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

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

Hon, when it happened to me, I came home from a vacation and found it. I was so horrified by it, I started babbling incoherently and couldn't think straight. The friend who was dropping me off and helping me carry in my luggage grabbed my bags out of my hands, marched me back to the car, and told me either I could name a friend he would take me to to spend the night with, or he was going to take me to his place until it was all fixed and cleaned up - and I was so shocked by it all I just complied with whatever he said. I had nightmares about it all night. It took about two days to get it fixed and one more to get it cleaned, during which time I realized just how upset I was by it, and my horror at the idea of going home to it grew. When it was finally time to go home, I could barely bring myself to open the front door. Thank god, the person running the building while the landlord was away had hired great cleaners, the bathroom was absolutely sparkling and the whole place smelled of flowers. But even then, I found myself irrationally dreading that bathroom the whole rest of the time I lived there until my lease ran out.

Coming home to find sewage backing up into your home is a nasty, horrible experience. It is unconscionable that your landlady made you deal with it, not to mention quite possibly illegal. Get angry. Take action. Get the city to make her do the right thing. And when your lease is up, go find somewhere else to live with a better owner.