Less than 8 years ago, I had the sewer line at my house replaced. I went with a company that had a higher bid than others, but said they could do it one day, and they would not have to dig a trench in my back yard. Some five or six years earlier, I had had to replace the gas line: it was done at a reasonable price. But it was winter, took three days, and they never came back to fill in the trench they dug. I was in the process of renting out the house, and the renter was gracious to be okay with the 3 day delay (she stayed with her mother, out of town) and she and I filled in the trench.
Last September, there was a drainage back up. I called a different plumber and they came out quickly, and cleaned out the sewer line. The next weekend, the washing machine flooded the house. So I called the same people back. It was my fault. I recalled, after the flooding event, from earlier years, that the drain line for the washing machine would also flood when the main drain line flooded. The plumber gave me a discount, anyway.
Saturday, the 12th, once again I had a drainage problem: sewer water backup into the half bathroom, and into the bathtub of the other bathroom. It took me most of Saturday afternoon to clean out and dry out the half bathroom, and the bath tub. Also , the washing machine drain overflowed, which required cleaning the kitchen floor. So I went to the laundromat on Sunday to finish washing the laundry.
The plumbing company that replaced the sewer line offers a really low cost drain clean out, with a discount on a second line, if done the same day. So, I called that company early Monday morning, before business hours. They did not call me back by about 9 AM, and when I called them, again, they admitted they did not have their faxes from the answering service. They were very vague about a time they could get to my problem, and wanted to call me at work. I said this was not possible. (It might be, but I am never certain where I need to be in the building, there is no guarantee I would hear a page if someone did page me, I may or may not be in my office to take a call, I may or may not be able to disengage from a patient interview, and it can take me anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes to get from my office to my house. My experience in the past is that some service people do not wait, others do.)
I asked to be placed on the morning schedule for Tuesday. The receptionist was not sure she could do this, but after checking, said she would. So, Tuesday morning, when I did not hear from the plumbing company by 9:15, I called them. I was told I was on the schedule, but there was no guarantee when I would be called. When I explained my concern about waiting all day, again the receptionist suggested I go to work and wait for a call. Do these people not get it? What if I were a mail carrier? And there are many positions of employment where people are unavailable in the course of their work day: meetings, classes, traveling from job to job, in the middle of programs, procedures or what have you.
Shortly there after, I received a call from a perky, upbeat sounding plumber. He came to the house, and we discussed the problem which included that I knew when the bathroom plumbing backed up, I could count on the washing machine drain to overflow, as it did Saturday, and both needed to be cleaned out. He said he would work in the backyard from the alley. I also told him that his company had replaced the sewer line sometime since 2005.
He suggested I fill the washing machine, so we could check out the drain when he cleaned it out. It took him a very long time to clean out the sewer line, and he got some serious root clumps out of it. Then we drained the washing machine, which immediately flooded the kitchen. Well, of course, he had not worked on the drain line for the washing machine. He felt badly about flooding the kitchen. I told him I had plenty of experience in cleaning it up, so no big problem. (Besides, that is clean water, and not sewer backup like the flooding of the bathroom.)
But, I think he was embarrassed enough that he worked and worked and worked, on the main drain and the one associated with the washing machine. He worked on both of them for quite some time, and even called to see if their cameraman was in the area to look at the drain. Well, after some time, we tried the washing machine drain again, and it worked. Before he left, I flushed both commodes. He had already run water down the tub and kitchen sink. We pretty much checked everything out.
He said he wanted the camera technician to come out, anyway, to see if they could find the problem, and talked about making arrangements for that. He agreed that there should not be a problem with the sewer line, since it was so newly replaced. Hmmm. We shall see if I hear from them about the camera tech checking the line.
We shall see how long this drain cleaning lasts. One of my coworkers suggested getting crystals that help to keep the drains cleaned of roots. That is a good idea.
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