It's A Good Thing I Don't Punch Walls Anymore

[terpkristin]

'Bout 3 weeks ago, while recovering from my hand surgery, I ran into a problem where my toilet wouldn't flush properly and was backing up into my shower. Being one-handed with only a plunger and frankly, not sure what could be done for it, I called a plumber.

Got taken for a ride, I'm sure, as they charged me almost $700 to remove the toilet in my master bath and snake it all through (at least it took them almost 3 hours to do). Problem didn't quite go away, as the bowl didn't fill quite properly, but for 3 weeks, it's been "alright."

Until today. Problem showed back up with a vengeance. Used the toilet, went to flush, wouldn't go, definitely backed up into my shower (I thought it had been for a couple days), and as I'm walking over to the other bathroom on the top floor, I hear water running/falling. It wasn't on the upstairs floor, so I go downstairs and find that water is dripping from where I can only imagine there's a pipe down onto my couch and my hardwood.

Needless to say, I've called the plumber company back, they want to send out the same guy who came last time tomorrow between 2 and 6. Neither the time is good for me, nor is the person. I have no confidence that he can do it right this time, and with water actively dripping, I have to keep my cat from playing in the dripping water (I've got a box there, he's very interested in it).

SOOOO freaking pissed off right now. Wish I knew a better plumber to call (this was Michael & Sons in Northern VA), but I feel like these idiots didn't do it right the first time (and possibly caused more problems) so I shouldn't have to pay someone else to fix their work. Plus, I have no idea who to call.

Waiting for a call back from the company as they try to get authorization to send somebody different and hopefully sooner.

Any tips from the crowd? Sometimes being an ignorant (about plumbing, anyway) single female SUCKS.

/tk

[flere-imsaho]

angieslist.com

Best thing ever since I bought a house.

[terpkristin]

Another problem is that this means I'm not taking a shower until it's fixed, both showers are on the top level, and if that pipe is leaking, I'm not interested in causing more mess.

ARGH.

/tk

[flere-imsaho]

That's super-sucky. I don't have any other suggestions, unfortunately. Maybe demand a different plumber?

Also, I think at some point if you're not getting good service from one company, you have to write off the money you've spent and go with someone else.

[terpkristin]

LOVELY.
Now the cat wants to play with what's dripping. Signing up for Angie's List, still waiting for a call back.

/tk

[Mustang]

If they took your toilet off and now you have leaking water, check around the base of the toilet, if there is moisture, I'd say the dumb ass didn't install a new wax ring and now you can have a much bigger problem with leaking water.

[sterlingice]

LOVELY.
Now the cat wants to play with what's dripping. Signing up for Angie's List, still waiting for a call back.

/tk

Ew..

SI

[terpkristin]

If they took your toilet off and now you have leaking water, check around the base of the toilet, if there is moisture, I'd say the dumb ass didn't install a new wax ring and now you can have a much bigger problem with leaking water.

I don't think that's the problem, don't see any moisture. I'll be really pissed if that's what it is. Who am I kidding, I'm already pissed. It's been over 30 minutes, they haven't called me back.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Alright, still no call back from the original plumbers. I have to assume I'm not going to hear from them til the morning. With the fact that I have to be in Arlington tomorrow morning and the fact that the cat keeps wanting to play with it (and that means I'll have to babysit him all night and not use either of my upstairs toilets or showers), I'm thinking of calling one of the places on Angie's List that has positive reviews (small sample size though) and says they do 24 hour stuff. Should I?

/tk

[DaddyTorgo]

yep!

[terpkristin]

Just called them back. No answer. I am so pissed right now I have no idea what to do. On the one hand, I've already paid way more money than I should have and obviously they didn't fix the problem, and obviously I'm not going to get ahold of them until tomorrow. On the other hand, tomorrow is really unacceptable, between the fact that my ceiling is getting ruined, my hardwood is in danger of getting munked up, and I might kill my cat if he keeps trying to knock over the buckets I have under the drips.

/tk

[CU Tiger]

Its doubtful the plumber caused the problem. If anything he just didnt find it. if its backing up when you flush and then going down it most likely means there is a vent issue...a clog would back up and not go down....unless something large was flushed that water can pass around slowly (think cell phone here that is hung in a reducing fitting) If it is the large clogged item, the water could have sat in the pipes long enough to make a leak. Drain pipes are not designed to carry large quantities of water for long times, as such they are frequently not supported as well as supply pipes. I hate to say this, but if you are pissed and taking it out on the plumber you are hurting your chances of getting a call back. Especially if you have breathed the words that they caused this problem in a previous trip. In similar situations I have refused service to customers and left it up to them to "PROVE" I caused the damage. If they are reasonable and cool, we will run back out and even help resolve the problem if we didnt cause it. the thinking is if the people are cool, they will brag us up for making it right. if they are all ready being difficult, I am never going to make them happy so any further effort is throwing good money after bad. *disclaimer: my only knowledge of plumbing was helping the guy who did my ast house when I literally built the entire thing, I am FAR from a plumber and only know the basics...so take my plumbing advice for nothing. My customer service advice, i will guarantee is spot on

[cougarfreak]

Its doubtful the plumber caused the problem. If anything he just didnt find it. if its backing up when you flush and then going down it most likely means there is a vent issue...a clog would back up and not go down....unless something large was flushed that water can pass around slowly (think cell phone here that is hung in a reducing fitting) If it is the large clogged item, the water could have sat in the pipes long enough to make a leak. Drain pipes are not designed to carry large quantities of water for long times, as such they are frequently not supported as well as supply pipes. I hate to say this, but if you are pissed and taking it out on the plumber you are hurting your chances of getting a call back. Especially if you have breathed the words that they caused this problem in a previous trip. In similar situations I have refused service to customers and left it up to them to "PROVE" I caused the damage. If they are reasonable and cool, we will run back out and even help resolve the problem if we didnt cause it. the thinking is if the people are cool, they will brag us up for making it right. if they are all ready being difficult, I am never going to make them happy so any further effort is throwing good money after bad. *disclaimer: my only knowledge of plumbing was helping the guy who did my ast house when I literally built the entire thing, I am FAR from a plumber and only know the basics...so take my plumbing advice for nothing. My customer service advice, i will guarantee is spot on

Well, if he got charged $700 for something, and it didn't fix the problem, he's got every right to be pissed. They should go back and fix it, it's not that they caused it, but they charged him for something, and didn't fix it.

[terpkristin]

My customer service advice, i will guarantee is spot on

I agree with your customer service advice. On the phone, I've been as calm as I can while trying to keep my cat from playing in drippy stinky water and trying to explain the problem. I made sure to mention I had it worked on 3 weeks ago, as it was guaranteed for 30 days, but I didn't try to make it sound like the guy totally screwed up, only that it was urgent it gets looked at.

I called them at 5:10. They said they'd call me back. At 6:30, I hadn't heard from them so called back the main number (800 #), no answer, so called the local line, they said they'd have someone call me back soon, and that it would be an after hours call. It's 7:05, I've heard from nobody.

Looking at the ratings on Angie's List, I never would've gone to these people, I just want them to come and fix what's broken (whether they broke it or frankly never fixed it, whatever). I may still have to call a different plumber in the end, but I've already sunk way more money into this than it should've been, it's hard to part with more money for it.

The biggest problem is that all my upstairs plumbing is tied, so if I want to use the bathroom, I have to do it on my 2nd floor (issue is on 3rd floor). I also have to keep my cat from playing with the water dripping stuff, which will likely mean locking him in my room with me tonight and then tomorrow when I have to be in Arlington.

Home ownership sucks, I want to go back to renting.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Plumber should be here soon. I guess we'll see...

/tk

[wade moore]

So uh, why didn't you turn the water off?

[terpkristin]

So uh, why didn't you turn the water off?

At the toilet? It was beyond the toilet. In the rest of the house? It was only impacting the upstairs bathrooms. It eventually stopped dripping, I don't think it was running water, rather collected water.

/tk

[mrsimperless]

Sounds like you need less floors. =)

[JediKooter]

Did that plumber work at the car dealership you got your car from?

[CU Tiger]

So uh, why didn't you turn the water off?

re read her post, its a drain not a supply issue. Turning the water off stops the supply, but not the drain and there is no reverse suction for the water already in the pipes (could be in the dozens of gallons range....)

[terpkristin]

Sounds like you need less floors. =)

You jest, but I guarantee you that at SOME point I'll be on crutches again and will completely agree with that statement. ;)

The plumber came, said that there was a blockage somewhere beyond the toilet that didn't make it to the main waste line, as this time, it wasn't influencing the other toilet on that floor (i.e. I could have probably showered last night or used the other toilet--the first time, it was in the main waste line). He thought that, like CU Tiger suggested, it was the collected water that dripped down, that it wasn't in the main line, which is good. They didn't charge me for this visit, which was also good.

He recommended I get new toilets, as mine are kind of old (well the house is only 12 years old), but even without him recommending that, I've been thinking about it because they never fill properly, even though I replaced the stuff in the tank. They are what appear to be a rather cheap low water type, and I think that is leading to some of the problem. He quoted ~$800 per toilet to replace it, which includes the price of the toilet. I do not think I'll be using this plumbing service again, but will keep that price point in mind.

What a nuisance. At least it's over...for now.

/tk

[CU Tiger]

but if he is right...you still have a blockage between that toilet and the main line (or a venting issue) any roof work done lately?

[terpkristin]

but if he is right...you still have a blockage between that toilet and the main line (or a venting issue) any roof work done lately?

He said he augered that out (and for whatever it's worth, the shower no longer gurgles when you flush the toilet, so I'm inclined to believe it).

No roof work done when I've owned the house, but I've only been here 3 months.

/tk

[JeeberD]

He quoted ~$800 per toilet to replace it, which includes the price of the toilet.

I'm like the least handy dude in the world, but a friend of mine and I replaced a toilet in my house in probably an hour. And after seeing it done (my friend was the "expert"...she had done it once before), I'm confident I could do it on my own.

Toilets run anywhere from $50 to $300, so save yourself a ton of money and find a friend who's a bit handy and do it yourself...

[sterlingice]

Did that plumber work at the car dealership you got your car from?

This line didn't get enough love :D

SI