Sewer Excitement, Part Flush

Our front yard, already small, was mostly lumpy dirt after the last visit of the plumber/digger guys (the way our property line runs, the front yard is pretty narrow, but is double that in the back). We have been careful about toilet use (oh, ain't that just fun?!).

Finally, after a delay of two weeks, the plumbing/digging guys came back. They lifted a section of sidewalk and dug a hole between the tree and the street. Put in another new pipe. Ran a camera/probe through from the other access pipe. Pondered whether or not there was another crack or leak under the tree (the tree is almost 60 years old and we'd rather not lose it, even if I am allergic to it). Called the boss man. Called the boro inspection guy. Conferred. Finally, they decided that it was good to go.

And we were good to go, too. wooo - finally!!

The yard is still all torn up. They have to come back and grade it and seed it. They trimmed down the access pipe, but not enough (and WHY did they feel it necessary to spray paint it neon green?). A new sidewalk section will have to be poured. And the guys told us that we'll probably have to call them once or twice a year to have the line under the tree cleared out. Turns out that they think that this problem really, truly, isn't permanent. But since we had bought insurance for this very thing, the insurance will pay for the clean-outs.



In case you are pretty darn bored, here are the earlier installments of this saga, with more exciting photos:
Sewer Excitement, Part Turd
Sewer Excitement, Part Poo
Sewer Excitement

Oh, and in addtion to this, we got a letter from the Boro telling us that they noticed that our trees were hanging too low over the street. Yeah, and so are 80% of the other trees in the borough, and a good many belong to the borough itself!! I stopped by at a house a couple of blocks away - they were trimming their trees. I asked if they had gotten a letter. They had, and they told me that they had noticed that boro employees were trimming the trees in the parks the day before. Trying to get themselves up to code, eh? And later at the game, a photographer friend of DH's told me he got a tree-trim letter, too. So, we figure it was a mass-mailing (not that we have a big town). I wonder how many trees gave their lives for the paper for those letters. Anyway, you can see the branches that DH cut in the above photos. At least it hides some of the dirt.