Blockages, cranes & jackhammers... oh my!

Elm Avenue was awash with construction equipment this past week. We had piles of gravel, excavators, cranes, machines I've never seen that look more suited to the oil industry than sewer repair.

Last Sunday, Bob (next door, not husband,) on his birthday discovered his basement full of water. Nope not a burst pipe but a clogged sewer. In came the eel guy... out went the eel guy - it was beyond his scope (pardon the pun!) Bob dug out around his clean out and well, it wasn't pretty.

Monday morning out came the city guys who after some investigation announced "you're going to have to do more digging than that!" Yep the whole darn thing had to be dug up and replaced... from house to street connection. There began the waiting.

We shared our bathrooms and showers and tubs with Bob & Susan, well not with them, but happily told them to use our facilities at will.

Unfortunately for them, the company doing their replacement was on another job that ended up taking another 3 days! They were sewer-less from Sunday to Friday. The jackhammer mentioned in the title was used in their basement to break up the cement floor, apparently that's quite loud for those in the house, go figure! The hole in the front yard was quite impressive, and the one they dug in the street is nicely patched. Bob calls it our Elm Avenue speed bump. (The "void" they found when digging, apparently is not a problem and there will not end up being a giant sink hole that swallows my car.)

I haven't been over to see the basement yet but the front yard is all tidy, the guys cleaned up nicely and apparently the toilet is now a "super flush" though I haven't heard it yet myself!

I cannot help but be a bit nervous now, two house to my right and the one directly left of me have had this happen in the past year... What do you think the odds are that the tree roots are everywhere but my front yard? sigh...