Water draining bad, backup in basement... (Pictures included)

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I am in Naperville now. About 20 smething miles west of Chicago, I was born and raised in Bridgeport, by Archer and Troop.

Well go fix this guy's damn plumbing problem!

I'll call the local media so you get the star status and you'll have work streaming from this disaster even if you don't even charge!


Do it Now! That's Oprah land y'know, Jerry Springer's too.

[mike04gt]

Take what I've put to print and understand that I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just trying to save you and your family by learning the hazards of your situation. Damn...

Absolutely appreciate your post, thank you.

The only reason I posted the pictures was to show the problem areas because unlike you, I DON'T know how to fix these problems and was looking for help from people on this forum, and got some great help and suggestions actually.

I wanted to get the water out of the basement first and foremost, and it took alot of trips with the shopvac to get it all out of there. And I'm happy to say the basement is pretty dry at this point in the evening.

The next step is to fix the hole in the sewage line, and then I was planning on mopping down the entire basement with bleach.

Luckily, the basement was relatively empty. The entire floor is just concrete because we ripped out the previous owner's carpeting when we moved in due to alot of mold on the furniture that was left here. We threw every single thing out that was in this basement, and bleached the floors, and disinfected the floors and walls also.

We'll be doing that also, believe me. I saw alot of nasty water/sewage floating around down there, I used old shoes which I threw out today also. I think I took pretty good precautionary steps for never having to deal with this.

I am going to get a plumber in here on Monday, unfortunately, I am not lucky and was laid off from my job 2 months ago and can't find any work. Every plumber I called today had an extra 100.00 weekend charge which I just COULD NOT afford. You think I WANT my basement to be infested with sewage? You kidding me? I wanted to have a plumber here last night when I first found this situation, but I wanted to see if there was anything that I CAN DO to fix this myself to keep it cost effective since me and my wife are struggling to get by.

I have been working in the basement all damn day and checking this messageboard for suggestions, I didn't eat a damn thing until 10pm all day so don't think I'm taking this casually.

I appreciate you worrying about me and my wife, I really do, but don't think that I'm just some dumbass who is sitting around his house letting shit water float in his basement.

[mike04gt]

Well go fix this guy's damn plumbing problem!

I'll call the local media so you get the star status and you'll have work streaming from this disaster even if you don't even charge!


Do it Now! That's Oprah land y'know, Jerry Springer's too.

You are seriously acting ridiculous about this now.

I wanted suggestions, I'm not casual about this, I'm trying to learn and to fix things myself seeing as I lost my job and am having a hard time affording a plumber.

Thanks.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

You are seriously acting ridiculous about this now.

I wanted suggestions, I'm not casual about this, I'm trying to learn and to fix things myself seeing as I lost my job and am having a hard time affording a plumber.

Thanks.

Uh, sorry, you're dead wrong. If you need a job you get a job. You got one in the basement that'll pay you $200-$300 if you understand what I just typed below this print.


I'm a licensed Master Plumber that understands the seriousness of your situation, and I don't care how broke you are, fix your plumbing before you make someone other than your selfish self sick.


Lots of bad things going on in Illonois right now and you've not mentioned one damn time about renting a drain cleaning machine from a rental yard.


You can't afford a $55/day drain cleaning machine rental you sure in hell don't need to have the responsiblity of a house. And fix that damn car with the hood up. I'm the voice of reason whether you agree or understand it.

There's a reason why plumbing gets repaired when it malfunctions. Being tight with money is no excuse to have a poop playground in your new found discovery of home ownership. You can hate me all you want; fix your issue to safely bring your living conditions back to how normal people
live.


I've got the talent to talk you through the use of that equipment, just to get your problem resolved. Pretty damn honorable to help out a perfect stranger 2 states away that doesn't care whether I live or die. Apparently I care though, to see your problem resolved for the obvious reasons as stated.

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I missed your post #32 before typing my response. I'm not about to change what I wrote because I was responding to the post above mine.

I said it and I meant it, just didn't know the whole story behind your situation.

Rent the drain cleaning machine and this site along with others will talk you through it. This will probably not be the only time this will happen so paying somebody every time plumbing goes bad is going to be the creation of your new found plumbing skills whether you like it or not.

I'll never agree with safety taking a back step to danger. Hopefully SewerRatz? can help???? Got any favors you can pull for this guy from another plumber in his town?

[Cass]

Its a beautiful thing...

We had the sewer line snaked out so now we can build a wall over the C/O and leave a little hole in it so it can "breath"...

Nice...

---------------------------------------------------

mike04gt...Im talking about the people before you...not you...

Like RUGGED said we will walk you through this...

[master plumber mark]

It would be wise to get the sewer cleaned soon

I am not sure wether you still have standing water
in your basement or not anymore...

the quicker you can get all the water out the better.....

before the wood and everything else down there gets
all saturated with funk...

then you need a mop and a lot of bleach to clean the whole place..

then you need a lot of fans to
attempt to dry the place up

wether you have a job or not is immaterial
if this is your home....

you still got to get it into ........high gear.....


dont just sit around ........



damage control is wise at this point....

[kingsotall]

So about these steak sandwiches...

[SewerRatz]

So about these steak sandwiches...

Here you go http://www.ricobenesfamoussteaks.com....php?prod=KSBS

[Redwood]

You really need to stop running water and call a pro to clean your drain ASAP!
This isn't going to get any prettier by waiting!
In fact I guarantee it's going to get pretty damn ugly!

I had a customer once that thought I was going to save the day when they finally got around to calling to have the line snaked. With over 1' of sewage standing in the basement I don't think so! Have it pumped out and call me back. Shoulda called last week!

[Gary Swart]

This forum is intended to give DIYer advise and assistance in plumbing problems they are facing in their homes. Too often, a DIYer feels he should be able to fix any problem in his home if he can just get some pointers. Sadly, this is not true, and your problem is a good example of this fact. Your problem is serious and is not one that a inexperienced novice should even consider attempting. I think we are probably all guilty at one time or another in attempting something that we really don' know how to do, but we are reluctant to call a professional because of the cost. Often this reluctance ends up costing us more in the long term. Please quit trying to find a cheap DIY fix and call real professional.

[gardner]

In my town there are parts of the city that have combined or partially separated storm and sanitary sewers. In these areas it is common for meltwater runoff or heavy rain to overwhelm the sanitary sewer and cause backups. The city has a program for subsidizing the installation of backwater valves -- as well as a somewhat larger program for tearing up and replacing the sewers themselves. They are quite responsive to reports of backups, 24x7 and will come out and assess whether the city drain is at fault and will arrange to clear it, if necessary.

The flood pictures look like a city sewer backup to me. You have to get the city involved -- as well as a professional plumber.

[MACPLUMB 777]

in my town there are parts of the city that have combined or partially separated storm and sanitary sewers. In these areas it is common for meltwater runoff or heavy rain to overwhelm the sanitary sewer and cause backups. The city has a program for subsidizing the installation of backwater valves -- as well as a somewhat larger program for tearing up and replacing the sewers themselves. They are quite responsive to reports of backups, 24x7 and will come out and assess whether the city drain is at fault and will arrange to clear it, if necessary.

The flood pictures look like a city sewer backup to me. You have to get the city involved -- as well as a professional plumber.

yes this is what i meant in my earlier post,
o.p. Said large amount of clear water backup after snow melt and heavy rain ! !
Thats why it is more then a main sewer stoppage,
i have seen this in low flood areas before where storm water over loads the sanitary sewer

[mike04gt]

Just an update for those interested...

Thanks for all the posts and thoughts guys, I've read them all and appreciate your time spent.

Took the advice, had a plumber come out on Sunday morning instead of waiting till Monday to check out the house. He rodded out the bathtub, then went into the main line trap and rodded out the entire system. We banged on the cap and got it out luckily pretty quickly with a mallet and chisel, went to Ace and bought a 3 1/2" cap with a wingnut and tightened it in there.

Ran the bath, kitchen sink, and washing machine and no water leaks from the main trap, and the floor drain is holding fine.

He found alot of junk in the main line, and some in the bathtub line.

I bleached the entire floor with a mop, twice and washed the walls with a clean rag and bleach with the windows/doors open airing out the basement.

Thanks again for everything guys!

[Dunbar Plumbing]

I'd like to say that my cautionary tale persuaded you to fix the problem sooner than later, but you deserve the credit for doing the right thing.


It is now out of sight, out of mind and no more worries.


Should it happen again, rather quickly then you'd need possibly a camera inspection on the main line.