Plumbing Nightmare

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

So last Tuesday our toilet started making funny noises, and then suddenly we had four inches of sewage backed up into our bathtub. It was late at night by the time the plumber finally came up, and after snaking out the pipes, he decided that what we actually had was not a clog but a broken pipe.

For this to be fixed, an excavator has to dig up the street. They have to replace the entire length of pipe leading from under the house to the main sewer in the middle of the street. (We live on Willow Ave., towards the Ball Sq. end.) As it turned out, they couldn't dig last week due to the snowstorm combined with the holiday. We are now on our sixth day of being unable to shower or flush. Now they are telling us they can't excavate until Thursday because of this week's weather.

As far as I can tell (and it's NOT easy to get information), this is due to Dig Safe regulations. Meanwhile, we have another whole week of sending little to no water down the drains. Some of us are staying with friends, others are showering at the gym and putting off washing dishes. Meanwhile, there is still sewage in the bathtub since we can't wash it away. Also, they left the trap open in the basement so if it gets backed up it will at least go into the basement instead of our bathroom, but it's also letting sewer gases into the basement and from there into our apartment.

Has anyone encountered a situation like this? Do we have rights here that we aren't considering?

Comments

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

Do you rent or own?

Landlords have some obligations in similar situations where the property becomes uninhabitable, like a fire.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Yes, we rent. Our landlady isn't very responsive, but I don't think there's much she can do to get this going faster.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

She can, however, put you up somewhere livable.

See here (http://www.lectlaw.com/files/lat07.htm) under "Habitability Rights"

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

Well, this is not something you are responsible for.

I will leave the legality issues for someone else to answer. My only advice is to send her certified mailings detailing the situation and for you to keep a record of them. Also, make it sound like there's property damage going on. That usually gets their attention.

As for the issue of the pipe, yes, this is common in houses this old. Many of the sewer pipes to the street are vitrified clay. Tree roots could have grown into the main sewer to the street, or the pipe could have otherwise just cracked and broken. They are very old, and this happens.

[xile999.livejournal.com]

The following link is IMMENSELY helpful: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocaterminal&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Business&L2=Landlords%2C+Real+Estate+&sid=Eoca&b=terminalcontent&f=tenants_rights_and_responsibilities&csid=Eoca

I'm not a lawyer, nor am I 100% versed in the rights discussed in the link above, but from what I imagine after having read through the document myself is that you may be able to at least withhold rent as long as you follow the stipulations presented in the document.

Bad landlords are such a headache. I recently had a mold/floorboard problem that my landlord finally dealt with, and now we have a leaking sink AND water heater that he has been neglecting to get to.

Hope your situation improves.

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

Oh, man...I feel your pain. A few years ago we had a leaking hot water heater that our landlord was taking a couple of weeks to fix. It finally just gave way in the middle of the night. It sounded like someone had turned on the bathtub...right outside our bedroom. If the thought of a serious amount of water flooding an apartment doesn't get your landlord's attention, at least take your own precautions and move any stuff that is nearby...

[xile999.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that sounds horrible. I don't have any of my stuff down there, but the communal washer and dryer are. Our LL is coming by sometime next week to look at the sink, and hopefully he'll take a look at the heater as well.

Thanks for the advice!

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the good wishes. We're having an all-house meeting tonight to see if we can do anything.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a pretty serious (as in, landlord could face jail time or a seriously large fine over it) violation of the sanitary code. If I were you I would consult a lawyer about this. Having sewer gases backing up into your apartment can be dangerous (read: deadly) because they sometimes contain large amounts of methane (aka "natural gas") which is, of course, highly flammable. Also, they are sometimes poisonous. You absolutely have a right to be put up in a hotel until this is fixed and your landlady has a responsibility to pay for it no matter how nice she is.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Yikes, I hadn't thought about that. So, the house could blow up?

For a while there, the house smelled like gas rather than sewage. Probably a bad sign.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

The smell that you get when you have a leaky gas pipe is actually added to the natural gas that comes from the utility company specifically so that you will know there is a gas leak. Naturally occurring methane like you would fine in a sewer is completely odorless.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

While I agree that the law states you must be put up somewhere until this problem is fixed, and that sewage is gross, the above statement regarding the hazards of domestic sewage is not entirely accurate.

If you can smell it, then don't breathe it, yes.

But the chances of an explosion resulting from trapped methane in a domestic connection are extremely implausible.

For sewage in your bathtub, pour in a gallon of bleach from the store until you can smell more bleach than sewage. you probably shouldn't need more than one gallon. The resulting mixture is environmentally inert and can be flushed down the bathtub afterwards. Treat any accumulated sewage the same way.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Have you all notified Inspectional Services (http://www.somervillema.gov/Division.cfm?orgunit=ISD)?

They were the people who put the screws to the thumbs of my girlfriend's absentee and not caring landlord when the storm drains on the property flooded her apartment on 13 Feb 2008.

That, and talking to the alderman.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

Is there some point outside the house where the pipes don't belong to the property in question, but to the city or some other utility?

For example, I'm under the impression NStar's responsible servicing gas lines on their dime, until they physically enter a house, at which point the property owner is responsible for repairs.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

If I recall correctly, the pipes that go from the main connection in the street to your home are your responsibility. The main line is the town/city's responsibility.

(Some friends has to pay to have their main line fixed because tree roots OMNOMNOMed it over the course of several decades.)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

What an awful situation. My sympathies.

FWIW, when my brother and his wife were in a sort of generally similar situation (damage to the house that made it unlivable) they were able to convince the landlady to let them out of their lease, and they moved somewhere else. Thereafter, whatever the landlady did with the place was not their problem.

I just mention it as another option for you to consider. Of course, it's to you to decide whether the hassle of finding another apartment and moving all your stuff would be worth it.

[daviscubed.livejournal.com]

I had a friend in a similar situation years ago (sewage backed up into his basement apartment). The solution that worked best for him? Janet Wu (he emailed pictures/called all the network news people like that - Susan Warnick, etc.). Not kidding. When the news knocks on your door, you get a little motivated to fix things.
Media incident aside, it sounds like there may be a plan to fix the clogging, but not the cleanup, which is unacceptable. It's definitely her responsibility, and I'd look into, at worst, paying for the cleaning and taking it out of rent (I've done this on minor repairs with my landlord's clearance).

Also, while I do believe that moving is a HUGE pain in the butt and will test any mortal's will, it beats bathing in sewage - you need to move at the end of the lease.

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Not too helpful. Our landlady lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

And yeah, I've pretty much had my fill of this place. This is just part of a long string of problems we've had, and I'm now convinced that we can get a better place for the same, if not less money.

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this--it sounds nightmarish. I wish I could offer useful advice, although there seem to be plenty of really good suggestions from people who have experience with this kind of thing already, but about the best I can suggest is that based on all you've described, I think you should move out of that apartment at whatever point causes you the least trauma. Two sewage backups in the time you've lived there? That's hideous. If you lived in the Tardis, parked smack dab in the middle of Davis Square, it still wouldn't be worth it after two sewage incidents.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Yes, we are seriously considering moving. The thing is, apart from the maintenance issues and the irritating landlady, we actually really like the apartment - location and space-wise. I'm wondering if we can be enough of a thorn in her side to get her to let us out of our lease early.

[diatomacearth.livejournal.com]

I know the feeling. There are a couple of things about my current apartment that annoy the hell out of me, but I love, love, love the actual place itself, for the size, and the beautiful street, and the kitchen. It would take major property damage to get me out of here before I can afford to find another place I like as much, sans annoyances.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

You shouldn't need to be much of a thorn to get out of your lease if your landlord is making you live in raw sewage. Just leave. Massachusetts law is EXTREMELY tenant-friendly, and threatening to go to small claims court with photos of sewage in the bathroom and common areas should get you any last month's rent or security deposit back.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I don't know what the current state of this is for you, but I thought I should mention that I live a couple blocks off of Willow and there's a crew outside my house right now replacing what I believe to be a 6' secion of sewer pipe. (It's about 8" outer-diameter, coming from a multi-family house, and meeting approximately where the street storm drain is... so I'm just deducing from clues). It's obviously eff-in' cold out there, and this is obviously an emergency repair (which is why I don't think they're doing the general infrastructural improvements to our street drainage that the city's been promising).

So if your landlord is still telling you it "can't be done," it might be worth further investigation.

Good Luck; this sounds like Hell! ::sympathies::

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

They are actually working on it right now. I think it's our house you're talking about. It does appear that the delay was due to Dig Safe regs rather than anything the landlady could have done. Not that that absolves her for general negligence in the past.

Unless they're also working on another part of Willow. Big ol' backhoe, jackhammers? I'm at work now, but I was home a little earlier and saw and heard them.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I'm not actually on Willow. I'm two blocks off. The crew I'm looking at is on Leslie and Lexington, a block off Highland. Backhoe and jackhammers galore, though.