The Plumbing Disaster

Remember just yesterday, when I was telling you about how cozy and relaxed of a day we were having?

Well...an hour after I posted that post...the main drain in our house backed completely up!

Yep, one minute I am sipping coffee and cuddling the baby after finishing up cleaning the house...the next thing I know, I am watching Dustin cut holes in my utility room floor. *shakes head*

When we got this house..the plumbing was a disaster.

 EVERYTHING was a disaster.

The house before we started.

 That is why we gutted the entire house, including electric and plumbing, and started over. When we were doing the plumbing the main drain looked good. So, we hooked all of our new plumbing to it. Had the septic emptied and checked. Everything looked good.
*Note to self. When the house is that bad, Always tear it all out and start over.*

Then we moved in. We would often hear a gurgling. Dustin looked into it. We kind of figured it was because we had not finished running the vents all the way out of the house yet. We had those finicky vent caps on temporarily. We finished running the vents.

The problem did not go away. It got worse, but kind of came and went. It just wasn't something that screamed 'Serious Problem'. Dustin is a busy man, and it wasn't at the top of his list.

 Until, one day in August, when I was VERY pregnant, the entire thing backed up. The tub was full, both of the sinks, etc.

We called a plumber, because Dustin was stuck at work. They cleaned the main drain from the septic to the house. The 'Brilliant Genius' who update the plumbing,(and the rest of the house before we bought it.) thought it would be a good idea to put the main clean out UNDER the utility room floor.  The plumbers were not very nice gentlemen and seemed to be in a hurry. They didn't bother to come in and check the drains or anything.

They did say that, judging from the amount of build up, it was probably mostly from the last residents. They also suggested that we dig it all up and replace the main drain. I was 36 weeks pregnant. There was no way we were taking that on at that moment in time.

$290 later and we could at least use the toilet again  (Something this pregnant lady was thankful for. ;) )...and things did drain.

Oh, we had the septic emptied also, $125. I was so thankful for our emergency fund that day. 

However, that gurgling never completely went away. It would come and go and Dustin did what he could.

We were trying to avoid tearing up the floor to get to the clean out.  Finding the drain and making an access hatch was on the 'To Do' list...but not until we actually got to finishing the utility room. That room is currently last on the list of rooms to finish.

Then yesterday happened.

We attempted Drano at first, $15.

It did nothing.

Then he started tearing up the flooring.
The stick down tiles that I got on clearance..because it was discontinued. *Facepalm*

Yep.

*Deep Sigh*

He had to cut five holes in the floor before he was able to find the clean out. Then he had to cut a bigger hole to get to the clean out.

 **Deeper Sigh*

AND THEN...he had to go to Lowe's and get one of those BIG electric drain auger snakes, and some very thick and long orange gloves, $430

One very messy hour and $450 later...the drain was officially fixed.

The gurgling is gone. We are pretty sure that the plumbers didn't officially get the problem taken care of to begin with. We are also fairly certain that this was probably an on going issue with the past residents.


 We then did what we always do when this old tiny house throws us for a loop. We laugh about the disaster, give each other a kiss, clean up the mess, praise God for our debt free house and emergency fund...and order pizza for dinner. 


Needless to say, the chilli did not get made yesterday ;) ...and I had to clean the house again today..at least parts of it.

  Dustin filled in the holes in the utility room floor. Thankfully we have a few of the tiles left.
Looks like we will be putting something different in there when we get to finishing that room. ;)
 This crazy house has thrown us for more than one loop along the way. We love it..and we keep moving forward. 
Because...it's worth it.

The tiny house now.

 On the bright day side, the next time we have to clean out a drain...the auger will have paid for itself! ;) 
I don't know about you...but I'm always happy when something pays for itself. LOL

I'm now making the chili, school is finished for the day and the washer is no longer draining into the bathtub...VICTORY!
All is back to Warm and Cozy in the Tiny house. :)

Blessings,
Lyndsay