What's under your lip/in your nose right now? - Part 2

[rothenbj]

It's so nice being beyond the age of giving a s***. My $280 refurbished washer works just fine. Now if I can only resolve my kitchen drain issues. I've cleaned out the lateral all 25 or so feet with a snake to the main. Used Zep purple concentrate and flushed it good. I'm starting to believe the problem is in the main. I heard some funny sounds as I was flushing like there was a blockage that would eventually let some water flow.

I'm picking up some of the Zep Drain Care Build Up Remover in both powder and liquid form. I'll treat it a few days and see if it improves. If that doesn't solve it, time for rolo rooter I guess.

 

[firechick]

Must be a rash of septic issues. The DH noticed a wet spot in the lawn over the tank. On further inspection he discovered that the tank was overflowing while I was in the shower. It was New Year's Eve and we had to wait until Saturday to get a pumper out here. When we had it pumped the last time, we bought culvert pipe style risers and caps for $75 each so we wouldn't have to dig it up every time. They only had 2 units available at the time and we have a 3 chamber tank. Long story short, the company went out of business and no one local is selling the plastic ones in a 24" diameter. I had to order online at $135 and wait a week and a half for delivery. It's raining like April and I have a tarp over the still exposed concrete cover and the dirt pile. It will be here Wednesday according to UPS.

We have a tub in the main bathroom that has never drained right, no matter what we've done. Hasn't since it was brand new.

 

[rothenbj]

At least you have a tank system. I kind of understand them. Mine is a sand mound type although I have no information on its construction. Hopefully the township has good records if I ever get into a real jam. I do worry about solutions to this drain problem.

I did the first Zep treatment last night and will continue that for a few days to see if I start seeing some improvement. It's supposed to breakup buildup in the pipe.

On a much ,ore positive not, my outside lighting is working marvelously. The LEDs light the steps off the deck well. The motion sensor immediately sets off the lights in the parking area of my drive with plenty of bright light and the two going down the drive allow me to walk it without a flashlight. Plus, I have a lit woodshed when I have to retrieve wood at night. Love it when a plan comes together. I did have to pull the batteries and recharge the two that get used the most, but you can tell when the charge has dropped off significantly.

The neighbor got solar powered which are working great for him. Not sure if the tree cover will be an issue during the summer though.

 

[rothenbj]

You have to love mid January thunder storms and mid 60s weather.

 

[firechick]

Wonder if yours is this style, roth.
Mobile Site Preview

Or

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Do you have a lot of clay there?

Most here are this style
Homeowner Manual for Septic Tanks and Leach Fields

There......all you ever wanted to know about effluent waste disposal. Lol

 

[rothenbj]

Yeah, my parents had a system such as yours. Mine is some configuration of a sand mound.

 

[hittman]

I had a frozen sump pump pipe where it comes out of the house. I forgot to disconnect the long drain tube and the whole thing froze solid. I ran to the store and bought a heat gun and some 4" corrugated drain hose so it shouldn't freeze again. Our yard sits lower than the next door neighbor's and the sump pump seems to be a constant pain in my ..... It died earlier this year and I got some water in the basement before I noticed it. It's just one thing after another. It makes you want to rent again.

 

[The Rebel]

Well, if this post isn't obvious enough, I didn't win the lottery on Saturday. But lucky for me no one else won it either. 1.3 billion dollars, unreal. Someone is going to get a lot of previously unknown relatives and new friends when they win that one.

Wife told me to start looking for a new/ used car. Seems she thinks mine has ran it's course of usefulness. I think I agree with her. I've milked as much as I can out of the old beater. 216K miles and it still runs good but there are some underlying problems that I have chosen to ignore because I can't bring myself to put any more money into it. Slight leaking of coolant and oil. Not enough to get overly concerned with but not a good sign for the future. Doubt I'll get much trading it in, so might have to scrap it or sell it privately with some warnings. Would make a decent ride for someone who likes to work on vehicles. I just don't have the time or heart for it anymore.

 

[hittman]

I can't even imagine the number of people that would come out of the woodwork if you won that kind of money. I would of course take care of immediate family but after that it would take some serious thought.

 

[Waho]

I made an agreement with my local party store that if I hit with my ticket from them, they'd build a statue of me in the front with their cut of the winnings. I doubt it'll happen but would be nifty.

Even after taxes it would be an insane amount of money. I'm such a penny pincher I have no idea how I'd even go about spending some of it. Other than paying off bills, buying a new vehicle for my girlfriend and my getting my dream car (70-72 El Camino SS 454) of course.

 

[hittman]

Besides paying off my own bills, I'd pay off my dad and sister's houses and give them some to have fun with. After that I'd give some to a charity that I currently donate a very small amount to and take some time off to travel.

 

[rothenbj]

Rebel, I'd say it was about time, especially if it's your main transportation.

Sump pumps have not been an issue for me here. I have gotten wet in the basement 3 or 4 times in the 20 years I've been here but even those with pumps seemed to have the same issue. I did some things like extending downspouts away from the house which seems to have helped.

Still no luck on the draining in the kitchen, but I've been reading a bit on it and am wondering if I might have a venting issue. With all the trees and animals and 36 years on the system, perhaps I'm glogged up. At least that idea will buy me two or so months before I venture on the roof to check the vent pipe. I'm trying to milk a few more years out of the roof since it still looks okay.

 

[hittman]

Howdy everyone. We got a surprise snow overnight and the temps dropped to single digit. Its supposed to be s little better tomorrow and then snow again on Tuesday. If the forecast is anywhere near right then we're in for a warming trend after that.

 

[The Rebel]

9 degrees this morning, with the wind chill -1. Cold enough for the boys school to close for the day. Kids got it easy these days. I don't recall my school ever closing when I was growing up because it was too cold.

 

[hittman]

Good morning. Rebel, aren't your schools closed for MLK day? Ours are. It was actually 0 degrees when I got up this morning. I think the high is going to be low 20's. We never had a cancellation either for it being too cold and I grew up in Ohio. We had some pretty brutal winters.

 

[Waho]

16 degrees with a -3 windchill here in mid MI.

Same here on school closings, not once because it was too cold I can remember. We'd have to get like 8 inches of snow overnight to get a snow day.

 

[The Rebel]

The schools here don't close for MLK day. I use to work for a union shop in northern Michigan that had that day off but the workers decided to take opening day of deer season off instead of MLK day, go figure. Saw the new Star Wars movie over the weekend. It lived up to the hype even if it was a bit of a rehash of the original. I took the boys and they loved it although I had to explain the whole Luke, Leia, Han Solo background to them afterwards. Also caught "The Martian" on PPV as well. I had read the book after hearing they were making a movie and it follows the book pretty closely although a little condensed for running time I suppose. A few things left out but a good flick indeed.

Also bought a new/ used car last week. I'd been researching vehicles for some time knowing mine was living on borrowed time. One I really liked was the Volkswagen GTI. Small, sporty, but still good gas mileage. One popped up for sale about an hour south of me so I took some time and checked it out. Turns out it was for sale at the same dealership that we bought my wife's Suburban. Took for a ride, played the price game with sharks, and bought it home. 2013 Volkswagen GTI Drivers Edition with 35,000 miles. After a week of driving it, I absolutely love it. Fun, fun, little car.

 

[Waho]

The UAW worker in me says eww! [emoji14]

All kidding aside, a friend of mine had one just like that, nice little cars for sure! His first car with a manual transmission. We got into lots of trouble back in the day in that car.

 

[hittman]

Congrats on the new car rebel. It looks nice. I know someone that has a similar one and they love theirs too.

 

[rothenbj]

Yup Hitt, your weather went downhill and you're sending it our way, thanks. With wind chill, we're in the single digits and early reports have us in the 4-8 inch range starting Friday. Well, that's with discounting the high school weatherman that has a PA weather website that's talking a foot or more with 40-50 mph gusts causing major drifts. I'll discount his analysis until it happens.

Good and bad news on the drainage problem