Fun with Plumbers... Adventures in Wastewater

Two weeks ago Sunday, T flooded the bathroom while taking a bath. I didn't freak out or think there was a problem until Tuesday evening when it happened again and I realized that the water wasn't draining properly. We opened the clean out cap in the front bushes and out came all the bathwater. Great news - the clog was not in the house! Wednesday I called the plumbers who agreed to come on Thursday, in spite of the fact that they were swamped by broken pipe calls from the Polar Vortex. 

Thursday the plumber spent an hour snaking the wastewater line. He said the problem was out at the street, not in the yard, so I called the city. They sent a couple guys over with a special truck. They snaked the pipe, and checked out the yard and declared they had found the problem. They spray painted the yard, told me it was in space that was our responsibility, and left. Friday the plumbers promised to come back to dig but it rained all day. Monday they came and dug a deep trench. 

Then they made the trench longer, in hopes of finding the problem. No luck.

Next they snaked the line again. With the pipe now exposed, they could hear the snake going by! Looks like the problem is not in the part of the yard that is our responsibility. The plumbing supervisor came to the house to check on things and called the city. They asked for a new clean out cap at this spot that has been excavated to make it easier to reach the problem. 

So now we have this 15 inch tall pipe sticking up out of the middle of the yard, and a promise from the city that they will be by on Tuesday to check on the problem. 

I came home from morning disc golf and dropping T off at school to find a whole construction project in our front yard. 

Seven trunks lined the street in front of our house! The started with snaking and quickly moved on to digging a big hole. The hole got so deep, all I could see was the hard hats of the guys standing in it. The hole grew and out went two sections of our sidewalk. Then they cut new sections of pipe.

Eventually, I saw one of the men raise his arms in a traditional victory pose. Success!

They filled the hole back in (I tried to make a video for T)

There's still work to do but the drains are again draining!

time for some new sidewalk!

Kitchen, Cupcakes and More

Some updates on this week's projects. First, in the kitchen, I picked up the replacement chandelier and installed it! And it looks great!! I'll return the bent one this morning.

Ta-da!

Tuesday I blogged about my plans to participate in the Paint It Purple blog party. I'm really excited that Jenn, Britain and Peyton will join the fun. Jenn, as usual, had brilliant ideas! We are going to bake on Thursday, decorate the cupcakes Friday (maybe with the help of the Alpha Chi collegians at FSU) and then deliver the cupcakes to Refuge House, our local DV shelter/agency so the staff and residents can enjoy them! Look for our blog posts on Saturday, October 2nd!

In other news, I've had a semi-famous week. Tuesday I was featured on the AXO Florida State alumnae and collegians blog - see the post here: http://axofloridastate.blogspot.com/2010/09/amy-zoldak-zeta-upsilon-alumna-honorary.html. Wednesday, our plumbers posted a link to my blog post about their last visit on their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/McNeillPlumbing?v=wall Makes me wonder what might happen today.... hmmm. :)

Kitchen Project Update

After our summer hiatus, I've been back to work on the new kitchen.

Last week the plumber came over and finished almost everything on his list. The one item left is anchoring down the dishwasher, but the original clips are lost, so I have to order some from the manufacturer. We have a new utility sink (which I purchased the week before last). The plumber also replaced all the piping under our kitchen sink. Fun fact about the "utilatub" is that it came from E.L. Mustee and Sons of Cleveland, and more precisely, Brook Park, which is hubs' hometown.

Three weeks ago I ordered the light fixture for the kitchen, and it arrived on Friday, as did the replacement part for the microwave. Now we just need to have the kitchen ceiling painted (which is scheduled for Thursday of this week) and then we'll be ready for the electricians to finish up. I posted more about the light fixture here, and here it is in the box:

My next kitchen update post will either photos of the painted ceiling or a photo list of the things left to be completed... my visual to-do list, so to speak.