My daughter may be traumatized. I left her to deal with the monster. Well, at the time I did not know it was a monster. I called the plumber. He asked me a lot of questions over the phone. Mostly, was I certain the smell was coming from the sump pump. That morning I had cleared all around the area to ensure he could get access to everything and I told him, "Actually, the smell almost got better over by the sump pump."
He knew. My daughter said he knew when he walked into the house. He looked for the sewer drain. He knew.
My daughter said "Mom, it was like a monster waiting for us in the basement."
Oh, dear. Photo above is not my daughter or my basement. It is from google images. I just wanted to capture the suspense and fear.
What is your worst fear? Mold? Snakes? Bugs.
How about a backed up sewer drain? The plumber said "We don't do that." He gave me the name of a company that does.
I sighed. Way over on the other side of the basement where nobody goes anymore is a bar. It was beautiful with a plush magenta carpet and dark paneling. We used it the first two years we lived here. Mostly we set up computers on it and the kids used it.
Deep in a dark corner under the bar is the drain. The drain that backed up. The place where nobody goes or has been in almost two years. No need to go there. The supplies under the bar were old coloring books and computer supplies. Junk, really. That is where the monster grew.
How long had the monster been growing? I am not sure, but I only noticed the sump pump running over and over this past week-end and the shower drain and the upstairs toilet.
So, in between the plumber and before the sewer drain guy got there my daughter was having her breakdown with me. She was yelling at me over the phone that this should be covered under our insurance and blah, blah, blah. Well, she had been standing in sewer water saturated carpet and looking at our sh!t. The girl was about to go off the deep end. Months ago, she told me she NEVER wants to change a baby diaper or have children or be around children. I cannot imagine what this monster mess did to her. I made a remark about something that this is the real world and this was probably not covered. I am probably to blame for some kind of neglect.
I can still remember when I needed a plumber years ago. He said we need to use one ply Scott toilet tissue. I tried it. For a week or so. Really? Is this guy for real? WARNING! The squeamish need to turn away! Men - be prepared. Really? Has this guy no idea what a menstrual cycle is? You know what? Let me just leave it at that.
I went back to Charmin extra fluffy extra large roles. So, I was figuring the back up was somehow my fault. This may also be some kind of conditioning from my upbringing. Certainly it was something I did wrong.
The sewer guy game. I decided to go back home and deal with it. He told me he charges $130 an hour from when he walks in the door. I thought of the monster. Okay, I said. He was only here an hour.
He came back up from the basement and this is what his receipt says. One hour - $130. Cut tree roots to 70'. He told me it was tree roots. That he had cleared it to the main line. I said it was probably that tree in the front that has the sidewalk pushed way up. He said "Yes. You should see if you can get the city to cut it down. The roots are only going to grow back. You have to grind the stump or they will still grow."
Since it is on the other side of the sidewalk it is a city tree. I had already been planning on fixing the sidewalk so I had documentation on that. The city will pay for half of your sidewalk if you choose one of their contractors. The roots have been an issue when mowing, too. My mower blade would hit it and stall.
He left. I got to thinking. My insurance lady is my cousin by marriage. I had this insurance for over ten years and we discovered this fact about three years ago. She is so nice. I loved her before I knew she was married to my first cousin. I had no idea my first cousin even lived around here. His Mother did not have much to do with my family when we would travel to WV to visit. So, the last name didn't even create a blip when I would hear it spoken.
I called her. YES! Tree roots backing up a sewer drain is covered! I can get my basement area fixed. She gave me the name of a company, call them and get an estimate. She said she was making a claim and that the claims office would be in touch with me.
So today I get to wade in the wet carpet and take pictures. And move things out of the way of the damaged area. The bar is going to have to come out. It is a beautiful bar, but realistically - we don't use it. We really never have. Thirty years ago I would have used it maybe. I have no use for a bar. The panelling will probably have to come down too. So there is no mold. The carpet has to come up. This should be interesting since this magenta carpet is going to be hard to match the color and it goes all over one full side of the basement. I think it will all have to come up. I am not certain if they will pay for replacing it all. We will see. Maybe I will get something more realistic there. No carpet. Just something sensible. And especially - no magenta! Sheesh!
