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...

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

However...

If you have reasonable relations with your landlady and like living there, try talking directly to her and seeing if there's anything you can work out.

Getting sewage out of a basement can be really, really expensive. The idea of "cleaning" it enough that it isn't, well, totally unsanitary is mind-boggling to me. That fact alone should be enough for her to realize it's in her own best interest to put you up in a hotel a couple nights and try to get insurance to pay for that, rather than risk you flushing and having that come up into the basement.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Well, when the plumber was trying to snake it out, he already got sewage into the basement. Also, last summer we had a similar problem that ended up in sewage all over the bathroom floor and running out into the hallway and dripping down between the floorboards into the basement.

Wow, my apartment sucks.

[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.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it was concomitant with the sewage, which looked somewhat oily. It didn't smell like household gas, but more like gas at the gas station.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

It just goes to show there are most likely all kinds of bad things in the system that you really don't want in the basement of a dwelling you occupy or even plan to occupy in the future. I think you guys need to find a way to get this taken care of *today*.

[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!

[tober.livejournal.com]

Well, um, actually... yes and no. Natural gas as supplied by gas utilities would be nearly odorless if they did not add methyl mercaptan or other odorants (all of which are sulfur compounds) to it. That said... Sewer gas is potently smelly mostly because of naturally occurring sulfur compounds in it which are mostly products of bacterial metabolism. Many of the compounds that make sewage smelly are similar in structure and odor to the compounds that are added to natural gas to make it smelly. This is not completely coincidental - these compounds are detectable by (most) people in very low concentrations and also are naturally repulsive which was probably evolutionarily advantageous in terms of avoiding spoiled food and hazardous atmosphere - thus when gas utilities decided to odorize natural gas sulfur compounds were a natural choice.

[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.

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

Glad your stuff is safe. Prior to the Great Washout of 2004, it never occurred to me that a leaking water heater could lead to total blow out, so now I try to spread the word!

[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.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

True. Also the sulfur compounds in sewer gas are not a particularly good thing for you to be breathing either, so if you can smell those, that's one sign that you've got a problem.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Absolutely true. If one's landlord/tenant relationship is not an adversarial one, it's always best to do things as politely as possible. But it's also important to know what the landlord's legal responsibilities are, of for no other reason than to help keep from feeling guilty when asking to be put up in a hotel.

[vibrantabyss.livejournal.com]

*nod* when there was sewage backup in the house I own it took several thou to clean up. And insurance covered that plus putting up the tenants. If your landlady is totally unresponsive - call the town.

[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.)

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

We tried calling the town. They said to stay with friends, as though everyone has friends they can go stay with for a few nights. Barring that, she should put us up somewhere...she's really hardass though, and refused to clean it up the last time we had a sewage backup; I just bleached everything and hoped for the best. Whatever went into the basement is still in there, though.

[thebostonreader.livejournal.com]

How bad was the backup?