Laundry Drain Replacement (June/July 2004)

After the leaking water heater and leaking soil stack. were fixed in June, our laundry drain became clogged, leading to yet more plumbing work (and more stress) at our home in July.

Previous joy: soil stack

Day 1: Discovery

The wash basins had drained slowly pretty much since the time we moved in. We had planned to call a plumber about it and probably would have done so this summer already had we not had our other plumbing problems... Anyway, we waited too long, so the drains clogged up completely.

Day 5: Plumbing Day

On this day, the plumbers reset the toilet in the 3rd-floor bathroom to finally close the book on the sad story of the leaking soil stack. They also replaced the water line for our ice maker. Unfortunately, they were unable to get a snake through the laundry drains, so they said they'd have to come back the following week to remove some old plumbing in order to clear the blockage.

Day 9: Removing Old Pipes to Clean Laundry Drain

Once some of the old plumbing was removed, it still wasn't possible to get a snake through the remaining pipe in the floor. The plumbers left and were supposed to return with a jackhammer to remove that elbow and a small portion of the basement floor around it. They were unable to return as planned, however.

Day 11: Jackhammer in the Basement

Once the elbow in the floor was removed, the plumbers were able to use the snake and remove some lint that had accumulated in the drain line in the floor. Then they replaced the plumbing that had been removed on day 9.

We had the opportunity to get rid of our old concrete wash basins but decided that we had enough excitement for one summer so we delayed that work at least until next summer.

Day 13: Using Washer Makes New Plumbing Leak!

We found that once we actually used the washer the first time after the plumbing was replaced, the plumbing leaked in several places!

Day 17: New Leaks Fixed

The plumbers came back and added a proper "Fernco" to join the wash basin drain pipe to the new plumbing.

Contractors

Plumbing by: South Side Plumbing & Heating
(recommended by our insurance company for our soil stack replacement, so we had them do this as well.)

Other joys:
ice maker
garage door opener
water heater
soil stack
laundry drain

The Joys of Home Ownership
home

Last updated: 2005/10/11 23:31:01