DUNBAR
06-21-2008, 08:52 PM
I'm more than disappointed at this point in a recent job I'm sucked into.
Right now, the drain is winning. :trash-him:
First call out, laundry tub backing up, I ask if you run water in the kitchen sink if it comes up in the tub, YES.
Head directly to basement, pop the cap off the tree and BAM! open it up in seconds. Tells me the faucet is running slow on the kitchen sink, I go up and clean the aerator, off I go.
She calls 2 days later to tell me that the kitchen sink is draining slow, apologizes for not telling me the day I was there and asked if I would come back to clear the drain when I get time. 5 weeks go by as I haven't had time to do the job and she calls me, states the kitchen sink is clogged this past wednesday....now she needs me.
I go over there, set up my 81 and down I go, drain opens.
I tell her to go look downstairs to see if the clogged moved to the obstruction I first cleared last time I was there in the floor at the base of that tree, she comes up and says it's fine, no backup.
I go and pull the cable back out, I ask her to go look again and she's frustrated that I'm asking her again to check..........BUT,
sure enough, I moved the clog and now the tubs are full. Repeat the steps the first time I was there and the drain opens.......and since the clog was partial, the drain above now runs smooth and so does the LT.
Anyway....fast foward two days and now she calls me back....says there's a small leak running down the wall now. I warned her that between the drain cleaning product I used and the very thorough cabling to the drain, I could of exposed any holes in the pipe that took years to happen, not hours.
I told her that copper trap arms after 40 to 60 years old are the first to wear out given that food has an acidic base. I didn't think it would be just a couple days before she called and sure enough.....I now have to pull a cabinet base to fix this monstrosity.
So, today, I had to stop everything here at the shop with the second biz and take my welder over with me to get "in and out".
Actually, we was doing spectacular as we had removed the base cabinet, opened the wall, removed the pitted copper which was only at the very end near the brass tee, replaced with pvc and a mission no-hub coupling, all together with a new trap, run the water,
This effing drain backs up instantly, solid, dead solid where there's nothing allowing water to pass. WTF???!!!! I know all the pipe which was less than a couple feet and trap are clear as can be.
The water stood in this drain like it was a vaccum lock, running the cable down the drain and hearing it clanging loudly in the basement with the pipe definitely empty is testament to this.
Son of a.........Mother....
Everything went from complete to incomplete in a matter of seconds.
Here's what I think happened:
Cutting the copper shot garbage down the drain......sealing what was a once opened drain.
Vibrating the pipe ended the existence of this piping because we pulled the cleanout cap on this 1.5" cast-iron line and sure enough, you can't event drive a chisel into this solid mass where copper meets cast.
What the first cabling only accomplished was probably a pin hole opening in this totally clogged drain, the customer barks off that the drain has been draining slow for YEARS...the kind of drain that rocks like a boat when it drains.
You drain cleaners know that scenario well I'm sure.
So I told her today, after putting that drain back together and cabling for a freaking hour with that water not budging at all, I told her that I've been here 3 times in a short period of time,
I "can" try to attempt to bring the 100 drum and attempt to chop through this 60 year old waste, or I can replace this drain system that I promise will come out someday....no doubt.
I'm set to bust the floor open and remove all this tuesday, reluctantly.
I truly think that I killed the drain when all that garbage slid down to the hard obstruction....forever ending the drain's life completely.
I bet the hole it was draining through was less than an inch my cable corkscrewed through it.
This is a boundary I've crossed many times where I'm forced to commit the property owner to replace/fix the problem, not band-aid the symptoms. I truly believe even if I get that drain open with the bigger machine........she'll be spitting teeth at me the next time it backs up.
How do you expect a 60 year old drain that hasn't seen mechanical cleaning in 20 plus years..........?
I have 2.5 hours in clearing that drain......enough is enuff!
Right now, the drain is winning. :trash-him:
First call out, laundry tub backing up, I ask if you run water in the kitchen sink if it comes up in the tub, YES.
Head directly to basement, pop the cap off the tree and BAM! open it up in seconds. Tells me the faucet is running slow on the kitchen sink, I go up and clean the aerator, off I go.
She calls 2 days later to tell me that the kitchen sink is draining slow, apologizes for not telling me the day I was there and asked if I would come back to clear the drain when I get time. 5 weeks go by as I haven't had time to do the job and she calls me, states the kitchen sink is clogged this past wednesday....now she needs me.
I go over there, set up my 81 and down I go, drain opens.
I tell her to go look downstairs to see if the clogged moved to the obstruction I first cleared last time I was there in the floor at the base of that tree, she comes up and says it's fine, no backup.
I go and pull the cable back out, I ask her to go look again and she's frustrated that I'm asking her again to check..........BUT,
sure enough, I moved the clog and now the tubs are full. Repeat the steps the first time I was there and the drain opens.......and since the clog was partial, the drain above now runs smooth and so does the LT.
Anyway....fast foward two days and now she calls me back....says there's a small leak running down the wall now. I warned her that between the drain cleaning product I used and the very thorough cabling to the drain, I could of exposed any holes in the pipe that took years to happen, not hours.
I told her that copper trap arms after 40 to 60 years old are the first to wear out given that food has an acidic base. I didn't think it would be just a couple days before she called and sure enough.....I now have to pull a cabinet base to fix this monstrosity.
So, today, I had to stop everything here at the shop with the second biz and take my welder over with me to get "in and out".
Actually, we was doing spectacular as we had removed the base cabinet, opened the wall, removed the pitted copper which was only at the very end near the brass tee, replaced with pvc and a mission no-hub coupling, all together with a new trap, run the water,
This effing drain backs up instantly, solid, dead solid where there's nothing allowing water to pass. WTF???!!!! I know all the pipe which was less than a couple feet and trap are clear as can be.
The water stood in this drain like it was a vaccum lock, running the cable down the drain and hearing it clanging loudly in the basement with the pipe definitely empty is testament to this.
Son of a.........Mother....
Everything went from complete to incomplete in a matter of seconds.
Here's what I think happened:
Cutting the copper shot garbage down the drain......sealing what was a once opened drain.
Vibrating the pipe ended the existence of this piping because we pulled the cleanout cap on this 1.5" cast-iron line and sure enough, you can't event drive a chisel into this solid mass where copper meets cast.
What the first cabling only accomplished was probably a pin hole opening in this totally clogged drain, the customer barks off that the drain has been draining slow for YEARS...the kind of drain that rocks like a boat when it drains.
You drain cleaners know that scenario well I'm sure.
So I told her today, after putting that drain back together and cabling for a freaking hour with that water not budging at all, I told her that I've been here 3 times in a short period of time,
I "can" try to attempt to bring the 100 drum and attempt to chop through this 60 year old waste, or I can replace this drain system that I promise will come out someday....no doubt.
I'm set to bust the floor open and remove all this tuesday, reluctantly.
I truly think that I killed the drain when all that garbage slid down to the hard obstruction....forever ending the drain's life completely.
I bet the hole it was draining through was less than an inch my cable corkscrewed through it.
This is a boundary I've crossed many times where I'm forced to commit the property owner to replace/fix the problem, not band-aid the symptoms. I truly believe even if I get that drain open with the bigger machine........she'll be spitting teeth at me the next time it backs up.
How do you expect a 60 year old drain that hasn't seen mechanical cleaning in 20 plus years..........?
I have 2.5 hours in clearing that drain......enough is enuff!