Pink House Forced Landscaping - October 11, 2011

You know, with all of the projects that I am helping Norm & Jules with all the time, you would think that I could get a bit of credit now and then. Norm sometimes mentions that I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, but I am always open to learning more. One thing that I learned recently, and really didn't ever want to know, is what happens after you flush the commode. I never had given it any thought. Indoor plumbing is cool. You finish, flush and its gone, no problem. Not so at the pink house recently.

Since everything was backing up we had to call a plumber. They had to clear out a plugged up pipe in the yard. So the pipe was "roded" out. They put this squiggly wire like thingy into a pipe called a clean out and keep pushing it in farther and farther until they hit something. Once they unplugged the pipe they send a camera into the pipe to see what else is going on. I wouldn't want that camera's job!

This was the backyard right after being told by the plumbers what had to be done because what they saw wasn't good. I thought, of course it isn't good, they were looking inside a sewer pipe! Duh...

It seems that years ago there was a new invention called Orangeburg pipe. It actually was made from the 1860s through the 1970s. It was used as the sewer pipe that ran from the house to the main city sewer. It was an alternative to metal pipe because it was lighter and cheaper.

Orangeburg pipe is made of wood fiber. At least I know wood fiber is also called paper and why would anyone think paper would hold water? They made the pipe from paper and a glue like substance called pitch. I think we call that tar today. Scratch the tar sealer and water gets into the paper. Anyhow, it was a boom for the plumbing industry back then and still is today! It was outlawed in the 1970s because, like paper does, it collapses when it gets wet! That is what it did in the backyard. The plumbers told Norm that if Orangeburg pipe is found it has to be replaced, you can't fix it.



The FIRST gravel pile

After getting a couple of estimates and finding out that we were told the truth, it had to be replaced instead of fixed, we decided that Valentine Plumbing and Sewer would get the job.

The owner of Valentine Plumbing & Sewer, Tom Bowman, may at first glance seem like a guy that is too young to really know what he is doing, but I'm telling you, if you want an extremely knowledgeable, HONEST, reliable and fair priced plumber, call Tom!

Tom and his crew showed up bright and early on Tuesday and immediately went to work, landscaping the backyard. As plumbers they are great, as landscapers....well not so much.

The pipe is buried between 5 and 9 feet deep.



Clean out on right, pipe in the bottom



The guy running the excavator is Brandon. He uses that machine like a child uses their hand in the sand at the beach, and he has the same deft touch with it.













Old Orangeburg pipe



This is the pipe they dug up. I'm not sure what took so long for the problem to show itself. The entire pipe in the backyard was this same way.

This was the new pipe. It is placed on top of a bunch of gravel and buried in the gravel before the dirt goes back in.



Tom & Andy



There is a lot of work that is done by hand too. All of the pipe has to be angled toward the main sewer and they use the gravel to set the angle.

This is what they did in the alley, where the city main runs.

That's Tom in the red shirt. I wasn't sure what he was thinking while watching Brandon dig out the connection to the main. Considering what he had to do next, I can only imagine.

While Tom was clearing the main pipe from Brandon's digging he did something that convinced me that I will NEVER be a plumber. He had to put his arm, all the way to the shoulder, into the main to clean out the falling dirt.



Nice landscaping job huh? I wondered if they planted flowers when it was done but I couldn't bring myself to ask Tom.


New connection to the main



After hooking up the pipe to the main the entire hole in the alley, except the top 3 inches had to be filled with compacted gravel! No dirt, even though that is what was dug out.

Finish making the connections at the house and putting in the new clean outs (3) and it was time to fill in the trench.

That is where Brandon goes back to work. Although he really is going all day. The crew worked like the entire project was choreographed.

A bit of clean up and call it a day.

Doesn't really look that bad...

A bit of grass seed and some water and it'll be better than it was when they started.

Hahahahahahahaha....

I'm sure that you noticed that I wasn't in any of the other photographs. The explanation is a simple one. I didn't have a hard hat that fit. A city inspector stopped by and said OSHA rules required everyone to have on a hard hat. I think he just didn't like me. I don't know why, maybe it was because he was jealous of my good looks and styling pointy hat.

I figured after he left everything would be jake. Nope. Tom said he and his company could get fined if the inspector stopped back and saw me helping out or just hanging out without the hard hat since we were warned. I had to watch from the house and tell Norm where to take the pictures from. What a hassle!

Make sure to wipe your feet when you go inside,

Travis