My Adventures in my Yard

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I had this dream of buying a new camera way out of my price range. A good dream especially when you are broke.

The Queen called to tell me the pilot light had gone out of the water heater. Since, I was in Saratoga at the time, I tried to tell her how to light the water heater myself. Which is a good trick, because I can barely remember how to do it. She decided to wait for my return.

I had this dream that it would be no big deal.

Since The Queen had been without water for two days and was surrounded by piles of angry laundry and dirty dishes, my first stop after petting the puppy was the basement. I'm always amazed what I find down there. This time it was this four inch thick paste covering the floor. I don't know what caused it but it was nasty. Later consultation with the Queen determined the mystery substance to be cat litter. It must have taken massive amounts of water to make it swell that much.

I have had this reccurring problem with the main drain of the house. Roots grow down from the flower bed and block the line. The last time this happened we put an access hole in the yard for easier reach of the weeds. It must be time to ream that out again.

I had this dream I could just pour chemicals down and dissolve the roots.

I decided not to go to the RotoRooter man first. I was going to use natures chemicals to get rid of the problem. It only cost Thrirty bucks for the two bottles. While the Queen was away I could let those chemicals do their magic.
During the first load of laundry, I heard the familiar gurgle from the bathtubs which signifies something amiss in our drains. I headed to the basement. There was a massive stream of water gushing out of one the pipes over the waterheater. I now know what put out the pilot light.

I dreamed the Rooter Man would get the job done in a jiffy.

Mike my plumber showed up on Thursday. It's a bad sign when you are on a first name basis with a plumber. I figured this job was going to be no sweat. I had the outflow in the yard. He could snake down the pipe and clear the clog in an instant. The Queen could begin her battle anew with the laundry.
Two hours later, I was talking with an unhappy plumber. When the plumber is unhappy it quickly follows, you will join him in his unhappiness. Mike had tried two different bits on the end of his pipe snake. One came back with a solid mass of roots. But he couldn't bust through what was causing the problem. He tried to dig passed the problem for two solid hours, but no luck. I knew what was coming before he said it, but I let him speak anyway.

We needed to dig up the yard and open the pipe. We needed to hire the video guy to find out where the plug was so we didn't have to dig up the whole yard. I was into Mike for $140. The video guy was going to cost me another two hundred. I was getting the Mike the plumber discount and was going to save fifty bucks.

Mike said it was going to cost between six hundred and nine hundred to replace the pipe in the yard. I was figuring on six. I'm sure he figured on nine.

I had a dream it would be easy to find the pipe.

The video guy came and spotted where the clog in the pipe was. Naturally it was under the brick wall at the base of the yard. At first he wrote down that it was only 19 inches beneath the surface. Then he re-calibrated and changed it to three feet below the surface.

In order to save a few pence, I decided to start the hole. It took me two hours and a lot of doubt before I finally found the pipe. But there it was. And just as I found it, my plumbers showed up. This was going to be easy. They needed to clear away some more dirt in order to get at the pipe and allow for water leakage. I figured I could go into the house while they finished up. The Queen would be doing laundry in no time.

An hour later the Plumber's helper knocked on the door. He had something to show me. He had broken the clay pipe and could now see what the problem was. I could too. Inside the pipe was solid roots. From the looks of the blockage, I couldn't tell how any water ever got through the pipe. No amount of pulling would free the roots, either. The hole was going to have to be bigger. They were going to have to dig on both sides of the brick wall. They were going to need another digger. Mike hadn't figured on it being this much work. The price was now between twelve hundred and fifteen hundred dollars. Once again, I hoped for twelve. He knew it would be fifteen.

I dreamed again of buying a really expensive camera.

Mike had to go to another appointment. The two plumbers helpers continued to dig in the yard. I was at the computer when the next bad knock came at the front door. They had reached the pipe on the lawn side of the brick yard. It turns out there was a break in the pipe. As matter of fact there was a foot offset between the upper and lower ends of the pipe.
It occurred to me that the last time I was having problems with the pipe, they might have come across this problem. But no, the last plumbers said they cleared the line by removing the roots under the flower bed and adding in the new opening. I'm guessing they were wrong.
Meanwhile, they had also opened the hole all the way to the street. Our hole stopped but the roots kept going. I tried cutting and pulling them out, but the roots liked their home. They weren't going anywhere.

I called the city. They had recently opened up the sewer in front of my house and replaced the main line. I questioned why didn't they see such a horrible infestation from my pipe when they replaced their pipe. I got the shoulder shrug from the city. The workers who came out commiserated but said it wasn't really their job.

Mike finally returned from his other appointment. The plumbers helpers had new pipe from the break to the street. I questioned the wisdom of sealing off the pipes until the roots under the street had been cleared. I was thinking that in order to clear those roots, I'd have to get a street contractor to open the street.

I dreamed of backhoes and guys with signal flags closing my street.

Mike had a solution. The video guy also had a high pressure water blaster that could cut through the roots. We could use that rather than cut through the street. The video guy could be there in the morning with his super equipment.

I dreamed of being a plumber.

The video guy and his helper, Mike and his helper and myself stood around the access pipe in anticipation. The Video guy fed his high pressure down into the pipe. I didn't see how he could force that little hose through the mass of roots. It turns out the cutting head also used two jets of water firing back to drive the head forward.
The video showed the tale. There were roots for another ten feet into the pipe. It was completely clogged for six feet then began to thin out. In more ways than one I was looking at the end of the tunnel.

I dreamed of my expensive camera.

In the end, I spent more on the plumbing than I would have on the camera, but not by much. If at the beginning of the week someone had asked me how I wanted to spend almost three thousand dollars, I wouldn't have gone with the digging up my yard option. I would have gone camera. Who knows what next week will bring.

You can see video of the pipe on my facebook page.

[Drunk Monk]

...thanks for doing your part to stimulate the economy...

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I am the reason Amazon.com has profits on it's balance sheet. And yes, I am on a first name basis with my UPS driver.

[Drunk Monk]

They are each 2 x 8 x 4, filled with 8 cubic feet of compost and topsoil. Designed in my brain, built with my meager power tools (and a rental circular saw), and all that dirt hauled from the driveway to the backyard by me over the course of two weekends (and a few weeknights). I'm rather proud of them. Only a few hundred bucks in materials and dirt. We better get some freaking amazing veggies, I'm telling ya....

[The Queen]

Good luck! To my amazement, the strawberry plants I put into the little garden on the side of the driveway last year are actually producing this year. The berries are edible. Or at least I think so -- I've been eating them with no ill effects yet. Sweet with a very slight hint of tarty-tang. I've started some vegetable seedlings too -- tomato, bell pepper, carrots and corn. The corn seedlings shot up in minutes; the others...not so much yet. We'll see...

[Drunk Monk]

...they're actually decorative, but have produced edible fruit. We had some blackberries in the back the first few years, but that plant is long dead. We had some low planters which were productive our first few years here, but then they suddenly stopped. These raised planters should cut down on the bugs and it's a heck of a lot of good soil, so Mrs. Dm has lettuce, tomatos, artichokes, corn, beans, peas, squash, all sorts of stuff. We're already seeing some fresh sprouts, so that's very encouraging.

[El Dingo]

I had planned to spend Memorial day weekend building a small garden toolshed.

I found the plans in 'This Old House' magazine. It looked simple enough an i wanted to try out my new mitre saw .

First up - cut 3 2x4 into 5 1/2 foot lengths. Set the mitre saw to 0' and slice through that redwood like butter.

Next, cut a 78-degree angle to give the shed a sloped roof. Hmm...the mitre saw only goes up to 50-degrees in either direction. First I try cutting a 12-degree angle since 90 - 78 = 12. Do not ask me why I thought this was good math. It seemed to make sense in my head.

Nope. The cuts do not line up.

Maybe if I count 78 notches on my mitre saw.

Nope. the cuts still do not line up.

I try some other experiments until I have rendered my lumber unuseable at which point I decide that picking up a book and drinking would be more productive.

Greg, O lord of rendering and assembling, how do I cut a 78-degree angle? If I ship you 6 6' 2x4s will you cut them and ship them back?

[The Queen]

FYI, the lord of rendering and assembling is currently in Belfast and saw-less.

[cranefly]

With regard to being saw-less, that applies to me regarding the new Star Trek movie.
But Lady Cranefly has seen it, and she's anxious to watch it again to spot the rumored Tribbles, so this weekend will likely take care of it.

As for Greg's original post, I read it soon after it was posted and was very sympathetic. We were up to 3 rotoroots a year totalling nearly 1K, and finally decided to take care of it last year. The whole video of the line (roots, roots and more roots -- then the skeletons, Jesus), then having a new line put in from the house to the street, along with an access hole. Cost us 1/200th of a million dollars. Ouch.

As for DM, I am so envious. Been meaning to switch to planter boxes because our soil is suspect and boxes would likely be more water conservative. I did put in a garden very late for around here (May 15), and just tomatoes, bush beans and kentucky wonders, and some spaghetti squash. Lady Cranefly thinks I should plant a greater variety of stuff, but I'm struggling just to get these to work. I wanted to get a greater variety of squash, but read that they cross pollinate so you should plant them 1/4 mile apart. I measured our garden area and came up about a quarter mile short.

As for El Dingo, well, I have a circular saw that could probably do it. We could contemplate a mini-Doom, if need be. That applies to you, too, DM. If you need to rent, consider borrowing. As for my cutting skills, sometimes I nail it, sometimes I'm on a joyride. One could say that my cutting skills are suspenseful.

That's about it, except to mention that I need to finish my novel on Friday and post it to some workshoppers I've never met. In June I go to Flagstaff to trash their novels and receive their accolades.

--cranefly

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

You can go with the 78 degree cut if you have the board 90 degrees to the fence. Just watch out for missing fingers. I suggest stealing CF's circular saw for the cut and doing it by hand.

[Drunk Monk]

...but thanks for the offer.

Right now, there are workers in our yard building a fort. It's 5' off the ground, 6X6X6. I was originally going to build it off some web plans, but then we decided to just hire someone.

This weekend will be moving some 12 cubic feet of mulch. ad:

[El Dingo]

OK - I figured it out.

I was measuring from the highest/rear point of the front posts, when I should have been measuring from the front/lowest point. Now the angles are perfect.

You can quit worrying about me Greg.

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

The sleep I was losing . . . .

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I got a call from Jimmy's plumbing advertising a special offer to check my main drain (not a euphemism or IC term) for the low low price of $49. I accepted. But when I hung up the phone I realized it wasn't my usual plumber, Mike, but an another outfit. I called Jimmy's in to bid on replacing the pipe in my front yard. Jimmy was way expensive. Mainly because Jimmy is a fleet of trucks traveling the southland much like roto-rooter.
All week I've been trying to think of a way to blow off Jimmy and his corporate legions, but I eventually went with the What hell mentality and let him keep his appointment. I figured he would send the snake down my drain ( again, not a euphemism or porn term) and tell me how clean was my main drain. And I would be out the $49 and feel foolish.
SUCKERS! Ha! Poor plumber and thank you Jimmy, now known as Reliance Plumbing.
First, I got the uh oh something is wrong. He'd hit a blockage. Crap. Then he realized he'd sent the snake into the house rather than down to the sewer. After he switched, and actually went down the main line, he found another blockage. A real blockage. One with roots. I was starting to rethink my position that I was getting ripped off by Jimmy. The poor guy thought he was going to do a fifteen minute house call and be gone. Here he was, an hour later, sending the snake down the drain for a third time. (Still no entendre, double or otherwise) It was still only going to cost me $49. Yee-ha. Plus, as part of this super package, they are going to video the drain tomorrow. I feel like I won the lottery.
On a positive note for the plumber, I pointed out that my neighbor who I share the lawn with just had his main drain replaced as well. I figured he was probably experiencing the same problems as I was. Well as the plumber was snaking me for the third time (still no porn film references), he noticed the neighbors outflow bubbling up with water.
Unfortunately for the neighbor, he rents and his landlord doesn't pay a dime for maintenance. One of the previous tenants went without gas for months. I always see tarps on their roofs during rain storms. I don't think highly of their chances of getting their plumbing fixed in the near future.
But my plumbing is all good ( And I don't mean I had my upper and lower GI checked)