Late Night Plumbing Issues
So, the other night I got a call at around 9:45pm from one of my tenants complaining that one of the bathtubs was not draining and water was coming out of the toilet in another bathroom. (wonderful!)
Since he noted that none of the other drains were backed up, I advised him to try to get the water out of the bathtub so as to relieve the pressure and therefore stop the toilet from overflowing, at which point I would take care of it in the morning.
I ended up having to call an emergency plumbing service who came out at around 10:45pm and “snaked” the drain from the vent on the roof because there is no “clean out” access for the sewer line on the ground, thanks cheap-ass builder.
The plumber then called me back when the job was done and advised me that when he pulled out the snake, a bunch of tree roots came up as well. Now, I should mention that the lot that this house is on HAS NO TREES on it. Later on, I learned that the sewer line runs across a utility easement, through a neighbors property and then to the sewer. And guess what…the utility easement has a number of LARGE Ficus trees in it.
Ficus trees are great for privacy, bad for ANYTHING running underground near them. Ficus trees have even been known to crack the foundation of the house if they’re growing too close to it! My next task is to call the city and ask them what should be done because clearly, it is not within my rights to cut a tree down that I do not own.
Oh, the JOY!!
