Accidental Clearing of Stoppage

The home warranty company got on my nerve again. After scheduling the rooter job on the next morning, they decided to change the plumber the last minute. It's now next Monday (from Thursday morning) or find your own plumber. I decided to try to fix it myself.

The stoppage was solid - not a slow drain but a solid stoppage. Armed with my snake and electric drill, I opened up the p-trap and snaked in nearly the entire length of the snake. At the last few inches, it seemed to have hit something and could not go any further. I thought I might have hit the stoppage so I pulled back and checked. The stoppage was still solid. At that time, I figured that I might have to hire a pro after all. My snake might have wondered into a sub-branch (like toilet or something else other than the stoppage). This was a dirty job. The pipe was full of grease, smelly and slimy stuff. I didn't feel like ruining my dinner ( it was close to 7pm). So I thought I give it another try just in case I got lucky. The second time was fairly quick due to having more experience. It hit something again at around the same distance. I gave it a few more turns to see if I can shake it off but to no avail. I pulled the snake in. This time, it seemed to have fixed the stoppage. I didn't know how this time was any different than the previous time. I might have gotten lucky by banging the pipe a few more times during the second snake and might have shaken loose the grease or the stoppage. I'll wait a few days before declaring victory.

Is the rooter job really a hit or miss game? Maybe this is why most rooter guys charge so much money for it because it's hard to predict how long it takes to fix the problem. Based on the stories I heard from this rooter guy I know, this might be the case. I hope there is more of science to this. I hope.

Drained on Drainage and Home Warranty

It seems that every two months or so I get called by my tenants about some drainage (shower, tub or kitchen sinks) don't drain. It's rooter time again. Why is that tenants simply don't get the idea that they shouldn't put stuff in the drain other than liquid? It's often the hair or undigested food by the garbage disposal. By the way, who came up with the idea of garbage disposal - a rooter professional? This thing gives people the mis-perception that you can simply throw things into it and out came some liquid or something. It doesn't work and it should be banned!

This time I called my home warranty company. Their standard requirement is that they must have the clean out to do a rooter job or the job is not covered. How convenient! If the drain pipes are easy to clean out, I wouldn't need them. I often question the value of home warranty. Yes, I did get something out of it when the water heater in my home broke and they replaced the heater for me, which is already worth the cost by itself. Also, one time my garage opener gear broke and the home warranty company took care of it. However, most of the other times, they didn't cover the drain over x number of feet or drain without a clean-out. It's one restriction after another. Whether they cover it or not, they still charge the standard deductible rate of $50 (in my case). Well, the problem with an insurance policy like home warranty is that you can never win in the long run, because they've got the math all figured out - they will make money anyway.

In any case, is there a way the drain can be designed to be self-cleaning? How about a rooter robot that can search out the stoppage and cut through it? If someone can design a powerful and inexpensive rooter robot, it will sell like hot cake. And I will be the first one to buy it.

Replacing the Shower Unit

Much to my dismay, all the work to caulk the shower unit did not help to fix the shower leak. See my previous blog. The leak problem got worse. It's good that it's gotten worse, which makes it easier to find the problem. One thing that still bugged me was why I could NOT see the leak even I opened up a big hole on the Sheetrock underneath the shower. Does it only leak when a person is taking a shower? I made my tenant take a shower so I can witness the leak. Sure enough, as soon as she started taking a shower, the water was nearly pouring down. I'm convinced now that I'm not dealing with a drip but a deluge and it's coming from around the drain of the shower pan. I went ahead and order a new shower unit at Home Depot. Why didn't I just replace the shower pan? Because the new shower pan wouldn't match the old wall and the enclosure. It looks better when everything is new. So I did. The new shower (Sterling CA2900-32S/W) cost me $613 with tax. Thanks to Home Depot's special service, the delivery was free.

This custom order took nearly three weeks to get here. On the day of the installation on 6/08/07, my contractor and I spent nearly an hour ripping off the old shower unit. We found where the problem was. The joint between the shower pan and the drain pipe was severed under the weight of my tenant. See the picture below. It's no wonder that there would be no leak unless there is some weight over the drain. We also found the real culprit is that there was insufficient 2x4 support beams under the shower unit, allowing the shower pan to flex too much. Well, at least I found out where the problem was, that was bugging me and my tenant since last December, for nearly 6 months!

The whole replacement effort took us nearly 7 hours. The bad thing was that we started around 6pm. We didn't finish until nearly 1am. The tenant was more than accomodating, leaving us alone during these time. I had to go back the next morning to clean up and touch up the drywall that I open a hole in and the prime shower skirt. The entire work costs me nearly $1K, plus my time plus numerous trips to examine the problem without success. But I learned a great deal from this exercise: Don't jump into conclusion where the problem might be. Some of the "experts" may not be good problem solvers. Remember I hired three different experts to diagnose the problem.