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| Plumbing problems ~Help! | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 12 2017, 09:30 AM (522 Views) | |
| swing | Feb 12 2017, 09:30 AM Post #1 |
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swing
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Every spring or when the weather changes from cold to warm we have problems with the main floor toilet, more so since they worked on the water lines in the area. Thursday night it wouldn't drain full of air locks just gurgles and bubbles up. The problem being after shutting off the water and plunging begins an air lock appears and you guessed floods it over flows and floods the bathroom. Towels in play and prevented major damage just water dripped down to the basement bath which has a cedar ceiling, a blessing. I plunged yesterday and got it cleared, it was used several times with no problem, now won't clear again. I turn water off, plunge gently, air lock appears again and a repeat performance of Thursday night. I am so damn frustrated with cleaning up water and washing towels, what's the solution here? Never before has this air lock thing pushed the water over the bowl when the water is turned off. Why does it clear for a day then repeat the scenario? To make things even more interesting, we have H.W. throughout including the bathrooms, fools that we were! We bailed the thing and it's sitting now with water turned off. Advice plumbers/ handymen? |
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| swing | Feb 15 2017, 05:52 AM Post #16 |
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swing
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Thanks Trotsky you are always good for a little humour! Yesterday there were City workers in the area blowing air through the lines, it would appear others are having problems as well! I've never lived in a city where they screw up continually like here. We have an LRT system that the timing has been off for a year, cars waiting at lights for 10- 15 minutes allowing the train to go through! Perhaps they should bring in engineers from another provinces to rectify the problem! |
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| Dialtone | Feb 15 2017, 06:00 AM Post #17 |
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Gold Star Member
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Just watch Toronto news for a couple nights, and you will recant your wishes. laugh123 |
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| swing | Feb 25 2017, 04:53 PM Post #18 |
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swing
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Two weeks in and it finally cleared, at least for now Lol. This seemed to happen as soon as the weather cooled down again, which makes little sense, but all is good for now. :cow-IthinkIamgoingmad: |
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| Trotsky | Feb 26 2017, 02:06 AM Post #19 |
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Big City Boy
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swing, From past history, is it apt to clog again if you get a cold snap? |
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| swing | Feb 26 2017, 05:52 AM Post #20 |
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swing
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From past history, is it apt to clog again if you get a cold snap? No it seems to happen when the weather goes from cold to warm ~ frustrating! |
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| wildie | Feb 26 2017, 08:32 AM Post #21 |
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Veteran Member
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I had a place where the sewer pipe blocked up in the spring! It turned out to be tree roots growing into the joints of the clay tile! I assumed that the tree had accelerated spring growth. |
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| Delphi51 | Feb 26 2017, 08:39 AM Post #22 |
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Member title
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It sure would be interesting to learn what the city workers were doing. I would be phoning city hall and asking neighbours about their service. |
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| Dialtone | Feb 26 2017, 10:12 AM Post #23 |
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Gold Star Member
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As you might notice by the city repairs and water breaks, most underground water and sewer problems happen when it goes from cold to warm. The frost can actually be forced further into the ground by vehicular traffic, affecting frost levels deep under roads and the utility portals. Any area that has snow removed such as streets, sidewalks, and driveways will have deeper freeze depths. Wet soil is worse than dry and heavy clays such as is common on the prairies is not good. Between shifting soils, frost heaves, and large temperature swings, it makes for much overtime and big money for city utility crews. |
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| swing | Feb 26 2017, 04:26 PM Post #24 |
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swing
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As you might notice by the city repairs and water breaks, most underground water and sewer problems happen when it goes from cold to warm. The frost can actually be forced further into the ground by vehicular traffic, affecting frost levels deep under roads and the utility portals. Any area that has snow removed such as streets, sidewalks, and driveways will have deeper freeze depths. Wet soil is worse than dry and heavy clays such as is common on the prairies is not good. Between shifting soils, frost heaves, and large temperature swings, it makes for much overtime and big money for city utility crews. You're so knowledgeable D.T. Actually before it cleared there was dirty water surfacing. They have three areas in our hood presently under construction. I was informed by the Epcor crew the repairs being done across from us was for hydro. Wildie our trees which are spruce are at the back of the property. I don't think the water line runs back there but I will inquire Thanks. Delphi, sighting a neighbour in this hood is a rarity, unless on a dog walk lol! Good idea I could call 311 and inquire about water repairs in the area. |
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| Dialtone | Feb 27 2017, 06:45 AM Post #25 |
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Gold Star Member
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Swing, thanks for the vote of confidence biggrin 04 , most of anything I know about plumbing and the related misery, comes from living on a prairie acreage on a private water coop and having a septic system for 15 years. If there was anything that could go wrong with it, it did, what little hair I had when we first moved in soon disappeared, and I could probably write a novel about the design, care, and feeding of septic fields. As an addendum to your issue, if you live in an older area of the city, the sewer lines were probably designed for pre - 1980s water usage. It wasn't that long ago that nobody had a water meter, and people used to turn their lawn sprinklers on in May and turn them off in Oct, water running down the streets and nobody cared. Water was flat rated and there was no limit to how much you could use if you so desired, lots of abuse that cost everyone. Now everyone has water meters, low pressure faucets, and minimum water usage toilets, and a plethora of other gadgets designed to save water and cost you money . Now, in many older areas, there isn't enough water flowing in the sewers for their original design. All the sewer crud flows too slow and starts to back up, if the pipe layout hasn't much slope, the sludge stops completely and can back up into the house. Many older houses don't have a backflow preventer, so make sure you have one or you could have an unexpected smelly mess without warning. This happened recently to a couple of our best friends who live in an area that is over 40 yrs old. Great huge mature lots, but a very worrisome water table and old piping. He's spent near $10K getting his sewer line to the street, a new sump pit, and related equipment up to spec for insurance purposes. Houses are a money pit regardless of age. Our furnace this morning was making a sound like a pig with his tail caught in a closed door. I suspect it's the air inducer so sprayed it with compressed air and gave it a whack with a wrench, seems to have fixed it for now. I have a list of furnace repair companies, a Sunday callout for a new inducer motor/fan would probably be a $1000 touch. Our Natgas fireplace can heat the house if it doesn't become too cold, and I have a couple space heaters that I used in our acreage as emergency heat. I'll keep bashing it with a wrench and give the bearings a glug of electric motor oil, it might last until spring. laugh123 |
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| Delphi51 | Feb 27 2017, 07:27 AM Post #26 |
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Member title
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Thanks for the waterworks history - I never experienced unmetered water service. It seems to me cities are slow to replace sewer and water lines. Maybe because they have a lot of expensive cement streets. Our town is doing one street at a time. Our turn came up three years ago. All the 30 year old pipes under the street were replaced the first year, the pavement the next. Our cost share was about $10k per lot. I don't know the term "air inducer". I'm guessing it is the fan blowing the furnace exhaust out. If so, our air inducer signalled its imminent demise with a high pitched squeal while running. I took the assembly out of the furnace but could find no way to lubricate the motor other than put drops of thin oil on the bearing ends, which stopped the squeal for a few days. Rather than call the heating company in the city, I went there and bought the whole assembly for a couple hundred dollars. The guys in the parts department were very friendly and helpful. Also got a pressure sensor (detecting that the exhaust is working) which a furnace forum suggested would be the next thing to fail. Best to be ahead of the crisis in our climate. Posted Image No problem installing them. And I now have spares for next time. The next year I replaced the main blower motor premptively. I gather Lennox is not the best furnace but it does have a good forum for DIYers. Edited by Delphi51, Feb 27 2017, 07:41 AM.
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| Dialtone | Feb 27 2017, 08:31 AM Post #27 |
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Gold Star Member
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Thanks Delphi, ours is a Lennox furnace mid efficient about 12 yrs old, and the air inducer is much like your picture. There is no place to actually lubricate them, put a couple drops on the shaft and hope it works into the hurt spot. I've been on a few sites to price them out, not cheap (nor is anything when you need a "piece" ), in most cases you have to buy the entire unit to replace a $5 part. You are right that in our climate we need to be ahead of the game, fortunately there are several pretty good companies in our area, all pricey, but at least we won't freeze up this time of year (hopefully). In our previous place, there were only 2 heating companies, and you just prayed nothing went wrong during Christmas or any other long winter weekend. A lot of the parts had to be brought in special from Calgary, so on top of the outrageous markup, you had to pay for shipping and handling. The circuit board in our garage furnace blew up one January, had to buy a few space heaters to keep the dogs warm while they found a part. The furnace was out of commission for about 3 weeks, the board was $350 and they wanted another $200 labour to replace it. I'm an old hand at replacing ckt boards, so did it myself in an hour and it worked like a charm, but they wouldn't warranty anything if I did it. (fingers were crossed that that was the problem) |
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