Halloween Horror Stories: Plumbing Edition 2020
(Told byNext Level Plumbing Owner & Master Plumber, Byron)
It is October, and with Halloween around the corner, that means spooky storytime has arrived.
As a plumber, for about 18 years now I’ve had a few very unsettling situations I’ve run into, and this is just the month to share some of them with you!
*This story gets rather gross, so if you want to skip ahead, read the last paragraph to get the helpful tip on keeping this from happening to you.*
“The Washing Machine’s Revenge”
I would start with it being a dark and stormy night, but if I’m being honest, it wasn’t stormy, it was just nighttime. I was the on-call technician so I was the one responsible for after-hours emergencies. I was going about my evening like any other evening when I received a call on the emergency line. I answered and heard a panicked gentleman on the other end of the line. He told me he had sewage everywhere in his house and he needed me right away.
One thing you learn from being on call is that not everyone describes things the same way. To some people, sewage everywhere could mean sewage coming up in the shower. To others, it could mean literally everywhere. You never know what to expect when you get there, so it is best to always be prepared.
When I arrived at his house, it was getting late and I walked up to the house with my boot covers that we wear inside ready in one hand and knocked on the door. When the door opened I realized immediately that my boot covers… to keep the floor nice and clean… were not going to be needed. I walked into the living room and there was sewage all over the floor. It was in both bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, hallways, living room, etc. Sewage was everywhere.
Long story short, I assessed the issue, found the problem, and fixed it. It was a mainline stoppage. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but what was out of the ordinary was what caused the stoppage to overflow into the house.
Takeaway Lesson From This Story:
When you have a mainline stoppage, it means the drain is blocked after all the drains tie together. When you flush one toilet, it can come up in the shower, or the bathroom across the house. What happened here was that there was a blockage like normal, but the washing machine was running. This caused several loads of water to be pumped out into a drain that was already full. It basically acted as a pump to pump sewage into the house.
Helpful Tip Time!
If you have toilets bubbling, or sewage coming up in the shower, do not run the washing machine. If sewage starts coming up in a toilet or shower, turn the washing machine off immediately.
Did you enjoy this spooky tale from Next Level Plumbing’s Owner and Master Plumber? If so, you can continue to read more of our blogs by clicking the links below
