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Waiting on the DEP for sewer problems — Brooklynian

Waiting on the DEP for sewer problems

opossumqueen
opossumqueen
edited November -1 in Park Slope
Anyone else waiting on them today? Called in the early morning (plumber called at 1am said the problem seems to be on the city's end), told 2-6 hours, possibly a little longer b/c of the rain.

We currently don't have water or heat. We had to shut the water off which also means no heat now (I guess the boiler had to run out of water eventually).

And our place is gross and dirty from the sewage back-up (it could be worse-the rain water in the system seems to have diluted it all) and we can't do anything--use the bathroom, bathe, cook, clean the infected areas or concentrate on getting work done while feeling gross. I'm just wondering how long it will be until we have water and heat again.

I called a little while ago (8 hours post complaint) and was told we're still in the queue but it is just slow. It's worse than waiting on TWC :)

Oh, and the water is only not continuing to flood the basement b/c of a pump the plumber left for the day which is pumping it all into the street.

Comments

  • carmen
    carmen
    man, I don't envy you! If you guys need to use the bathroom or shower or something let me know or come knocking, I'll be around most of the afternoon!
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    They just came and didn't even call or tell us. I was finally taking a nap and heard them drop the manhole cover back down and rant outside. I felt like he gave me very little info and took off. We stood in the middle of 6th Ave staring down the manhole and what looked like a perfectly normal amount of water and said it's the property owner's problem.

    Now we're back to calling another plumber (of the LL's choosing for non-midnight use) and hoping they don't need multiple days to fix it.

    I am sad.
  • wonderroom
    wonderroom
    The basement flooded in our building during the last bad rainstorm we had. The LL supposedly fixed it, but it still smells moldy and awful in my hallway. We're in the garden apartment. We called and complained about the smell and he sent someone to "clean"...smelled better (like bleach or industrial cleaner) for a couple of days and now its back to smelling bad.

    I feel your pain.
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    No reason that you should be without heat. A steam boiler can run all day without water being added. There are many safety features that would prevent it from running if the water ran out or too low.On the other hand keeping the water running to the boiler would not add any water to the sewer system also. A closed hot water system would use even less.
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    modsquad wrote: No reason that you should be without heat. A steam boiler can run all day without water being added. There are many safety features that would prevent it from running if the water ran out or too low.On the other hand keeping the water running to the boiler would not add any water to the sewer system also. A closed hot water system would use even less.
    We were worried the kids upstairs might keep flushing the toilets of run faucets. I just want to use my toilet!

    The boiler doesn't look like any other I've seen but it's the only gas one I've seen. It's pretty small so maybe since 1am it's run out by now and that's why it's stopped?

    Fingers crossed the plumbers get here soon and can quickly diagnose and fix the problem. The first plumber and the DEP suggested that this might require ripping up the sidewalk, and I am terrified of this option. Not only the time it will take but that b/c I've been dealing with this I'm terribly behind on some final papers that I'm too sleepy to even comprehend right now. I have terrible focus and with the filth in the apartment and unknowns, I can barely concentrate on Brooklynian :-({|=
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    So the second plumber is here and he's snaking the same pipe with a slightly different looking snake, and getting gobs of baby wipes out. I did not know people flushed baby wipes.

    It looks promising that we will have proper drainage soon, then we just have to get professional cleaners in to clean the basement, which is basically storage for the LL and some of our crap (which was all in tubs or off the floor).

    FTR, the first plumber, who snaked the drain and said he found no problems and charged $700 for this on top of the late night fee, was from Vigilante.

    Martin Plumbing is here now and our LL swears by them and the guy seems to be making good progress.
  • carmen
    carmen
    are the baby wipes from the people upstairs? Its time for a firm discussion...
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    Hahaha..They must be since we definitely only put tp in our toilets and they happen to have to young kiddos.

    The plumber agreed with you on the firm discussion. He said these supposedly flushable baby wipes are the cause of many similar clogs, though this was one of the largest piles he had ever pulled out.

    Now to get professional cleaners in for the basement. Ugh.
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    FWIW, I've used ServPro for cleaning up after 2 different catastrophes. A fire and a roof tank collapse. No ice yet. They are great.
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    modsquad wrote: FWIW, I've used ServPro for cleaning up after 2 different catastrophes. A fire and a roof tank collapse. No ice yet. They are great.
    Thanks!!
  • ben
    ben
    OpossumQueen wrote: So the second plumber is here and he's snaking the same pipe with a slightly different looking snake, and getting gobs of baby wipes out. I did not know people flushed baby wipes.

    It looks promising that we will have proper drainage soon, then we just have to get professional cleaners in to clean the basement, which is basically storage for the LL and some of our crap (which was all in tubs or off the floor).

    FTR, the first plumber, who snaked the drain and said he found no problems and charged $700 for this on top of the late night fee, was from Vigilante.

    Martin Plumbing is here now and our LL swears by them and the guy seems to be making good progress.
    No one should ever pay this kind of money to snake a drain, it's criminal. There are multiple $49.99 or $49.95 drain cleaning services in the city, do a google search and tons come up. No extra charge for late night service.
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    Ben wrote: [quote=OpossumQueen]So the second plumber is here and he's snaking the same pipe with a slightly different looking snake, and getting gobs of baby wipes out. I did not know people flushed baby wipes.

    It looks promising that we will have proper drainage soon, then we just have to get professional cleaners in to clean the basement, which is basically storage for the LL and some of our crap (which was all in tubs or off the floor).

    FTR, the first plumber, who snaked the drain and said he found no problems and charged $700 for this on top of the late night fee, was from Vigilante.

    Martin Plumbing is here now and our LL swears by them and the guy seems to be making good progress.
    No one should ever pay this kind of money to snake a drain, it's criminal. There are multiple $49.99 or $49.95 drain cleaning services in the city, do a google search and tons come up. No extra charge for late night service.

    I was shocked, too! However, when I am startled from sleep to shit water flowing all over my floors at a rapid pace and plunging the drain makes it worse, I start calling plumbers. The one that came was the ONLY one that answered at 1:30am so we didn't really have options or time to do research. I think the company, Vigilante, is shitty and the LL, who is paying is definitely disputing the charge/service. The LL was expecting it to be high, and for the middle of the night emergency fee, but not that high.

    Edit to add:
    This was not snaking a regular sink or tub drain. It is different equipment for the sewage line out of the house and it's dirty work and worth more than $50 for the time and effort.
  • ben
    ben
    OpossumQueen wrote:

    Edit to add:
    This was not snaking a regular sink or tub drain. It is different equipment for the sewage line out of the house and it's dirty work and worth more than $50 for the time and effort.
    Amazingly the $50 guys wade through the shit and snake the sewage line for the same $50 price, used them many a time. Just something to keep in mind the next time it happens, I just hate hearing about how these plumbers rip people off on this stuff.
  • opossumqueen
    opossumqueen
    Our basement is finally clean! Reporting back in case anyone else needs professional, serious cleaners.

    I tried Servpro but they never returned my calls and ended up using Home Clean Home. I was kind of frustrated with the LL at that point (they told us they would hire someone but after 1.5 weeks of nothing acted as if they had forgotten and just told me to find someone), so I didn't do any price comparing and took whoever could do it first. And HCH was able to come by for an estimate almost immediately.

    Two guys worked about 6 hours and it looks great down there. The LL has a ton of furniture and loose crap stored in the basement and we have a few things so they had to move stuff around a lot to clean. They even organized stuff nicely as they put it back so there's more floor space. $600 total got the place scrubbed floor to ceiling, all the pipes, the water heaters, the stuff on shelves and under the stuff on shelves. They brought all of the supplies and equipment they needed and showed up early.

    Home Clean Home
    718.627.5781
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