Tell Me What Kind Of Day You Will Have Today. Here's Mine

I had my crawlspace wrapped last Friday (new liner on the floor and up the sides), and when I went under it to inspect a few days later I saw puddles of dirty drain water from the kitchen drain line. I could not see this before because the drain is at the opposite end of the house where I can't see from the access hole, and the drain water had just perked through the dirt crawlspace and stayed there. Now it lays on top of the plastic until each divot fills up, then it overflows to the next depression in the dirt, and so on down grade.

I called a plumber (I really hate working in the crawlspace, and there's other stuff a professional needs to look at) who cannot show up until next Wednesday to give me an estimate of the cost and an estimate of when they can come back and actually do the work!!! There's no way I can not cook or not have my sink for that length of time. So I got ready to go to Walmart today to buy some tubs to put in each side of the double sink to use as liners I could cart to the bathtub to dump out, and I realized I just needed to see if I could do something with the drain to carry me through.

So I grabbed myself by the collar and dragged me under the crawlspace to inspect. (None of us were pleased.) There is a cast iron tee in the drain line that has rusted through and is letting the kitchen drain water run out. I crawled back out, went to Lowes, and bought some Miracle Wrap:

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I got home, went back in the crawlspace, cleaned off the pipe and wrapped it. Came inside and let a sink full of water down the drain. Then I went back under and looked. So far, so good.

I was gonna do the Phil Swift thing (Flex Seal), but Miracle Wrap is a non-adhesive stretching silicone tape that clings to itself and can be later unwrapped. I didn't want to create a mess for the plumber to deal with.

If I were gonna do this myself, I would cut out the pipe and replace it. I don't do the As Seen On TV stuff for permanent repairs. But this should last until the contractor can do it right.

 

I've used something similar. I don't think it was called Miracle Wrap but I bought something that I used to wrap some pipes in the crawlspace that were a persistent drip, one of them even after the plumber had left. It's been at least five years now and the stuff is holding just fine. Things that plumbers have fixed often don't last as long. I go down and check every now and then because crawlspaces can really turn into a mess if a leak goes undetected.

 

The problems I am having are due to bad plumbers.

The investor who I bought this place from lived out of state and hired/monitored from afar. One horrendous example: They installed supply lines and a drain for a washing machine. It never had one before. The drain came out into the crawlspace with a flanged end. The plumber just jammed the 1 1/2" pvc main drain into the flanged end of the washing machine outlet and held it in place with plumber's strap. There was no connector, no bushing, no nuthin'. I was here a few years when I had occasion to go under the house when I was doing a load of laundry. It was a sea of sudsy water!!! Every load of laundry had dumped directly into the crawl space. I hired a guy to fix it when I was working and had the money, and he just shoved it in tighter and put up fresh plumber's strap! So I fixed it properly myself.

This leaking cast iron tee has drain pipes shoved onto it from each of the 3 directions. Two of those pipes have hose clamps. The third is just shoved on there with no retaining device. At least it's not under pressure. But the lines are not at the proper pitch. That's why the standing water was able to rust through.

On top of all that, the washing machine drain has always gurgled because the roof vent was in the way when the plumber installed the washing machine drain, so he just cut it out of the system. I installed an in-line one, but it's not the same as a roof vent. That's why I want a new plumber to rebuild it properly.

Since I'm whining...the investor had an HVAC system installed. Before that they only had a wood stove and window A/C units. I was shadowing the home inspector and she was using her I/R gun to check each floor register, and two of them showed no change in temp. When we went under the crawl to inspect, the contractor hadn't run ductwork to them. They were just registers in the floor, connected to nothing. So pathetic.

Your advice about periodic inspections is well-taken (isn't there a pic here of you from the waist-up standing in the access hole?) I've known that. I've just not done it. I've lived in homes with crawl spaces my entire life. I'm sick of them. My last home (I lived in for >30 years) had an old floor furnace I was always attending to...sometimes at 3AM. Objectively, it's not that big of a deal. Subjectively, I've talked myself into an aversion. Perhaps now that it's been cleaned and has thick plastic anchored to the dirt, it won't be that big of a deal. I should be checking the pressure in my well tank regularly anyway.

 

Last night I made a biga (starter for Italian bread) and put it in the fridge, intending to make the bread today. It's a pretty long process, starting with a half hour rest of the base dough, then (4) separate one hour rises, then the baking. I got up this morning to get at it, and I had no bread flour! I'm starting to worry about myself. Last night I ran out of kalamata olives. I'm always on top of this stuff. When I run low, I make sure to replenish inventory. I usually have at least one backup bag of bread flour, if not two. The thing is I can sort of recall buying that flour, but there are only so many places it can be. It (and the olives) should have stayed on my list until I bought them. I got a system, dammit!! This is gonna [continue to] gnaw at me.

So I went to the store today and bought both the bread flour and the olives. I'll make the bread tomorrow. The biga can safely sit in the fridge for as long as a week. Who knows, it might taste better after having sat this long, so I'll end up doing it this way from now on. (My pizza dough sits for 3 days to develop the flavor.)

Since I didn't have the stuff to make bread today, I made ravioli dough and a sausage/ricotta/spinach filling. I'll roll out the dough and stuff those tomorrow since I'll be tied to the kitchen anyway in between Italian bread rises.

 

I'm on a septic system. Before I changed brands of toilet paper (screw you, Charmin!) my main line was getting clogged on a regular basis. I've had a hard time finding a plumber out here and called Roto Rooter last time it happened. Other guys charged around $150. RR wanted $1,000 so I went to Lowes, bought a sewer snake and did it myself. It was that first-hand experience that caused me to realize that the problem was the Charmin turning into paper mâché. I did the "dissolves in a jar of water" test with Charmin/Scots/Cottenelle, and I'm a Scot's household now.

Regarding the vents: There is a remaining roof vent nearest the septic line with the appropriate traps between the vent and the septic line. I agree that cutting the other vent out was an incompetent thing to do. (I got lots of stories regarding the "work" that was done here.) When I saw what had been done as I was under the house fixing that washing machine drain, I installed an in-line vent where the roof vent had been. The plumber came on Wednesday and the leaking kitchen drain line issue is not that big of a deal. The rusted-through cast iron tee is actually copper. That's all that's gonna need to be replaced. The washing machine air vent is a whole nuther issue.

In order to install a vent so it stops drawing through the kitchen drain, he has to cut a hole in the wall where the washing machine drain is, stub on a pipe, and bring it into the room. The laundry room is 7' x 7.5' and has a washer, a dryer, a chest freezer, a water softener, and a water heater in it. There's no room to work. Lowes had to really shove hard on the appliances to squeeze them through the tiny narrow door (the frame bowed out.) I'm not up for messing with the work and the mess and the ensuing wall repair. He told me that there is no risk to leaving it as it is and drawing air through the kitchen drain (living with the gurgle.) What I've read on the web generally confirms this, because the drain hose from the machine just rests inside the drain pipe. It's not a plumbed-in sealed system..air gets in around the machine hose and the drain pipe.

Sometimes I could cry at this stuff. I grew up in old homes. They all had crawl spaces and "issues with age." My last home was built in the 40s. This home was built in the 60s, and the renovation work done here before I bought it left a lot to be desired. I don't know if the contractors screwed the investor who was out-of-state, or if the investor cut their bids in half and told them to "make it work," or some combination of the two. You know what I'm gonna do if I hit a lottery of any size.[/QUOTE]

 

I portioned out the ravioli I made last night and put them in vacuum-sealed plastic bags. I cut plastic-lined freezer wrap to fit the bags so the dough does not stick to the bags. I've not tried this before.

I stopped by my neighbor's on the way to go shopping and the guy had his rototiller out to refresh the job I did a while ago with my tractor. (He and I installed an 8' gate to his garden the other day so I can get my tractor in & out.) He's a year older than I, and his knees are shot. I beat him up and promised to go by tomorrow with my tractor and refresh it for him. He knows iIt's a bit of a pain because I have to remove the belly mower to use the the 3 point hitch for some attachments, and then reinstall it. An hour ago he & the missus pulled in my driveway and gave me a Sam's Club rotisserie chicken (they've done this a few times for no special reason whatsoever.) I've got such great neighbors.

I picked up the stuff to replenish my supply of marinara sauce and pasta sauce with meatballs. I always do a double batch of meatballs when I make them, so have some frozen and ready for this batch of sauce. I'll make those tomorrow, then portion them out and freeze/vacuum seal them.

 

I got up this morning, put the tiller attachment on the back of my tractor and tilled my neighbor's garden again. I didn't have to remove my mower deck after all. It's amazing that it takes 20 minutes to till a garden with my tractor that would take hours to do with a walk-behind...that 5' width and 32 HP (and PTO torque) make a difference. While I was there, I helped him hang the gates on the posts we installed a few days ago. He installed 8' gates rather than a standard door so my tractor can fit through. I feel bad because he keeps asking if there's anything he can help with at my place, and I do have some projects I could really use a hand with, but his knees are shot. He can feel the bone-on-bone. When he sits on an overturned bucket, he'll fall off sideways and can't hardly get back up...all because of his shot knees. So I don't really bother asking him for help. Plus he works 5 1/2 days a week.

I came home and made chicken salad with some of that rotisserie chicken my neighbors bought me yesterday (got a great recipe that includes carrot and smoked paprika.) I'll simmer the carcass and bones for gravy, and freeze individual servings of chicken & gravy for future meals.

The radish & broccoli sprouts I had soaking matured today, so I rinsed & dried them and put them in the fridge. They should last a week or so. What an easy way to add nutrition to my meals!

 

Your story about your tractor and your neighbor’s tiller reminded me of one that I had way back before I met Bobby, @John Brunner . It was called a Gilson lawn tractor, and it came with a mower deck and a tiller that attached on the back (if you took the mower deck off).
I got it used, and absolutely loved that little tiller ! It moved with me cross-country twice, once from western Washington to Missouri, and then back to Idaho from Missouri.
I didn’t really use it for mowing, just for tilling my garden, and it was perfect for me. It looked about like this one, and was easy for me to use.