Pix are from my basement. A poorly supported main sewer pipe came loose and caused a minor crap flood when the washer drained. Luckily the basement is unfinished concrete so no real damage. I was working alone so I put two eye bolts above the pipe and lifted it with a length of rope. Installed steel strapping to support the pipe and used Fernco fittings to replace the 30 year old fittings. The designer of Fernco fittings should get a Nobel Prize.
Apocalypse plumbing AKA the basement crap flood
- Thread starter Oldtom
- Start date
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
That is crappy...pun intended. On a serious note, how long did it go before you caught it?
Yup, No-Hubs are your friend. I use them to make a positive joint between traps and the pipes so I can remove a trap without drama.
About 50 gallons
Last edited:
About 50 gallons. I went downstairs and WHAT IS THAT SMELL?
In my previous house my wife said the garbage disposal smelled! With out thought I changed the garbage disposal and about a month later the house stunk . I looked under the house and it has about an inch of poop from the toilet line breaking, so like an idiot I cleaned the mess up , it was a very unpleasant experience. After the clean up I sprayed an enzyme to digest the odor. with in 3 weeks the odor was gone then I placed visqueen down and all was good. Later I learned that for the cost of the deductible the insurance would have paid for the job.
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
Ugh. Well at least you caught it!
Ugh.. Been there a time or two as well.
Maybe replace that cast iron T with a plastic one at some point, just to take the weight off.
Maybe replace that cast iron T with a plastic one at some point, just to take the weight off.
From the photo, it looks like the PVC pipe pitches UP to the union. Is that how it is?
Last edited:
The pipe does pitch up instead of down 1/4 inch per foot. The previous owner bought a trashed, copper stripped foreclosure home and “ fixed it up “ I wonder if the guy drank a lot. The plumbing has been clog free for over 20 years of daily use. We use bidet seats on the toilets so no toilet paper to clog anything.
Poorly supported pipes are a pet peeve of mine.
It's just as well though, while the insurance might have paid, it's one of those things where the more claims you have the more likely your premiums would have gone up. Any savings from having them do it would get wiped out by higher premiums.
Been there, done that but, mine was the floor drain backing up and it stank! Nowhere near 50 gallons, maybe a few at most. It happened TWICE and then never again 
In the1st pic, are those chicken nuggets or cookies?
Good thing you didn't just take a healthy dump.