sewer: Articles tagged with “sewer”

Q: What kinds of plumbing emergencies could occur that a homeowner should know about? What should we do while waiting for the plumber?

If you've ever lived without plumbing, even for a weekend camping trip, you can appreciate how important it has become to modern living. Drinking water, baths, showers, toilets, dishwashers, clothes washers, gardens -- none of these are possible, or at least practical, without plumbing systems.

Q: I have a smell in my basement that is coming from the sump pump pit.

Q: Our sewer pump failed and (tainted) water ran over the concrete basement floor into the next room that was carpeted. I threw out the carpet and padding. What product(s) should I use to disinfect the floor, drywall, and studs? Thanks for your help.

Q: I have a two-year-old two-storey home. My master bath has a dual vanity and there is a sewer gas odor coming from one of the sinks. I checked under the sink and there is a trap so water should block the gas odor.

My concern is a high repair bill if my builder says it is out of the one-year warranty. Any suggestions?

Q: In the last few days, a terrible odor has developed in our powder room. A neighbor suggested that maybe gases are leaking into the room from a pipe.

Q: We would like to move our washing machine to the basement. I am concerned about the waste water plumbing due to the sewer line location and height. The sewer line is about seven feet above the basement floor and about 20 feet away from the planned location.

Before replacing a plumbing fixture, use these definitions to help clarify plumbing fixture terminology.

Q: My outside sewer line has a hole in the pipe. For the last ten years I have had the pipe snaked to clear the root obstruction. I need a permanent solution. What is my next step?

The main sewer line out of your home is an extension of your main stack line inside the house. It leaves near the foundation and connects to the municipal sewer line near the street or into a septic system. When water backs up onto a basement floor, there is either a clog in the sewer service line, floor drain line or drain trap. Your service professional can determine where the clog is.

The main sewer line out of your home is an extension of your main stack line inside the house. It leaves near the foundation and connects up to the municipal sewer line near the street or into a septic system. When water backs up onto a basement floor, there is either a clog in the sewer service line, floor drain line or drain trap.

In densely populated areas where town ordinances often forbid draining rain water into the street or sewer, another method for dispersing runoff is to build a dry well. A dry well is a pit that collects water and lets it slowly percolate into the soil.

There is more to building than sweat and sawdust. Whether building a custom home, adding a bonus room over the garage or remodeling the kitchen, your friendly local building department must be taken into account. You must anticipate their input, and add to your schedule the necessary time for approvals, processing, re-drawing of plans and re-working the changes required to meet code.

Q: I have developed a bore hole (a water driven hole leading underground to a space). The surface hole was almost perfectly round and about two inches in diameter. I dug it out and about a foot down it expands into a small cave leading off in one direction and I can easily get my forearm into it. How far that goes I don't know. It has been there about two weeks, and the hole at the top never got any larger after it appeared.