Enough With the Rain Already
Somebody make it stop, please! It took the rain storm on Friday night to bring to light the fact that our waste line had collapsed out under the street. We suspect that the 150-year-old clay pipe was strangled to death by predatorial tree roots. We learned of the collapse only after the rainwater from our…
Somebody make it stop, please! It took the rain storm on Friday night to bring to light the fact that our waste line had collapsed out under the street. We suspect that the 150-year-old clay pipe was strangled to death by predatorial tree roots. We learned of the collapse only after the rainwater from our roof had no place to go but back up out of the toilet and tub in the ground floor rental. We finally identified the problem (but not before three flooding incidents) and now we have the plumber ready to go–but he can’t dig up the street until the rain stops. Talk about a Catch 22. Or more like a Catch 10,000, which is how many dollars it’s gonna cost to fix it. Our first brush with the joys of home ownership.
A Trickle Downer! [NY Daily News]
sorry to go a bit off topic, but my question has to do with sewer lines…in our brownstone, the sewer trap does not have a cap. there is a metal pie plate and some free weights on it to keep it covered (really!) the trap is dug down from the cellar floor about 10″ deep. there is a 1’x2′ “box” cut out of the cellar floor and that is covered by a piece of heavy sheet metal. when we had our sewer lines changed (they were lead) the plumber guys had no idea what the hole in the ground was for. i went to a few plumbing supply stores to find a cap that would fit, but no luck. can any of you brownstone owner’s fill me in on what’s “normal”?
Our waste line (which looks to be the original one) just bought it too – after the rainstorm on saturday. The crumbling point was in our basement though, not outside, so easier and cheaper to fix. Now after hearing B’stoner’s very unfortunate experience I am fretting anew about the rest of the pipe…
Homeowners are responsible for anything off the main sewer line, unfortunately. Maybe if the city is voluntarily upgrading stuff it’s a different story, but DEP definitely won’t do this for us and will not reimburse us.
I really feel for you brownstoner. I’m a little curious tho, if the problem is in the street, why are you responsible for it? I would call the city, more specifically the DEP.
I live on Stuyvesant Ave in Bed Stuy which is undergoing a massive construction project by the DDC of the city. Not only is it being resurfaced but they have replaced our water mains, gas mains and maybe (?) the sewer lines. If the city is replacing them on my street why wouldn’t they be responsible for fixing your problem? Especially since it’s not on your property. Just an idea.
With all this rain we had water coming into our basement via the electical lines that run out to the street. Con-ed came and emptied the chamber in the street, repacked it and also repacked the box inside our house. It unfortunately didn’t totally do the trick. But they are responsible for their equipment. Would the city be responsible for theirs too?
Bstoner–
Did you have any luck finding the company referred to earlier–Rootless? I have a similar problem, but the pipe is cast iron. Effin rain.
Matthew Ruggiero might charge you $3K to replace the sewer line, but he’ll charge you $3K to walk in the door.
My condolences!
We had the exact same thing happen to us right after we bought our place– and for us as for you, a) it only happened when there were really severe rains, and b) a camera couldn’t detect anything.
We had a bunch of different sewer people give us estimates, and they ranged from 4000-12000– which was horrifying, of course. And besides, one of the outfits was in the process of being indicted for mob-related activities (Figliolia) & all of them told us that the cost might well double once they opened up the street. They also couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t break the stoop in the process. We cried & mopped up water in the basement for awhile.
But then we ended up going w/ this new process done by a company called Rootless– they shoot a chemical into your pipes and it builds a liner inside the clay. Apparently, they’ve been doing it in municipal buildings for years, but they’ve only just begun doing it on a small, domestic scale.
We did it 2 winters ago & have had no problem– and it was much cheaper than the other solutions, plus they didn’t have to dig up the street (and possibly the stoop). I have heard since then that the city is trying to make it harder for people to do this because it sometimes interferes w/ the main in the middle of the street somehow– but I don’t know how that works, really.
I’m going on at length about this cause I feel for you, Bstoner– we were really traumatized by this as new homeowners. If you want to email me about this off-site, let me know & I’ll give you as much info as we have (which is a lot, since we mulled over every aspect of the decision).
It’s the original 130-year-old clay pipe. The same thing happened to a neighbor just last month. We’ve had two plumbers snake the pipe already–no rags or toys unfortunately.
I’m assuming you’re sure its ‘collapse’ or drain under street. But I really have never heard of that happening. Another thing I can now worry about.
I’ve had mine ‘back up’ a few times. Once was child of tenant flushed pair of undies down toilet….I got really scammed on that one by calling a drain service not a plumber.
Couple of times recently the trap in cellar near where line leaves bldg got clogged with silt/muck. Construction folks washed too much silt down drain in back yard and it filled the trap.