MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN

Last month we had our first unpleasant experience with sewer back up that resulted in minor overflow in our basement.

It was around 8:30 p.m. on a Tuesday evening and we just finished our dinner. I did not have a business or community function to attend that evening and was looking forward to getting a few things done at home. I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud crashing noise coming from the basement followed by my husband's cursing. I rushed down the stairs to find my husband trying to get up from the floor that was flooded with sewer backup. C told me he was alright. I asked him to move his arms and legs to make sure he did not break any bones. Together we picked up the items that C knocked off the shelves trying to break his fall when he stepped on the wet area rug near the opening of the pipe.

C tried to fix the problem with a few tools he had. An hour later, we decided that we needed professional help. We looked up in the Yellow Pages and called Rooter Rescue because the advertisement stated that "60 Minute Service". Later we learned that "60 Minute Service" could be interpreted as the company would let you know within 60 minutes from the initial phone call whether an emergency specialist could be available or not. Then it would be another 60 minutes before a Rooter Rescue truck showed up in your driveway.

The Rooter Rescue technician named "Aaron" finally came to our house at 10:30 p.m. My husband took the RR person down the basement where the overflow took place. He quickly provided an estimate and explained that the flat rate is $250 and it would take about 1 hour to fix the problem. The labor rate for additional hour would be $40 plus other cost if more equipments were needed. We did not have any other options but to ask the RR person to begin his work. The RR person went to his truck, unloaded his heavy duty water-propelled "cobra" saw and carefully carried it down the stairs. He also showed my husband through his motorized video camera that tree roots had poked through a weak spot and created a partial blockage in our sewer pipes. For the next 45 minutes, from the living room upstair, I could hear the "cobra" at work cutting away the intruding roots.

The total cost turned out to be about $400 and Rescue Rooter accepted credit cards. We put it on our Discover Card so at least we would get some cash back! Finally at 2:00 a.m., the work was completed. We spent the next hour cleaning up the basement because the smell was unbearable. We took showers after that and went to bed at 3:30 a.m. The next day we both went to work.

A week later, we saw the headline in the local news, "Thirsty roots wriggling into sewer lines cause big mess". What a coincidence! We thought it only happened to us. According to the newspaper article, basement backups caused by blocked mains have grown to 775 in 2005 compared to 310 in the previous year. The report further explained that dry conditions in St. Louis had caused the roots to go deep into the ground looking for damp soil. Once the roots found voids or cracks in the sewer pipes, then it was "nutrient sink" for the roots to do the natural thing - grow!

For now Rescue Rooter guaranteed the service will last for six months. From this experience, we learned that the City offers an assistance program called "Sewer Lateral Repair Program". The funding came from an establishment of a $28 annual fee collected with the State Real Estate property tax. Because of the large number of sewer lateral repairs done in the first few years, the fund was exhauted. Since 2002, a cap of $3,000 per home was instituted. I inquired with others at my workplace and learned that the total cost to replace our clay pipes with PVC plastic pipes could be up to 10K or even 15K. $3,000 would not be enough to cover the excavation and repair, replace of the failed section of sewer lateral which could include patching of the driveways, sidewalks, curbs and hauling away pavement materials that were removed to make way for the repair.

This sewer problem sure smells bad and another ways that our hard-earned money gone down the drain.