INTRODUCTION: It’s time for post #9 in the Tucson Home Renovation series! Let’s take a look at what’s happening beneath my house.
Plumbing is one of those things that we don’t pay attention to until it calls attention to itself.
Ever heard those stories about people who left their house for an hour or so, then returned to a giant flood? I have too. And I didn’t want that story to happen to me.
So, I followed the advice of my home inspector and had the plumbing checked out. The first order of business was fixing a very obvious problem: My house didn’t have a working cleanout, and that’s important. If anything gets clogged, a cleanout is the first thing that a plumber will look for.
Cleanout installation was a two-day process that began with the excavation of my back yard. (See above photo essay.) This job was carefully done by James from Southern Arizona Plumbing. Then he took a close look at the condition of the piping that exits my house and connects with the sewer system. Big crack in the connector elbow. James replaced it. He also installed two cleanouts, one for the house’s main drain line and the other for the line that goes to the sewer.
James brought a camera system for inspecting the main drain line beneath my house and the aforementioned line to the sewer. Good news: Both were in good shape. And he recommended that I schedule a branch drain line and water line inspection with American Leak Detection. I did. Again, the news was good. No leaks — hooray!