Question:
I live in a rental house. We have had endless problems with the sewage system.
Our first problem was on the first night that we lived in the house. The sink in the bathroom would drain…but it would take HOURS. I ran a tub of bath water, took a bath, and when I pulled the plug, I heard a gurgling noise and smelled sewage coming up the drain in the bathroom sink. I called the landlord who sent the plumber out. The plumber stated that there was a root growing in the line, removed the root and everything was great for a couple of weeks. Then when you would flush the toilet, the sink would gurgle, when you would let bath water out, the sink would gurgle and you would smell sewage. So the plumbers came out again. One of the plumbers told my boyfriend that the line would need to be replaced but that the landlord refused to replace the line. So they snaked it and everything worked fine for a couple more weeks. Then, the kitchen sink would not drain. Now…I’m not stupid. I don’t wash massive amounts of grease down my sink, but when you cook something, you have that residual greasy feeling in the bottom of a pan, if a sink cannot handle that then Houston , there’s a problem.
The sink stops up, with grease supposedly. Now, when the plumbers came out they said it was our fault for putting grease down the sink, the grease caused the sink drain to stop up…but they had to snake the line…explain that to me. Two weeks later, same problems again. The plumbers come out and this time they say they found FEMININE PADS in the line. I do NOT use pads. If I did I’m not stupid enough to flush them. A couple more weeks pass and yet again, another issue. The plumbers come out and say again they found FEMININE pads. The landlord says it’s MY fault for flushing pads. I attempt to defend myself, to no avail. It’s still somehow my fault. Now…I can tell you this, when you lift a piece of wood from my back deck, you can see sewage and toilet paper everywhere and the ‘cleanout trap’ or whatever it is called, constantly looks like a bouquet of toilet paper.
Is this normal? Should that trap constantly be stopped up? The plumber says, “I’ve been a plumber for sixteen years and I have worked for your landlord for six years. You guys just don’t have a thorough understanding of how a plumbing system works.” So, can someone kindly explain to me why I have sewage and toilet paper under my deck? Obviously this is not normal as you don’t drive around and see toilet paper in everyone’s backyard. Why was my cleanout trap capped the first time that the plumber came and since the cap has been left off and there is constantly a bouquet of toilet paper cramming the top of it up, with an overflow of toilet paper all over my back yard. Am I just being given the run around? Today the plumber comes out and snakes the line after I receive a call from my landlord stating that if it’s again my problem then he is just going to find other tenants to move into the house. Then the landlord calls me after the plumber leaves and says, “They found feminine products again, but I am going to go ahead and replace the line. It’s going to cost me six months of your rent to replace it but I just want to erase any question that it might be my problem.” Is there a problem with my plumbing you think? Oh, and another thing that I might mention is that I’ve got a refrigerator with a built in ice maker. I’ve not used the ice since we first moved in…I dropped a few ice cubes into my drink and it smelled like sewage. (Yes, I scrubbed the refrigerator down and all before using any ice from the refrigerator, so that any question may be erased). If the plumber truly is finding feminine pads in the line, is there a possibility that someone else’s line is tied into mine? The landlord said that after having the line replaced if there are anymore issues he is going to charge us. I am looking forward to your expert advice.
Answer:
It sounds like you have had problems since day one. Don’t forget the landlord is paying the plumber so the plumber is going to take his side.
I suspect the line has massive root intrusion which is why you are having a re-occurring problem. Snaking won’t solve the problem – it’ll only temporarily allow water to drain until the roots grow back. Grease should not affect the line if it is draining properly in the first place. It takes YEARS for grease to build up in a mainline to the point it will cause blockages. Even restaurants don’t start to have sewer back ups until about the seventh or eight year.
Tell the landlord the plumber already stated the sewer had root intrusion which indicates that the line is broken and leaking raw sewage into the ground. Tell them you will contact the health department and the city building department to notify them of the break. This is hazardous waste and would be quite costly for the landlord to clean up. He may try to evict you, but take him to court.
It is the property owner’s obligation to make sure the sewer is in perfect running order and not leaking. This is a health hazard. The sewage may be contaminating your drinking water which is why the ice maker smells. If he replaces the entire sewer and then you continue to have problems, he should have the line scoped out with a video camera to make sure nothing was missed.