Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted
On 4/23/2025 at 11:03 PM, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

It didn't have any fungus growing in it did it?

I'm pretty sure it's mostly made of fungus slathered in tar. Our house had it until we moved the house to a new location and replaced all of the sewer line with plastic.

Posted
On 4/23/2025 at 7:00 PM, Gil Bang said:

that's interesting man. 

 

IMG_0046.jpg

We had what we thought was a similar problem last fall - even though our 30 year old house has the plastic pipes. 
We did have some root intrusion, but the plumbers discovered that the drain pipe on that side of the house had settled several inches and was bowed downwards - causing a buildup of solids. 
The crew had to dig out a 20’ tunnel under the slab to replace at the sewer pipe. Unfortunately when they started digging down two feet on the outside by the foundation they ran into the limestone bedrock. 
So they brought in a small jackhammer to chip out a 3’x4’ tunnel 25’ long to be able to do the replacement. 
Two days of jachammer noise vibrating the house and our ears. $25,000.

 

IMG_2918.jpeg

IMG_6455.jpeg

IMG_2919.jpeg

Posted
On 4/23/2025 at 7:00 PM, Gil Bang said:

that's interesting man. 

 

IMG_0046.jpg

There's still a surprisingly significant amount of Orangeburg pipe around Austin.  It was used commonly right around WWII when iron was at a premium and before PVC became the mainstay.  

@Armybrat those tunnelling / excavation jobs are no fun.  There's a reason we sub out the excavation and just do the plumbing ourselves.  Those guys make great money, but that's some hard ass work.  We just finished a commercial tunnelling job that had two 4-man crews working for three weeks straight.  Belly crawling with shovels and jackhammers pulling material out one bucket at a time.  No thank you.  

[sales pitch] if anyone on the board in the Austin area ever has any drain issues, shoot me a PM.  I have a drain specialist on staff with a badass Ridgid sewer camera.  I'll run that thing for free for you.  That thing helps a ton at identifying the location and diagnosing the problem.  She's a journeywoman plumber, knows her stuff and is great with steering the conversation for insurance purposes as well.  Lots of other companies will make you sign an open-ended contract and charge you for the exploration.  We know exactly where the blockage / breakage / sag is and can typically cut down on the overall cost with that degree of accuracy and precision in the location.  It's loud and costly, but much better than a hole in the middle of your living room floor.  [end sales pitch]

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted (edited)

Oh, I’m not begrudging the tunneing costs - we had a 5 man crew working under our house - that was obviously hard & dirty work all the way around. 
I just never realized how expensive a poop could be.

I haven’t thought about making a claim towards our State Farm homeowner insurance though.

Edited by Armybrat
  • Hook 'Em 1

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...