Unexpected Expenses

[Freed Roger]

Had to replace a section of our sewer line under our basement. Not fun or cheap. Cast iron pipe had completely corroded away.

Several neighbors with the same issue. If I were looking to buy another older home - I'd have the sewer line camera inspected.

Probably looking at doing that in the spring with all lines, sewer & gutters.

Can you do that proactively and cut things like corrosion issues off at the pass?

I don't think there is much proactive work to be done. It's more for if you are a potential buyer.

Maybe putting the stuff down the lines to get the roots.

Yeah, but I'm asking more as a long term home owner to prevent major issues like have to replace an entire sewer line.

I don't think there is much you can do, other than confirm whether you have a future expense or if you are considering refinishing a basement that might back up. The corrossion was due to cinder rock backfill that was outside the pipes.

[planet planet]

Had to replace a section of our sewer line under our basement. Not fun or cheap. Cast iron pipe had completely corroded away.

Several neighbors with the same issue. If I were looking to buy another older home - I'd have the sewer line camera inspected.

Probably looking at doing that in the spring with all lines, sewer & gutters.

Can you do that proactively and cut things like corrosion issues off at the pass?

I don't think there is much proactive work to be done. It's more for if you are a potential buyer.

Maybe putting the stuff down the lines to get the roots.

Yeah, but I'm asking more as a long term home owner to prevent major issues like have to replace an entire sewer line.

I don't think there is much you can do, other than confirm whether you have a future expense or if you are considering refinishing a basement that might back up. The corrossion was due to cinder rock backfill that was outside the pipes.

Thanks, Freed. I'm also paranoid about this from when I was living with a boyfriend in Denver and had to have his whole line replaced and it cost $10k plus. CO, at the time, had a program where you could take a loan and pay the cost off when you actually sold the house (kind of like a lien).

[Radbird]

I would really like our next house, wherever it may be, to be an older home in a city neighborhood with lots of shops, bars, parks, attractions in walking distance. Had enough of suburbia.

What scares me is just what you all are talking about. With older homes come these sorts of problems. Just have to make sure a thorough inspection is done before signing, I guess. Nice tip on the sewer camera, Freed.

[haltz]

We had to get our pipes replaced. Apparently they were corroded to the point that sewage was just flowing into the backyard. The nice thing about renting is it didn't cost me anything, but I felt bad for my landlord. He's a buddy of mine from college and he was telling me how much he regretted not doing the camera test for whatever small sum when he bought the house.

We ended up staying at a hotel the night they dug a literal [expletive] hole in the basement. The poop smell was sucked up by the ac and the house was unbearable when we got home at 7pm or whatever. I started gagging when I walked in the door.

[TGantz]

That stinks.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Just out of curiosity, did you all replace Ductil Iron pipes with ductile iron or did you go pvc?

Most new sewer lines are PVC.

yeah. Just curious if anyone had experienced outdated codes or something that was still requiring D.I pipes...especially in or under the house.

[Freed Roger]

We had to get our pipes replaced. Apparently they were corroded to the point that sewage was just flowing into the backyard. The nice thing about renting is it didn't cost me anything, but I felt bad for my landlord. He's a buddy of mine from college and he was telling me how much he regretted not doing the camera test for whatever small sum when he bought the house.

We ended up staying at a hotel the night they dug a literal [expletive] hole in the basement. The poop smell was sucked up by the ac and the house was unbearable when we got home at 7pm or whatever. I started gagging when I walked in the door.

We got a hotel the night of the dig. but smell wasn't so bad. My wife heard of someone having a rat come in the house during the dig - and she was 7 mo pregnant -so case closed.

With our saga -it was a prolonged nightmare - our sewer kept backing up, and it took a while to figure it out the main problem because we had the ancilliary problem of stuff being flushed that shouldnt be. Our muni tax covers roto rooter so they'd just come and clear it. Once we got it camerad - we had a wide cost of bids to fix it since the line went under our furnace and there were varying opinions on how to address that.

I think we were out of pocket about $2K. Most of the work went thru unfinished area. Turns out that sewer pipe replacement was not covered by H.O. insurance - but the damage caused to the basement in process of pipe replacement is. (or something like that)

I wish i remembered the name of the great plumbers we used. They were rough-looking characters from North Broadway. I didn't entirely trust the guy - but they were on the list of approved by our insurance. They bypassed the furnace. And they structured the bill nicely so that more of it was covered under the damage to the basement, rather than pipe replacement.
----------------------

We have always had a leak when it rains hard, in our unfinished area basement. That and some settling issues. I've attempted some outside drainage fixes and sealing (granted, I'm a dumbass in this regard) to no avail. I am going to bring in a friend who is less a dumbass. I've seen neighbors that have had foundation work done - and that really scares the [expletive] out of me. I hope to ignore until my kids are on their own.

[Diddy]

I spent almost a grand on survalence equipment today. Lots of cattle being stolen in our area lately. Probably wont do a bit of good but at least there is a chance if catching someone now if something were to happen.

[Molly]

$466 (fines & court costs) to get 2 moving violations changed to no points violations. Expensive but worth it so insurance doesn't go up. Jeffco money grab!!

[JackofDiamonds]

$466 (fines & court costs) to get 2 moving violations changed to no points violations. Expensive but worth it so insurance doesn't go up. Jeffco money grab!!

Maybe stop driving coked out of your gourd and you'll be fine.