now stop complaining about the dirt on my floors and cat litter crumbs and just do the mopping, swiffering and vacuuming.
i have no basement. when the toilets backed up this past fall, it went into my shower stall and the main bathtub. the homeowner's association got a plumber here on a Sunday, as it was the entire building. i was hauling out the sewage from the tub in one bathroom, the shower in another in a giant home depot bucket at 5 am. i figured it was the lesser of 2 evils.
i'm sorry about your new floors.

Right? I'll try to go all day tomorrow without complaining about my two-year-old's perpetual crumb trail. We do have a basement, and our sump pump alarm got stuck not too long ago. Came home to a flooded garage (how it didn't come into the house, I'll never know). Thankfully we're on city water. Well, for sewer purposes. We won't talk about the price gouging for services.

Sending you hugs and good smells remotely Lexie

This is frustrating in the repetition. I'm so sorry Lexie!

It was frustrating in the singular--I don't even know what to call it in the repetition.

The guy keeping an eye on my neighbors' house (they are in Fla for the winter) went and checked their basement (our houses are attached townhomes) and, just like the last two times, their house has escaped any problem. I'm trying to be really relieved for them, but in the back of my head is "why ME?"

The smell seems a little less bad this morning (or maybe I'm just accustomed to it now, the way it gets when you spend a little time in the big cats house at the zoo). Hopefully the cleanup guys will come today. The last message I got, they wanted to wait till the check valve has been replaced (which is scheduled for Tuesday), but I shouldn't have a basement full of sewer water for two days. I called them back and told them I need to get this cleaned up NOW.

Oh no definitely not, not to mention the mold that growing. Does the sheetrock need replacing too?

The sheetrock may need replacing. My carpenter friend who did the work in the basement is the one who came over to check the fans, so he's aware of it. If it needs to be re-sheetrocked, he will do it for a reasonable price. He wants to check it after it's all dried out.

What a flipping nightmare, if it is any consolation, you have inspired me to just shut up and clean my own house today, stop procrastinating. Is it warm enough to open the windows for a bit to get some fresh air in the house?

I have been down the plumbing thing before. My daughter and my niece decided to play "extreme Barbie". This is a make believe game where Barbie apparently is forced to do extreme stunts. One of these stunts was diving head first into the toilet. I'm. Sorry to say but Barbie did NOT make it out alive. She was flushed, abnormally long legs and all. And of course got stuck! VERY stuck! Needless to say "extreme Barbie" is outlawed.

that is one incident of MANY regarding my children and toilets....

So sorry Lexi! How frustrating!
hugs!!!!!!

Hey Lexie
I want to congratulate you on handling a situation that would have sent many people teetering off to la-la land.
It's at times like these when we find out just how recovered we really are.
You are an inspiration!

I'm trying to be really relieved for them, but in the back of my head is "why ME?"

Welp, I think it's because yer a homeowner a d sh*t happens.

Don't sweat the small stuff.
Its all small stuff
If ya can't run and ya can't hide, go with the flow.

I once was mad because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.

I find it can be a bugger when things dont go my way or as expected, but it is what it is.

I've had weeks like that Lexi....more than I want to remember. It seems when one things starts heading downhill, other things follow. It's so beyond frustrating!

There have been many times that I wished I was still in an apartment where the landlord was responsible for the repairs. When I first bought this townhouse, the central air/heat motor went. Had that repaired and 2 days later, my washing machine went. About 2 days after that, my SUV (that I LOVED) started having issues and I ended up having to buy a new one. Combine that lofty payment on top of the new mortgage, on top of the money put out for repairs and a new washer and I was just about fit to be tied. This was all right before Christmas. Right after Christmas, my ex-husband's addiction spiraled completely out of control and he left.

Yeah, I said one of those weeks... it was more like one of those years!

Somehow, we manage to get through it all. I'm unsure how sometimes, but we do.

Hang in there!

Well, finally got the cleanup guys here. They were reluctant to do it until the valve is replaced, but I don't even want to send the plumber down to wade through standing water to replace it. Not to mention, there are electrical cords in the water (their fans, my tv equipment and treadmill) and I don't want to get electrocuted (none of the outlets are in water, just the cables, which are fairly new but the idea still makes me uncomfortable). They made a face when they came in and told me to open all the windows (it's 45 degrees here today). I barely noticed it anymore but when you first come in it really hits you in the olfactory department.

Anyway, hopefully nothing happens between now and Tuesday, when I get the valve replaced.

Oh, and I ordered a couple of water detectors that have a wireless connection, so I can get a text/email alert if any water comes in. That will give me a LITTLE peace of mind when I'm traveling--my carpenter friend can come over and deal with any emergencies.

Lexie, are you living in my house? I have had that problem many times. Someone should have told you that not only is sewer backup a biohazard but sewer gas ( that smell) can actually kill you. If it ever happens again. No matter how cold, first thing is open all the Windows. BTW, we are neighbors. If it's not sewer backup it's water infiltration. I have three sumptuous in my basement.

Just the latest unbelievable installment from the Joys of Home Ownership.

So I finally get the plumber out here yesterday morning, and it turns out there is NOTHING wrong with the valve. This isn't the guy who installed it, so he's got nothing to gain by not fixing it and charging me an arm and a leg. Apparently these valves SHOULD receive periodic maintenance (something nobody told me), and his best guess is that gunk worked its way up into the threads on the cap (around the cap is where it was gushing out). So he cleaned the cap/threads, wrapped the threads in Teflon tape and put it back nice and snug, recommending that I clean it/tighten it every six months or so. Which means I still need to follow up with the HOA and the MUA--the HOA was pretty concerned and wanted all the details. It's happened over the years to several houses in our development.

But now the icing on the cake. This morning, I had the furnace guy come out to make sure the furnace was OK and that I didn't need to have the ducts cleaned or anything. I take him down to the basement, and there is MORE water--this time, not coming from the sewer line (thank God), but from the utility closet where the furnace/hot water heater is. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from--I was starting to worry that it was coming in from outside due to my cracked foundation (a separate disaster). Furnace guy vacuumed up the water with my shop vac, and he FINALLY discovered what happened. When they installed the furnace last year, they ran the humidifier condensate line outside through a PVC pipe, which had frozen, and it was leaking all over the floor. So he had to replace that with a flexible hose running into my utility sink (which I installed only last year, and thank goodness or I would have really been screwed--no other drains down there). When my carpenter friend replaces the damaged drywall (fortunately only a small section), he can hide that line behind the wall.

Oh, and on Monday, I leaned over in my office chair, which snapped in two and dumped me on the floor, requiring a trip out to Staples before the much-ballyhooed snowstorm moved in (we only got about an inch and a half of snow here).

And you're still sober! Considering all you've been through, I'd say you're an excellent example of working a program. I'd be a basketcase.

I won't mention all the things my kids have flushed down the toilet. I love them dearly, but those moments had me wishing we could afford boarding school.

Go get yourself a massage or a bowl of ice cream or something. YOU DESERVE IT.

Sheesh. This is why I rent.

I cannot tell you how many times over the past 9 years (how long I've owned this place) I wondered WHY I gave up my fantastic apartment on the twelfth floor with a view of the Philadelphia skyline out one whole side of the apartment, and a view of the park with scull rowing out the other (corner unit). It needed new cabinets/appliances (the complex was upgrading as people moved out) but even with the inconvenience of dealing with upgrades and increased rent it would have been less hassle than what I've been dealing with here.

I just got an estimate yesterday for fixing the foundation problem--the structural part, to keep it from sinking, not the repairs to the walls and flooring--and it's $14K. To make the other repairs I'm betting it will be somewhere between $15K and $25K. NONE of it covered by insurance. And I can't even CONSIDER ever selling the place unless I spend that money. And I've spent close to $20K on legal fees already and we haven't even filed a lawsuit (and can't even determine whom, if anyone, to sue).

I doubt I'll ever buy another house. When I leave here I suspect I will find a nice rental somewhere.

I dunno Jarp, a lot of dodgy things happen in American basements, people murdered, bodies buried, meth cooked, according to movies and telly. Not to mention they don't drain naturally.

We'd better stick to our sheds.