Stayed home for Memorial Day to get some yard work done, but still manged to get some drinking beer in with the neighbors, hiking, and golfing! Perfect weather!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Kansas City Visitors
Matt and Rachel stopped by on their way to attend a wedding on the the west slope of Colorado.
We walked to a micro-brewery in Golden to sample beers other than Coors. Then hung out on the back deck and enjoyed a home cooked meal by Joey ( and more beers )!
Seeing Matt brought back memories of my grandparents and my Aunt Lois. It was a very fun evening!
Seeing Matt brought back memories of my grandparents and my Aunt Lois. It was a very fun evening!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Going the Distance
The 4" PVC quit going into the old sewer line after only one foot of progress. After a while I began to get a little nervous. Then I went in the basement to watch the pulling machine and to ask a lot of questions on why no pipe was being pulled.
The machine acted like it was putting a huge pull on cable with the stuck wedge and the new sewer pipe behind it.I asked "do you ever snap your cable".
Answer " sometimes".
me -"What happens then?"
Answer "We trench"
I studied the operation a little more and finally noticed that the bottom hydraulic actuated cable clamp was not holding. So, although it acted like it was really pulling hard on the line, it was just pulling the same amount and sliping back.
I pointed out the problem, phone calls were made, parts were sent over with a supervisor, and an hour latter pipe was moving again.
It started going in at 3" a pull, and eventually was going in about a foot each pull.
Soon, the line had gone the distance. The new sewer line was cut off to length and tied into the street.
The pulling machine was disconnected after a lot of jostling around and swearing. Then the new line was tied in to the old sewer line and other drains.
The street hole was filled, and then the basement hole was filled and recemented.
By 9:30pm the crew had packed up, cleaned up and heading home after a very long day.
Our wallett is now a little lighter, but it is a relief to have that behind us and taken care of.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Deciding to Replace
A couple weeks ago our sewer line backed up after Joanne and I took showers in the morning.
So, we had the line cleaned out and that did not go as well as hoped. We then elected to replace our sewer line by pulling a new line through the old one.
Pretty interesting technology that wedges out the old line and pulls a full diameter line through - if nothing goes wrong. Saves have to trench - if nothing goes wrong. You here that phrase a lot during the process.....which goes like this.
Locate where the sewer leaves the house.
Locate where your sewer ties into the city main line. Then notice it goes diagonal 135' through your neighbors yard, across the alley way that 4 families use for accessing their homes every day, diagonal across your concrete drive way, diagonally through your stamped concrete walk and finally under your home.
So, we had the line cleaned out and that did not go as well as hoped. We then elected to replace our sewer line by pulling a new line through the old one.
Pretty interesting technology that wedges out the old line and pulls a full diameter line through - if nothing goes wrong. Saves have to trench - if nothing goes wrong. You here that phrase a lot during the process.....which goes like this.
Locate where the sewer leaves the house.
Locate where your sewer ties into the city main line. Then notice it goes diagonal 135' through your neighbors yard, across the alley way that 4 families use for accessing their homes every day, diagonal across your concrete drive way, diagonally through your stamped concrete walk and finally under your home.
After that thought settles in, the sewer replacement rep tells you about how they can pull a new line into your house without trenching....if nothing goes wrong.
The sales rep picks you off the floor after telling you how much it is going to cost. Then he grabs you and prevents you from falling over again when you find out the trenching option will at least double the cost.
Nothing ventured - nothing gained, we commit to trying to pull a new line in.
They jackhammered a hole in our basement and intersected the house cast iron sewer line.
I also had them pull out my old kitchen drain line, which we found to be in bad shape.
Fortunately, the house sewer line was in good shape.
A hole was dug down to the city sewer line where our line intersected, and a new plastic saddle connection was installed.
After several attempts a cable was fished through the old line and attached a tapered pulling head that pulls the pipe. The tapered head bursts the old pipe and wedges it to a larger diameter to allow the 4" plastic to slide through.
This went well for..... 1 foot, then progress stopped for over an hour. I was getting very nervous that bad news would soon come that it was time to trench.
The sales rep picks you off the floor after telling you how much it is going to cost. Then he grabs you and prevents you from falling over again when you find out the trenching option will at least double the cost.
Nothing ventured - nothing gained, we commit to trying to pull a new line in.
I also had them pull out my old kitchen drain line, which we found to be in bad shape.
Fortunately, the house sewer line was in good shape.
A hole was dug down to the city sewer line where our line intersected, and a new plastic saddle connection was installed.
After several attempts a cable was fished through the old line and attached a tapered pulling head that pulls the pipe. The tapered head bursts the old pipe and wedges it to a larger diameter to allow the 4" plastic to slide through.
This went well for..... 1 foot, then progress stopped for over an hour. I was getting very nervous that bad news would soon come that it was time to trench.
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