Not my best day off..

FrenchBlade

FrenchBlade

Joined
Sunday August 8, 2010
Location
South of France
Feck I hate plumbing!

All started yesterday when I wanted to use the washing machine, ended up with a flooded kitchen, the drains were blocked!
I have this pump system since my place is below street level that pumps everything up, all the piping 40mm (yes that small!)
Anyways, I tried to unblock it with chemicals, no good.. :evil:
So today I had the saw out, hacked the pipe, but of course everything that remained in the pipe, ended up on the floor. :x

So out comes the pressure washer. (yes, in my bathroom & kitchen), and I try presure wash the pipes.. no good, so all the water I put in, end, you guessed it.. on my floor.
(almost swimming now in dark murky water) :|
So, off to hack the pipe in another place, closer to the pump, more gunk comes out... I run a normal hose through the hacked bit.
Man those pipes were gunked up, I think about 50% or less getting through..
I run the hose through it, pump seems to pick it all up, no refluxes anymore...

Then I went to the DIY, bought some T sections and screw on caps, this way I can just unscrew the caps to ram a hose through them.

nwH8I.jpg


On top of all this, I'm only renting, but I can't wait forever, so I took matter in my own hands.
So that was my day off, are you guys still pissed off at the snow? Cause honestly, I'd rather have been sweeping snow than mopping murk!

Max

Through all this I still managed to go to the PO (on time) to send someone a PIF & the Alu Tech I sold!
 
Sounds like you have had a right shitty day Max,getting sick of the sight of snow but as you say i would rather be shoveling snow than doing what you were.
Mind you my DIY skills are non existent so would have probably had to phone someone to come out and fix it.

Hope tomorrows a better day for you.

Scotty
 
It is an issue with pumped systems, prevention would be better but since it is rented the odds are they won't want to spend the money to get someone in to keep them de-gunked and why should you because you are renting the flat. I am not shoveling snow, I sent the wife out to do that ;)
 
I'm not being smart after the event Max but if you have access (and it looks it) you need one of these. A good investment, save on chemicals and grief in the long run. Can be had cheaper elsewhere.

Charge the landlord of course.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.screwfix.com/prods/11325/Hand-Tools/Plumbing-Tools/Sink-Drain-Clearance/Drain-Unblocker?cm_mmc=GoogleBase-_-Datafeed-_-Hand%20Tools-_-Drain%20Unblocker" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.screwfix.com/prods/11325/Han ... 0Unblocker</a><!-- m -->
 
Plumbing sucks, I´m sorry for you Max.

On construction sites here in Sweden plumbers are Gods, they come and go as they please and charge you dearly for it. They don´t do the heavy or dirty work themselfs anymore, they´ve got apprentcies or make someone else do it. When we did a total makeover on our flat (before we moved to our house), the plumber showed up and gave directions to constuction workers - "do that, do this and when I come back I´ll lay my hand over it, to bless it all - and charge you for it". We had new plumbing regulations when we did all the work and I had to find out everything and then the plumber had to learn how to do it (after I told him) and of course it took a looong time before he was done, since he didn´t know what to do. And guess what!? He charged me dearly for it :lol:
 
Must be the weather.
Last night we were waiting til after midnight for the gas board to tell us whether or not we would have to evacuate due to a huge gas leak.
Apparently the storm drain has a gas pipe that breeches it and this has been damaged by the council cleaning the drain, the whole storm drain was full of gas. This would be fine if the drain ran through the street, only it runs through my garden and has a caravan with three 19kg propane cylinders sat on top of it.

I was debating about one of those saniflo devices to install an en-suite into the former garage.
 
Thanks guys!

Also forgot to mention:
The pressure washer packed up (something wrong with the on/off switch)
I have about 20 towels to wash, that have been used for mopping floors + the load that was in the washing machine at the time disaster struck!
Oh, and I don't have a tumble dryer of course.

I'm mopping floors as we speak.. after all is done I'm going to have a shave!

Max

p.s. antdad, I would have given my firstborn for one of those, but they didn't have them in the DIY (not small enough ones)
 
Plumbing scares the bejesus out of me. I can do electrics, I can do power tools, but there is something about the potential for flooding that terrifies me.

bad luck max.
 
ebilpirate said:
Plumbing scares the bejesus out of me. I can do electrics, I can do power tools, but there is something about the potential for flooding that terrifies me.

bad luck max.
Click to expand...

When you're already up to your ankles in murky sludge, you can't really make it worse.

I'm no handyman either, the job got done, probably not perfectly, but it seems to hold.
(I did my first load of washing just now, and kept my feet dry.)

Max

on the bright side, my kitchen and bathroom floors have never been this clean... :D
 
I feel your pain FB....if only vicariously, having had to listen to HWMOM uttering various expletives as he tried to change an imperial washer with a metric one this week, with less than satisfactory results.
 
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