Melissa2007B
Member
Some of you may recall me talking here, about the problems we've been having with our modular house main line, since it was built in 2004. To refresh: This is a IRC modular, that we had put on a foundation in the west Denver area in 2004. It's had mysterious backups ever since. About every 8-15 months.
Background: The builder was apparently a dishonest incompetent dirtbag. He didn't even start work on the LOT for 10 months, when the whole house was supposed to have been completed in 6! We had to go to the building department and ask what was going on. We were told that he was not proposing to do things to code, and kept coming up with engineering letters saying why he didn't have to! He'd also told them that HE was the owner, which would have allowed him to do his own plumbing and electrical! ( I came by one time and he was coming out of the crawl space and said the plumbing was done. I asked where the plumber was, and was told that I'd just missed him! ) They were surprised to learn that WE were the owners. We went through hell with this guy, and it looks like he cost us about $20k more, in having to pay the additional construction loan for all those months, plus whatever he stole ( like saying he had a plumber, etc ? )
We just got done paying about $7000 for a pier support, where he had apparently left a big gap between one of the piers and the bottom frame and the house had sagged about 1-1/4" on that end.
Now this mess will cost us even more. And you think that government regulations and inspections SAVE us from people like this. NO!
So every so many months, we've been getting a situation where I'd be taking a shower in the bath at the west end ( top of the following drawing ) and would hear BLOOP BLOOP...from the toilet next to me. That was the alarm signal. Then that toilet would back up. Then the rest of the house. Then we'd have to call the rooter company. But the only time the rooter would work, was when they did it from the cleanout in the driveway. If they did it from the west end toilet, it clogged up again within a week! We had no idea why.
So we've been paying $100-$250 for rooter people and cameras, which didn't show much, for all these years - every 8-15 months! It makes us crazy, because my sister is handycapped and I'm a senior, and we're suddenly without working plumbing, until we can get a rooter company out here!
People have had various theories, but we had plastic sheeting on the bottom of the house, and everyone was afraid to touch it, even though the house is on a foundation with a 4' crawl space that has been weather sealed, so taking the sheeting off won't matter.
So last Monday afternoon, it happened again. We called the rooter company and they came out. I said; The cleanouts are right here at the top of the driveway...oh what the...?! They weren't there! The last time the rooter company had been out, was February of last year, and last summer we'd had the concrete in the driveway replaced, and guess what! They covered the cleanouts!
So I got on the horn with the concrete guy ( he now has a nice new one. ) but he said he couldn't make it out right away. So they had to start at the west end bathroom and remove the toilet and run the rooter from there. He did that, but because of that, instead of $95, it cost us $250! We're steaming at the concrete guy. He admits not seeing the cleanout caps, but didn't recall covering them up! But he said he'll remove and replace the concrete, but isn't into paying us for the extra rotter cost. He said he'd get to it in July - his slow period.
So we got it done, and were hoping it would last, but yesterday morning, I'm showering and...BLOOP BLOOP! So I freaked out and asked the concrete guy to get out here and remove it! But we didn't know where the cleanouts were under there. When we talked about it Monday, the rooter guy said they could do a camera and locate them precisely and mark them, but the concrete guy said he didn't want to pay $150 for that.
But fortunately, I like photography, and had an old photo of the house being built, showing where the cleanout pipes were sticking up. So he came and removed the concrete and we got the rooter company out here for the $95 this time. Total $350 so far.
So the rooter company told me that they have full plumbing service, and we decided to pay them $150 to come out today and remove the plastic under the house and find out, decisively, once and for all, what the frack is going on under there. We cant take anymore of this.
So a supervisor came out today and went down there and cut the plastic sheeting out, and here's the new AutoCAD diagram that I just did, of what he found.
That circle is where he identified the problem - he says definitively now! He took photos. I just marked them up in bright green, with what he told me, and he did some marking on their proposed fix, which he absolutely says will fix this once and for all. Here is what he says is THE problem:
His red line is the proposed reroute.
Then, to bring the kitchen line into the main, they propose this:
The cost? Well they'll waive the $150 today, but the total will be $2150!
My sister has been saying for years, that this builder was a "poop sandwich" ( you know the word! ) but now it will cost us even more to fix this guy's problems, which we still don't know if they were caused by stupidity and incompetence, or maliciousness.
But the rooter company says this will take 4-5 hours for them to do. Does that seem like a lot of money for this? I know Denver has a shortage of electricians and plumbers now, as we've reached 3 million people ( refugees from California collapsing ) and it's a boom town here, with living costs going through the roof.
But this seems like $300-$400 an hour? It just hurts, at our age.
By the way, we were told that the sewer on our street was pretty deep down, so we had a good steep run from the house, down to it. But I am wondering about how sloped these pipes are?
Late night thoughts: I'm wondering - if it's clogging up in that circle Y , why is the bathroom at the bottom ( east end ) eventually clogging too?
Background: The builder was apparently a dishonest incompetent dirtbag. He didn't even start work on the LOT for 10 months, when the whole house was supposed to have been completed in 6! We had to go to the building department and ask what was going on. We were told that he was not proposing to do things to code, and kept coming up with engineering letters saying why he didn't have to! He'd also told them that HE was the owner, which would have allowed him to do his own plumbing and electrical! ( I came by one time and he was coming out of the crawl space and said the plumbing was done. I asked where the plumber was, and was told that I'd just missed him! ) They were surprised to learn that WE were the owners. We went through hell with this guy, and it looks like he cost us about $20k more, in having to pay the additional construction loan for all those months, plus whatever he stole ( like saying he had a plumber, etc ? )
We just got done paying about $7000 for a pier support, where he had apparently left a big gap between one of the piers and the bottom frame and the house had sagged about 1-1/4" on that end.
Now this mess will cost us even more. And you think that government regulations and inspections SAVE us from people like this. NO!
So every so many months, we've been getting a situation where I'd be taking a shower in the bath at the west end ( top of the following drawing ) and would hear BLOOP BLOOP...from the toilet next to me. That was the alarm signal. Then that toilet would back up. Then the rest of the house. Then we'd have to call the rooter company. But the only time the rooter would work, was when they did it from the cleanout in the driveway. If they did it from the west end toilet, it clogged up again within a week! We had no idea why.
So we've been paying $100-$250 for rooter people and cameras, which didn't show much, for all these years - every 8-15 months! It makes us crazy, because my sister is handycapped and I'm a senior, and we're suddenly without working plumbing, until we can get a rooter company out here!
People have had various theories, but we had plastic sheeting on the bottom of the house, and everyone was afraid to touch it, even though the house is on a foundation with a 4' crawl space that has been weather sealed, so taking the sheeting off won't matter.
So last Monday afternoon, it happened again. We called the rooter company and they came out. I said; The cleanouts are right here at the top of the driveway...oh what the...?! They weren't there! The last time the rooter company had been out, was February of last year, and last summer we'd had the concrete in the driveway replaced, and guess what! They covered the cleanouts!
So I got on the horn with the concrete guy ( he now has a nice new one. ) but he said he couldn't make it out right away. So they had to start at the west end bathroom and remove the toilet and run the rooter from there. He did that, but because of that, instead of $95, it cost us $250! We're steaming at the concrete guy. He admits not seeing the cleanout caps, but didn't recall covering them up! But he said he'll remove and replace the concrete, but isn't into paying us for the extra rotter cost. He said he'd get to it in July - his slow period.
So we got it done, and were hoping it would last, but yesterday morning, I'm showering and...BLOOP BLOOP! So I freaked out and asked the concrete guy to get out here and remove it! But we didn't know where the cleanouts were under there. When we talked about it Monday, the rooter guy said they could do a camera and locate them precisely and mark them, but the concrete guy said he didn't want to pay $150 for that.
But fortunately, I like photography, and had an old photo of the house being built, showing where the cleanout pipes were sticking up. So he came and removed the concrete and we got the rooter company out here for the $95 this time. Total $350 so far.
So the rooter company told me that they have full plumbing service, and we decided to pay them $150 to come out today and remove the plastic under the house and find out, decisively, once and for all, what the frack is going on under there. We cant take anymore of this.
So a supervisor came out today and went down there and cut the plastic sheeting out, and here's the new AutoCAD diagram that I just did, of what he found.
That circle is where he identified the problem - he says definitively now! He took photos. I just marked them up in bright green, with what he told me, and he did some marking on their proposed fix, which he absolutely says will fix this once and for all. Here is what he says is THE problem:
His red line is the proposed reroute.
Then, to bring the kitchen line into the main, they propose this:
The cost? Well they'll waive the $150 today, but the total will be $2150!
My sister has been saying for years, that this builder was a "poop sandwich" ( you know the word! ) but now it will cost us even more to fix this guy's problems, which we still don't know if they were caused by stupidity and incompetence, or maliciousness.
But the rooter company says this will take 4-5 hours for them to do. Does that seem like a lot of money for this? I know Denver has a shortage of electricians and plumbers now, as we've reached 3 million people ( refugees from California collapsing ) and it's a boom town here, with living costs going through the roof.
But this seems like $300-$400 an hour? It just hurts, at our age.
By the way, we were told that the sewer on our street was pretty deep down, so we had a good steep run from the house, down to it. But I am wondering about how sloped these pipes are?
Late night thoughts: I'm wondering - if it's clogging up in that circle Y , why is the bathroom at the bottom ( east end ) eventually clogging too?
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