01-21-2020, 04:00 PM
As I write this, two guys are in my bathroom chipping out a section of the concrete floor with a small jackhammer. Two weeks ago I reported that our bathtub drain was slowing down. After several false starts thinking the problem had been solved, they had to call a professional plumbing company. They found that the drain had collapsed.
Strange thing: Our building is divided by a breezeway. On each side are blocks of four apartments, two up and two down. All four bathtubs on our side are linked together before they hit the common sewer pipe. The two ground floor bathtubs have been backing up from the drainage of the two upstairs because the line was blocked. So for two weeks we have not been able to use our shower without having to bail it out. While the other drains are working, I've been toting it outside in a bucket and pouring it into the street gutter (it's just "gray water"). But I've been having to do it for everyone else's bathtub, too. The guy next door to me is physically unable to do that kind of work, and when I bail mine, it drains his, too.
I tried to convince the folks upstairs that I wasn't hostile, but I would wish they could take it easy on me bailing out their bath water. It has reduced the amount, but not completely stopped the backups I have to deal with. But now that the plumbers are destroying my bathroom to get to the pipe, everyone else has been told they must not run anything down their drains, lest it interfere with their work. Also, those guys had me move stuff in my computer office so they could cut out a section of the wall adjoining the bathroom, so I'm pretty much limited to my laptop until they are through.
I find this all somewhat entertaining, so far.
Strange thing: Our building is divided by a breezeway. On each side are blocks of four apartments, two up and two down. All four bathtubs on our side are linked together before they hit the common sewer pipe. The two ground floor bathtubs have been backing up from the drainage of the two upstairs because the line was blocked. So for two weeks we have not been able to use our shower without having to bail it out. While the other drains are working, I've been toting it outside in a bucket and pouring it into the street gutter (it's just "gray water"). But I've been having to do it for everyone else's bathtub, too. The guy next door to me is physically unable to do that kind of work, and when I bail mine, it drains his, too.
I tried to convince the folks upstairs that I wasn't hostile, but I would wish they could take it easy on me bailing out their bath water. It has reduced the amount, but not completely stopped the backups I have to deal with. But now that the plumbers are destroying my bathroom to get to the pipe, everyone else has been told they must not run anything down their drains, lest it interfere with their work. Also, those guys had me move stuff in my computer office so they could cut out a section of the wall adjoining the bathroom, so I'm pretty much limited to my laptop until they are through.
I find this all somewhat entertaining, so far.