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June 30, 2008
Basement blues...
So the heavy downpour on saturday caused a minor problem in the basement, a few gallons of water. Dadin't take long with the wet vac to pump it out. Yesterday afternoon I sat in the basement to watch where the water was coming from as another strom rollwed through. Seems that we have a back up from the water main. None of the neighbours have this issue.
Was going to call out one of the following companies and wanted to know if anyone had an opinion on either :
1) Sessa Plumbing
2) Python drain cleaning.
Also, if anyone has thoughts on how to curse water main backups I'd appreciate. I've seen mention of one way valves but not clear to me if they are the way to go or not.
Thanks.
Comments
Do you mean a backup from your sewage drain? If so, you might have some debris in there that is slowing the draining which will cause a flood during heavy rains. It happened to us but was resolved after we had the main snaked and jetted out.
Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at June 30, 2008 10:52 AM
We get ours snaked every 6 months because even though we don't have any breaks in the sewer main, roots from the tree in front still work their way in the joints in the pipe. Tiny, fine, hair-like roots. If there's a lot of them it slows the sewer. After you get it snaked you can continue to periodically put a substance into the toilet and flush it, it kills the tree roots that have got into the sewer main.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 12:07 PM
Sessa saved the day here when I had a similar problem. After a few storm sewer backup here, I first called a drain cleaning company. They tried to fix it twice to no avail. Then I called Sessa and Richie found that the clean-out for my storm drain had been buried in an earlier basement reno and that the drain cleaning company was working on the wrong pipe.
Sessa cost about 5x what the drain cleaner cost but they got the job done.
Posted by: Steve at June 30, 2008 12:20 PM
Hey Steve,
If you dont mind me asking, how much did Sess charge you for their work and what did they do ?
Thanks.
Posted by: 10thStreetReno at June 30, 2008 12:53 PM
Hey Steve,
If you dont mind me asking, how much did Sessa charge you for their work and what did they do ?
Thanks.
Posted by: 10thStreetReno at June 30, 2008 12:53 PM
Hey Steve,
If you dont mind me asking, how much did Sessa charge you for their work and what did they do ?
Thanks.
Posted by: 10thStreetReno at June 30, 2008 12:53 PM
Python is outstanding.
Very professional and good at what they do.
I use them all the time.
Me:
www.GatewayPlumbing.com
Posted by: Master Plvmber at June 30, 2008 1:07 PM
IIRC, Sessa charged me around $180-something to clean all the drains (storm and sanitary) in both directions. But they also had to find that storm drain clean-out and dig it out so I don't know if that price is typical for a routine drain cleaning.
Otherwise, they used what any drain company would use: a power drain auger.
Posted by: Steve at June 30, 2008 1:19 PM
We snake our drain every six months but that doesnt prevent what happened to us on saturday -- fallen leaves collected on top of the drain and blocked it. Good old sweeping may have prevented that I guess.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 3:39 PM
Also on 10th street. Sessa installed a 1-way valve on the main last year. Worked fine up until Saturday's deluge. Problem was water backing up from the street through a drain in the basement that prior owner built a permanent floor over.
A bit pricey, but no BS. And very good at diagnosing problems. If you know exactly what problem and solution is, maybe a smaller operation would be cheaper. Me, I had 3 plumbers come and tell me my flood every time it rained was inevitable before Sessa "fixed it."
Not sure if Saturday was an anomaly but they're coming back tomorrow. We shall see.
Posted by: Johnny at June 30, 2008 5:41 PM
Where are you located? Lower Park Slope (4th and 5th Avenues) has not been draining these last two weeks. The system just doesn't have the capacity, or is not clear enough, to take in quick rains. On my block all my neighbors had back-up from the city sewer. And we have all disconected our roof drains, so we know it is not from water coming through our systems.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 10:02 PM
We're between 5th and 6 th ave. Will be interesting to see what Sessa have to say. I'll post their comments as it may benefit others with similar issues.
Posted by: 10thStreetReno at June 30, 2008 10:21 PM
Please do post the comments from Sessa - I have a feeling that something is amiss w/ the city sewers because these storms have been affecting a LOT of homeowners -
Something is wrong....
Posted by: guest at July 1, 2008 12:21 AM
Every homeowner should get their waste lines snaked out every six months to a year, depending upon the presence or absence of tree roots in the vicinity. Just one wretched, smelly back-up and we're converted. An ounce of prevention...
Posted by: guest at July 1, 2008 12:22 AM
Yes please post what the plumber has to say; I bet he's getting a lot of calls. No way should you have to snake your lines every six months. I hope the plumber is reporting to the city where the calls are from so they can address the infrastructure issues. Actually, if someone is on the ball at the community board, they should survey the plumbers, asking for locations of the calls. People think there's something wrong with their own lines when it could be the sewer itself. Maybe not in the plumbers' interest, but still....
Posted by: guest at July 1, 2008 12:34 AM
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