Merry Christmas 2021

Someone, I won't mention names complained about a hole in the lane a house away from me. That turned out to be the Sewer branch line for 3 houses connected to the Boards Main. This branch line came from my house and the ones on either side and we were responsible for the repair, even though it was on the public street. And yes that was confirmed with legal advice, I still don't get it either. So we expected a 5th of the bill as both houses on either side are dual occupancies. Nope, screwed again. The bill was divided into 1/3 as these dual occos were each on a single title and had a body corporate. Now if that original phone call had not happened the Council would have just fixed it with no charge and I would still have that $2500.
 
Dellortoman said:
Well, I'm having a shitty Christmas - literally.

At 4:30 pm on Xmas Eve, I became aware of a boggy lake of sewage developing on my front lawn. Something was seriously amiss with my sewerage outlet pipe.

Guess how easy it is to find a plumber at 4:30 pm on Xmas Eve. Answer: almost impossible. After a couple of fruitless hours on the phone, I eventually got hold of a bloke who turned up at 6:30pm. He shoved a jet blaster down the pipe, but it wouldn't go through. All the water just gurgled up out of the ground and made the shit lake worse. He then shoved a camera down and declared the pipe to be all busted up by tree roots, and that it was a "dig and repair" job. He identified the problem area to be underneath two (terraced) sandstone retaining walls and concrete path, the most difficult to access section of the entire system. Which is probably why that section is still old concrete or terracotta pipe whereas all the rest has been replaced with PVC.

Guess how easy it is to find someone to dig up and repair a shit pipe at 7pm on Xmas Eve. Answer: impossible. Nobody is available until 4 January. So, it looks like I'll be doing it myself - de-constructing stone retaining walls, sawing through concrete and digging out several cubic metres of front yard between Xmas and New Year, while knee-deep in a lake of shit. Oh, joy!

In the meantime, I can't use any plumbing appliance that drains into the sewer. That includes pretty much everything except a garden hose. No toilet, shower, sink, dishwasher, clothes washer ... So a planned Xmas dinner was cancelled and had elsewhere.

Guess how easy it is to hire a portable toilet and shower on Xmas Day. Answer: I dunno, I didn't even bother trying. I set up a chemical camping toilet in the bathroom, put a plug in the shower outlet so I can collect the water and bail it out into buckets, and got a big plastic tub to do dishes in. I feel like I'm camping in my own house. You don't realise how often during the day that you wash your hands until you can't.

Next job is to tackle the shit pipe excavation. I'm just waiting for the effluent lake to dry up a bit before going there.

Bah humbug!
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What an effing nightmare. You have my sympathy as I had virtually the same experience a year ago just after we moved house. Fortunately for me an old friend of mine has a drain jetting business and came and cleared the (first) blockage. Since then found two more, the most recent one a few weeks back, and like you bloody tree roots the main culprit- who the f**k in their right mind installs new sewer pipes then plants trees and bushes on top of them 🤬 - but at last I hope all mine are now working properly.
Hopefully you will get it all cleared up soon and the stench doesn’t linger for too long....
 
Oh, and to all you Aussies, don’t get to carried away about what’s happening in the cricket. Root and Stokes will now have a 300+ 5th wicket partnership, declare, having a lead of over 200 and Jimmy Anderson will bowl you all out for less than a 100. England then go on and win the Ashes 3-2. 🤣
 
In case anyone is wondering. My plumbing problem is sorted.

After busting up and removing the concrete path and then exposing the bit of pipe that the plumber said was crushed, I found it to be in perfect condition. Seems he was talking through his arse. I dunno what he was looking at through his camera.

So I called another plumber who shoved his water jet drain cleaner down the pipe and had it cleaned out in about 30 seconds. The blockage was just a little fur-ball of grass roots. I'm pleased about that, but now I'm pissed off at the first plumber for failing to do the job and giving me a bum steer.

The sewage swamp came from a leaking IO (inspection opening) under the path that I didn't know was there. So I suppose the dig did achieve something by exposing the IO that some clever dick had built the path over (the path pre-dates my ownership of the house). I'll be re-instating the path with a lid for future access to the IO.
 
Andy J said:
Oh, and to all you Aussies, don’t get to carried away about what’s happening in the cricket. Root and Stokes will now have a 300+ 5th wicket partnership, declare, having a lead of over 200 and Jimmy Anderson will bowl you all out for less than a 100. England then go on and win the Ashes 3-2. 🤣
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Have you noticed the back of Joe's shirt? At the top is his name - ROOT - and underneath is his number - 66...

PS you're dreaming!
 
Andy J said:
Oh, and to all you Aussies, don’t get to carried away about what’s happening in the cricket. Root and Stokes will now have a 300+ 5th wicket partnership, declare, having a lead of over 200 and Jimmy Anderson will bowl you all out for less than a 100. England then go on and win the Ashes 3-2. 🤣
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What odds would you like Andy? 😁A7C4ED69-A06E-4917-A595-675754C28DDE.jpeg
 
Good result there Cam, despite the runaround. Saved you a stack of money for sure, and even better for your back. We had roots from palms constantly finding their way into the drain pipes, it seems that no matter how well those glued joints were done, the microscopic palm roots found their way in. Apparently palms are a huge problem with swimming pool pipework too, just as expensive to fix but not quite as stinky.
 
Andy J said:
Oh, and to all you Aussies, don’t get to carried away about what’s happening in the cricket. Root and Stokes will now have a 300+ 5th wicket partnership, declare, having a lead of over 200 and Jimmy Anderson will bowl you all out for less than a 100. England then go on and win the Ashes 3-2. 🤣
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So Okay, I got it the wrong way round 🤦🏼‍♂️ Don’t know how that happened 🤷‍♂️🤔
 
Andy J said:
Oh, and to all you Aussies, don’t get to carried away about what’s happening in the cricket. Root and Stokes will now have a 300+ 5th wicket partnership, declare, having a lead of over 200 and Jimmy Anderson will bowl you all out for less than a 100. England then go on and win the Ashes 3-2. 🤣
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Bloody hell. The Poms spent more time in quarantine than they did losing the Ashes. Then the team were not even man enough to stay on the field while Joe did his pressers. What a farce.
 
Dellortoman said:
In case anyone is wondering. My plumbing problem is sorted.

After busting up and removing the concrete path and then exposing the bit of pipe that the plumber said was crushed, I found it to be in perfect condition. Seems he was talking through his arse. I dunno what he was looking at through his camera.

So I called another plumber who shoved his water jet drain cleaner down the pipe and had it cleaned out in about 30 seconds. The blockage was just a little fur-ball of grass roots. I'm pleased about that, but now I'm pissed off at the first plumber for failing to do the job and giving me a bum steer.

The sewage swamp came from a leaking IO (inspection opening) under the path that I didn't know was there. So I suppose the dig did achieve something by exposing the IO that some clever dick had built the path over (the path pre-dates my ownership of the house). I'll be re-instating the path with a lid for future access to the IO.
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:cry: I was looking forward watching helping you dig up your yard.

I haven’t even left Brisbane yet, trying to figure out an electrical fucken issue in my van. Check, double check power up ... poof! Fuck... thinking about it, while I should have been sleeping, I think I’ve worked out where the issue is.

Shorting out at the hot water pressure pump.

🇨🇳 3rd world manufactured pump, causing 1st world problems:mad:
 
Good result in the end Cam, after the initial nightmare.
Are you going to add some more concrete over the problem area? Otherwise might need to book the same plumber for this time next year…!
 
Andy said:
Are you going to add some more concrete over the problem area?
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I think the problem was roots getting into the old IO that I previously didn't know existed, which just had a (cracked) mortar plug in it. I just bought a PVC threaded IO that I'll epoxy into the opening in the concrete pipe. Hopefully that'll seal properly and the roots will have to go elsewhere to find water.
 
Dellortoman said:
I think the problem was roots getting into the old IO that I previously didn't know existed, which just had a (cracked) mortar plug in it. I just bought a PVC threaded IO that I'll epoxy into the opening in the concrete pipe. Hopefully that'll seal properly and the roots will have to go elsewhere to find water.
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👍
There’s a particular epoxy to use, we call it ‘drainlayers epoxy’ or epoxy mortar. Good for sticking to wet (clean) concrete.
(Apologies if you knew this 😁, you probably bought some with the fitting)
 
Andy said:
👍
There’s a particular epoxy to use, we call it ‘drainlayers epoxy’ or epoxy mortar. Good for sticking to wet (clean) concrete.
(Apologies if you knew this 😁, you probably bought some with the fitting)
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Ferropre in the land of Aus.............and likely other Continents.
 
Useful info as I still have several inspection covers to replace following my own shit fest earlier this year. Hopefully, I can then concentrate on getting my new garage and workshop built (although the missus might remain of the view the new kitchen is a higher priority 😕).
 
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