Plumbing Lessons One and Two

Well, now I know the difference between dirty water, and REALLY dirty water.

Lesson #1: What a whiz!
Every now and again I do an absent-minded load of laundry. I'll accidently leave something in the laundry tub so it overflows on the rinse cycle and get water all over the floor. I curse, then clean up the mess. No big deal.

A few days ago, I woke up to find a water spill in the basement from a different source: The pipe from the laundry tub drain had slipped off. Maybe the plastic washers wore out. At least it wasn't my fault.



I fixed it that night after work and did two loads of laundry before bed.

First, I grabbed my spare plumbing parts (I have a small stash leftover from other jobs), pipe wrenches, teflon tape and my Ladies Tool Kit from the garage.

Plumbing is easy. You just have to look at it like a puzzle and see how things connect. You can cut pipes to fit, but you need the right size washers and such.

DO: When plumbing, it's important to do a "dry fit." Just loosely connect the pieces at first. You have to assemble things in a certain order and you want to make sure it all fits before tightening nuts or especially soddering.
My project was just a matter of connecting plastic drain pipes. When putting everything back together, I used new washers and slip nuts because I found the old ones were stretched or cracked.
DON'T: If you twist the plastic slip nut (or a toilet seat bolt, etc.) too hard, you can crack it and cause damage. Sometimes you can just twist them with you hand.



DO: Just get over the fact that the water is dirty. No matter where you're plumbing -- the kitchen sink, laundry room or bathroom) chances are you'll see or touch something disgusting or get splashed with dirty water (anything that goes down the drain, you don't wanna see again). That's the worst part. Just be careful.
DON'T:Dump a bucket of dirty water down the sink you just disconnected. Oops.

When I fit the pipes together, I wrapped teflon tape around the threads of the nuts. It helps create a good seal.

When I'm done with a plumbing job, I like to put newspapers under the pipes to 1) catch any drips; 2) help me discover if I have drips (the newspaper will either be wet or wrinkled if the water dried); and 3) let me know where the drips are coming from. (Please support your local newspapers.)



I did two loads of laundry and did not have any problems that night. I felt pretty good about it all.

Lesson #2: Not my duty!
A few days later, and another wet spot basement, coming from the sewer drain. It was just a little bit of water, with what looked to be dirt. But it drained back down quickly.

I thought it could be another laundry room issue. So I kept an eye on the drain when I did a load of wash. A little water gurgled out. Then someone flushed the toilet upstairs, and what happened next was really gross. That's REALLY dirty water. Now, you know the difference.



There was no time to investigate whether I could tool around and fix this. I called a local plumbing and sewer company, (who I chose based on a positive comment on the Internet). The plumber, Mitch, showed up an hour later. He sent coils with cutters on them down to the drain to clean the sewer lines of tree roots or other debris. The sewer opened. He was done with the work in less than an hour.

I was happy to find out the charge was only $125 considering the emergency nature of the task.

Mitch said we should be getting the sewer lines cleaned every two years as part of our general maintenance. That came as a surprise. I've lived at the house six years and never had it done, nor do I ever remember that ever happening at myparents' house growing up. Mitch also said there are things you shouldn't flush, such as cotton-based products, dental floss and even those "flushable" toilet cleaner heads. Toilet paper and waste, that's it.

I usually hesitate to call in the pros, but it was worth it, and I'm happy with the level of service.

Sometimes plumbing is a do-it-yourself job, and sometimes you should call the professionals. Sometimes you gotta go with #1 and sometimes you gotta go #2.