Plumbing is coming...

So, since we are moving the outside stairs into the basement, we need to add new drains.

And, since our basement has flooded a number of times before, they better be good new drains.

Luckily, there is an underutilized 6" sewer pipe right by where the new steps will go that we can tie the drains into. Water drainage has been a huge concern throughout the project---but nowhere more so than in this area as it is the low spot on our property. Jeremy brought in a plumber who he has worked with and trusts named Enrique. Enrique has fun plumbing gadgets. Like a camera that gets sent into a pipe to check on whether it is functioning correctly and functionally sound. (Actually, that is pretty commonplace---but it sounds cool anyway). We faced a mini-dilemma last week when the camera could only advance about two feet into the pipe we wanted to use.

Two feet? Oh no...had it been truncated in an earlier (and stupid-er) rehab? Had it collapsed? How would we shunt away water if the pipe was not there...?

Luckily, it was only insanely thick and tangled tree roots that had made their way into the drain from Mr. Price's maple. A bit of hard core rodding (sending a spinning blade into the pipe to eviscerate everything in its path) and the pipe was freed from the trifling tree's influence. That is not to say that it was easy work. I hear Enrique nearly broke his arm when a spinning part came loose on his system! We have seen his insurance docs and he is good to go... Anyway, he is mostly done outside. Newly installed clean-outs are poking up from the ground!

Enrique's camera is actually a bit old. It only produces a VHS record of the work. Our VCR is packed away in the basement---but I will digitize the tape and post a bit so that you can take a peak at my home's bowels... Yum.

I'll post video this week. BTW, if you are wondering, that is a drain on the left and clean-out on the right...and of course that's rubble in between. We have lots of rubble...all over the house and yard... Stop by if you'd like some---just leave my sand alone.