I've been putting off this post because it's a doozy. A couple weeks ago, the hubby noticed that the shower was backing up a little bit during his morning shower. After that, the toilet clogged one morning, so we did our duty and got the uber drain-o to clear the matter at hand, so to speak. Well, things just got worse. Having gone through something similar back in January, I was fearing the inevitable of having our main line replaced, so I went to my trusty Craigslist in hunt of a plumber and an appointment was made to have our drain snaked.
I left work Friday afternoon planning to go home, wait for the plummer, have him snake our drain and be safe for another couple of months. Well, this is when the fun really started. At this point, our drains were really clogged. We couldn't use the toilet, the shower was backed up and we didn't even consider doing dishes. The plummer arrived and got his big snake machine all set up to do it's job and goes to press the start button only to have a 'click, click' sound. Oh fail. After monkeying around for a bit he realizes he's stuck and has to get his machine fixed, so off he goes with a promise to either be back with a new machine or have someone else out at the end of the day. Fine, ok, I can understand these things happen. He's promising to get it done by the end of the day, so at least I will be able to shower that day.
A couple hours go by and he finally shows back up with a fixed snake machine ready to go. The snaking begins. Progress is being made. The snake is moving down the pipe, then as he's bringing it back up, I hear an "uh-oh" from him. Well, that can't be good. I ask him what's up and he says he's got mud coming out, which isn't a good sign. He doesn't seem pleased about this and if my plummer isn't pleased I'm not either. After a bit more snaking and seeing that nothing is draining he admits defeat and tells me the bad news. We have a hole in our main drain and it needs to be replaced. Well, crap! It was the worst case scenario and the one that I just really didn't want. After processing this, I realize we have to go forward, so we head into the backyard and he does some measurements with the thought of how much this is going to cost me. I'm automatically thinking I'm now in the hole for $6-9 thousand dollars. I'm stressing and freaking (all on the inside, of course) and then I hear "$1,500-$2,00" Well, this I can live with. "Yes, yes, yes! Go ahead, get started, when can it be done?!?" He promises to be back the next morning with a crew to start the all might dig out. The backyard is to be sacrificed to the plumbing gods. They have to dig to #1. find the main line and #2. replace it to the city water line.
Did I mention that I don't deal well with stressful situations? I mean, I do, but the whole time I'm having a panic attack and stressing over every little thing that needs to be taken care of and finished, so after the plummer leaves, I have to go pick up hubby from work. On my way I call on the bestest bestie of them all and see if we can come crash at her place that night so at least we have a place to stay that night. I pick up husband, we decide to stop for dinner on the way home and actually manage to enjoy a meal and some wine without me freaking too much, then head home to pack and go to bestie's for the night. The next morning, we wake up nice and early so we can get back, meet the plumber get husband to work and I can figure out how I can pay to have water again.
I spend the day hanging around the house, not able to do dishes, laundry, go to the bathroom or pretty much anything.
I do manage to get a loan to pay for all of the digging going on in my backyard, so I'm feeling better. I know that soon my life will be back to normal. However, I know we're going back to Woodland for the night to be able to shower and sleep somewhere that we can use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
By the end of the day, my yard is a series of trenches and is not done yet, however, Izzy (the plumber) has promised that all will be restored to me tomorrow. I head out to pick up husband from work and head back home to see if they are still digging. We stopped and got the boys some beer for all of their hard work and soon after that they called it a day.
So we once again head to the bestie's house for one more night. I end up not sleeping too well, because we brought all three dogs and the 2 boys were in the room with us, fascinated by the guinea pig and not able to settle down. Not to mention I'm sleeping on a twin bed designed for a 6 year old girl. LOL! I wake up early, tired, stressed and just wanting my own bed, shower, and toilet.
Luckily, on this particular Sunday, husband has the day off so once we get home and find that trench work has resumed in the backyard, we go out to breakfast. As we are eating, I find myself almost falling asleep at the table. All I can think about is going home and going to bed and sleeping until this is all over. I manage to make it through breakfast and back home. Izzy tells me that he needs a "progressive payment" so he can pay his workers, so I write him the check, hand it to husband and head to bed. Half an hour later, I am out like a light and wake up about four hours later to find that all is finished, they are just patting down all of the dirt that they put back over the newly replaced main line and water has been restored to my house! Whoo-hoo!! It happened just as I wanted it to. I went to sleep and woke up to have my world back to working order.
I wrote my final check to Izzy's Plumbing said my thanks to him and his crew and went inside to clean my tub! I now know that I am safe from major clogs in the future, it wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be and Craigslist has once again provided a great service to me. Thank you to Izzy's Plumbing for the great work and fair prices and to my bestie who is always there when I need her. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got dishes to do. ;^)
I left work Friday afternoon planning to go home, wait for the plummer, have him snake our drain and be safe for another couple of months. Well, this is when the fun really started. At this point, our drains were really clogged. We couldn't use the toilet, the shower was backed up and we didn't even consider doing dishes. The plummer arrived and got his big snake machine all set up to do it's job and goes to press the start button only to have a 'click, click' sound. Oh fail. After monkeying around for a bit he realizes he's stuck and has to get his machine fixed, so off he goes with a promise to either be back with a new machine or have someone else out at the end of the day. Fine, ok, I can understand these things happen. He's promising to get it done by the end of the day, so at least I will be able to shower that day.
A couple hours go by and he finally shows back up with a fixed snake machine ready to go. The snaking begins. Progress is being made. The snake is moving down the pipe, then as he's bringing it back up, I hear an "uh-oh" from him. Well, that can't be good. I ask him what's up and he says he's got mud coming out, which isn't a good sign. He doesn't seem pleased about this and if my plummer isn't pleased I'm not either. After a bit more snaking and seeing that nothing is draining he admits defeat and tells me the bad news. We have a hole in our main drain and it needs to be replaced. Well, crap! It was the worst case scenario and the one that I just really didn't want. After processing this, I realize we have to go forward, so we head into the backyard and he does some measurements with the thought of how much this is going to cost me. I'm automatically thinking I'm now in the hole for $6-9 thousand dollars. I'm stressing and freaking (all on the inside, of course) and then I hear "$1,500-$2,00" Well, this I can live with. "Yes, yes, yes! Go ahead, get started, when can it be done?!?" He promises to be back the next morning with a crew to start the all might dig out. The backyard is to be sacrificed to the plumbing gods. They have to dig to #1. find the main line and #2. replace it to the city water line.
Did I mention that I don't deal well with stressful situations? I mean, I do, but the whole time I'm having a panic attack and stressing over every little thing that needs to be taken care of and finished, so after the plummer leaves, I have to go pick up hubby from work. On my way I call on the bestest bestie of them all and see if we can come crash at her place that night so at least we have a place to stay that night. I pick up husband, we decide to stop for dinner on the way home and actually manage to enjoy a meal and some wine without me freaking too much, then head home to pack and go to bestie's for the night. The next morning, we wake up nice and early so we can get back, meet the plumber get husband to work and I can figure out how I can pay to have water again.
I spend the day hanging around the house, not able to do dishes, laundry, go to the bathroom or pretty much anything.
I do manage to get a loan to pay for all of the digging going on in my backyard, so I'm feeling better. I know that soon my life will be back to normal. However, I know we're going back to Woodland for the night to be able to shower and sleep somewhere that we can use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
By the end of the day, my yard is a series of trenches and is not done yet, however, Izzy (the plumber) has promised that all will be restored to me tomorrow. I head out to pick up husband from work and head back home to see if they are still digging. We stopped and got the boys some beer for all of their hard work and soon after that they called it a day.
So we once again head to the bestie's house for one more night. I end up not sleeping too well, because we brought all three dogs and the 2 boys were in the room with us, fascinated by the guinea pig and not able to settle down. Not to mention I'm sleeping on a twin bed designed for a 6 year old girl. LOL! I wake up early, tired, stressed and just wanting my own bed, shower, and toilet.
Luckily, on this particular Sunday, husband has the day off so once we get home and find that trench work has resumed in the backyard, we go out to breakfast. As we are eating, I find myself almost falling asleep at the table. All I can think about is going home and going to bed and sleeping until this is all over. I manage to make it through breakfast and back home. Izzy tells me that he needs a "progressive payment" so he can pay his workers, so I write him the check, hand it to husband and head to bed. Half an hour later, I am out like a light and wake up about four hours later to find that all is finished, they are just patting down all of the dirt that they put back over the newly replaced main line and water has been restored to my house! Whoo-hoo!! It happened just as I wanted it to. I went to sleep and woke up to have my world back to working order.
I wrote my final check to Izzy's Plumbing said my thanks to him and his crew and went inside to clean my tub! I now know that I am safe from major clogs in the future, it wasn't as painful as I thought it was going to be and Craigslist has once again provided a great service to me. Thank you to Izzy's Plumbing for the great work and fair prices and to my bestie who is always there when I need her. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got dishes to do. ;^)
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