Friday, April 04, 2008

I'm not going down there...

"I think I'll just stay here and observe from a distance. It's pretty stinky and noisy. Usually stinky and noisy things don't bother me so much, but it's a weeknight and I can't figure out what my humans are doing down there...."

-Billie

You know you're into something bad when even Billie doesn't want to come and watch. Billie has grown up with construction and can practically sleep beside you while you hammer nails or drill pilot holes.

But what was it that caused Billie to keep her distance Wednesday evening?

It started with a foul smell and a backing up drain. It seems our basement drains (we have two) need to be rodded out every year or two. In the past we've called out a plumber, but Steve was feeling thrifty & energetic this time and instead opted to rent a Rodder for about $57 from "Clark Devon"(Only the best Hardware store in the whole world).

So Steve went at the two drains with the rodder and I have to tell you, it smelled real bad. Like I wouldn't want to be feeling queasy and smell that smell.

What did I do besides take photos you ask? I held the rooter so it was stable. And I held the flashlight. I don't mind dirty jobs, but that rodder has been to places I don't want to even think about.

A hundred feet or so later, the beast starting flailing like a wild snake.

Luckily no one was injured and no teeth were knocked out. I have to say that thought crossed my mind a few times during this dirty job.

The result: The smell is gone and the drains seem back to normal. But it was gross.

Random Question: Do you like the show "Dirty Jobs"? We do.

5 comments:

Ethan@OneProjectCloser said...

Fred and I rented the exact same rooter. We had to snake his toilet waste pipes. Disgusting!! We doubled up on the gloves and I still didn't want to be involved. Got the job done though.

Ethan@OneProjectCloser

Sandy said...

Love that show! He really gets himself into some good ones!

Joanne said...

We were told by the previous owners of our two-flat that the basement drains would need to be rodded out each year--thanks for posting photos to show how it's done!

P.S. Don't you just love the weather this weekend? We spent all day working in the yard.

Jennifer said...

We have to get our sewer rooted every year or so... from tree roots. We always hire it out.. the only job we have, I think! We have a "guy"... he takes real pride in his work, and is always trying to do a better job than last time... he's frustrated with how fast ours backs up! We are on 18 months, this time... :)

We had lesser quality plumbers in for the first year, and it needed rooting every three months... I fear if we tried it ourselves, we would have similar success. I'll stick with my 18 month plumber!

However, I'm so impressed you did it yourself... that is a STINKY job!

Hillari said...

Reminds me of the basement of the house I lived in when I was a kid. We kept hearing noises in the basement at night. Finally, my mom caught sight of a huge sewer rat. A few of them would come up through a drain in the floor. After having someone come to root the drain out, she had the cover sealed tight so they couldn't come through it again.