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Plumbing Problem

  • Mar. 24th, 2009 at 8:07 PM
James Unshaven
After I took my shower this morning, Delia thought the water was draining out of the tub too slowly. She decided to treat the drain with her home-brew technique that has worked part of the time when she has tried it. She managed to diminish the flow draining to zero. When she had the tub full to a depth of about four inches, she bought a bottle of drain cleaner (for 99 cents at the 99 cent store) and threw it in the tub.

Nothing happened.

I looked at the label on the bottle. It wasn't liquid plumber, it was a generic look-alike that cannot be used with standing water.

Troy, our neighbor across the street, is a plumber. He is Cathy's friend and he agreed to help.

I think he tried plunging the drain with a plumber's helper with no effect.

He tried my hand-cranked snake until he got tired, then he got his motorized snake. He told me he found oakum, a tar-soaked twine used by plumbers and those who have wooden boats. I learned about oakum when my cousin Glenn was making a yacht for himself in Morro Bay.

Troy is now in the garage, trying to snake out the drain from the cleanout.

Cathy's dog is in a full panic because of the strange noises.

The water isn't going anywhere yet. It's just getting deeper in the tub.

[Update: the problem was fixed the following day. The plumber says that the 50+ year-old cast iron pipe is so corroded inside that the inner surface is extremely rough and catches anything passing through, especially hair and fibers. We should replace it with plastic drain pipe.]
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