We found the origin of a foul smell in the crawl space of our house. We originally thought the main drain had a crack in it but actually one of the lines going to the 4″ cast iron sewage pipe had broken and disconnected.
The end of this pipe which drains from the kitchen sink had broken loose from the main drain.
The first plumber who came out before the weekend promised to come back Monday to fix the drain pipe and unclog the bathtub. Unfortunately his office called to say he would not be able to return until the next Thursday. Thursday! Uh-uh. We want someone on MONDAY so I called another local plumber who set an appointment for us for MONDAY.
The crawl space is even tight Charlie who weighs in at 155 pounds.
Charlie was going to dig enough dirt out of the crawl space for the techs to get in there and replace the pipe. If you recall the first estimate was $1100; $650 if we did the digging.
Charlie removed 20 wheelbarrows of dirt from the crawl space a bucket at a time.
Charlie not only dug out the crawl space but also got the parts for the repair which he almost completed himself except he was unable to screw the new pipe into the old cast iron more than one turn.
The pipe is mended with a piece of PVC.
When Mike and Andrew, the plumbers, arrived on MONDAY they got right down to business. Mike actually did the repair in the crawl space. He had no problem screwing the new pipe into the old one: the difference of a 300-pound turn versus a 155-pound turn.
Water can now flow down the drain.
Not surprisingly the real challenge was to unclog the tub which did eventually run free. The sweetest part of the repair was the cost. Not $1100. Not even $650. The entire job was $235! Woo-hoo. Running water that drains. Thanks, men, we’ll call you again if we need a plumber.
Have you saved big on doing a little work yourself?
