Bellingham Covid Sewer

 This was done during the height of the pandemic scare. To say everyone--from the city to the team--was distracted by events is a huge understatement. 

It was particularly bad because my sinuses were in full revolt. I freaked out the team and homeowners.

Masks are difficult when you're breaking up six tons of 75 year old concrete, so it was bad all the way around.

It'll last 50 years or more (the sewer, not my sinus condition), so all's well that ends well.

What a difference six months makes...

 Different world out there, isn't it. 

Price Increase

Wowsers!

Prices of everything are going up!

Why am I whining about it?

I've got to start collecting the $40.00 service charge that's listed on the Prices page. I'm serious this time.

I lowered the multiple item discount to 10%. Still cheap at half the price.

Hey Bellingham! Winter is Coming! Protect Your Plumbing!

Halloween is the bookmark in the calendar to winterize your buildings. 

1. Disconnect all garden hoses.

2. Turn off lawn sprinklers.

3. Close up crawlspace vents.

4. Set thermostat to a minimum of 60f.

During Freeze Warnings:

5. Monitor winter weather warnings.

6. At a bathroom faucet, turn on a cold water to the smallest stream possible. WARNING: Make sure the drain is working at the sink. Turn the water off at the end of freeze. I don't like this method, as it wastes water, but it's effective.

7. If your water heater is in the garage, try to keep garage door closed and the garage warm. Water heater blankets aren't recommended by most models.

New license plate

Here's the truck's new plate. Now I need a new truck to match it.

plumbers plate bellingham wa

Sewer Clean Out Bellingham, Wa

Anyone who has had the a sewer stoppage has heard the question, "Do you have a clean out?"

This is a sewer clean out Ball Plumbing installed recently. Yes, it's 15' deep!

Sedro-Woolley Septic Tank

This was a very, very old house that had the original cement sewer drain stubbing out of the foundation. From that point, it went to a Big Box thin walled drain pipe that isn't code for anything I know of (first picture.

Then, it connected to the original cement sewer sections that were crumbling for the last few decdes.

Then, it connected to 2" ABS drain.

Then, it was pushed into the concrete septic tank.

All in 15 feet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sedro-Woolley, Wa sewer Ball Plumbing

New sewer in Sedro-Woolley, Wa Ball Plumbing

Sudden Valley toilet replacement

Once upon a time, a black Kohler toilet was the ultimate in bathroom style. Today, not so much.

We replaced it with a toilet that we have had great success with for a much lower price in its class. It's also a Comfort Height model that's app. 16.5" high from floor to bowl rim. The seat is a slow closing model with easy removable hinges for cleaning.

Kohler toilet circa 1975

New toilet 2013

Sink Stoppage in Sedro Woolley, WA

We got a call about a stopped up bathroom sink (aka basin) in a small rental house off Hwy 9. I tried to clear the stoppage through the trap for about 15 minutes, but it wouldn't clear. Mind ya, this bathroom is about 6 feet wide, so it should have cleared quick enough.

I crawled under the house and found this and yea, I did replace the pipe and a few other leaks:

Broken drain pipe

Difference in toilet flushes

Here's a few quick vids of what a bad flush is compared to a cheap good flush.

The bad flush is a new Kohler toilet that we replaced with a much cheaper toilet that actually works. In fact, the Kohler toilet cost as much as our entire installation including parts, labor and tax!

Bad Flush

Good Flush

Sudden Valley, Wa Water Pipe

This was a bad leak that made the water meter spin like crazy. After digging a new 150 foot ditch from the meter to the house, we never saw a drop of water from the leak. Sudden Valley---Whatcom County---has its peculiarities, to be sure.

Another Bellingham Water Shut-Off

The same builder must have done the Sudden Valley house (see Blog 6/27/13) because he used a gas valve instead of a full port water valve.

Not only does it cut the flow to this duplex, but look at the second picture. See the dirty water? That's from restricted flow! It cleared up after a few minutes at full pressure, but think of the poor water quality caused by poor workmanship.

Ball Plumbing's plumbers corrected all the problems, of course, for a lot less than you'd think for the amount of quality we gave.

Sudden Valley Water Service

This gas shut-off was being used as a water shut-off on a very nice home next to the Sudden Valley golf course. We found it while replacing the water service--the pipe from the water meter to the house.

Notice the narrow opening in the valve. All these years this 3 bathroom house was suffering with an undersized water service and a gas shut-off.

We installed a proper water service and a full port ball valve.

House is happy, homeowners are happy, plumbers are happy, but a little sad some numby installed it in the first place.

More pics of water service in Alger, WA

When I first looked at this job, it was raining, so the issue of ground water wasn't. But it was, big time.  We had to build a dam and use a pump in order to reconnect to the water meter. Sounds easy, but it ate up the man hours. The ground itself was more rock than dirt, too. It took a crew of three over 20 hours (60 hours total) to get it done, but it got done.

The old water service (the pipe from the water meter to the house) was a patch work of pvc, poly, copper, galvanized steel, and brass ranging in size from 1/2" to 1-1/2"  in diameter. Now it's all one kind and size from the meter to under the house.

There are some very happy tenants in Alger, Washington.

Water Main in Alger

This is the current project. More on it later.

Blaine Kitchen Faucet

Finally got these Semiahoo snowbirds to replace their kitchen faucet. Mr. Snowbird didn't have much choice, as the old one was leaking into a bucket.

The drain was clogged, too, but I'll spare you the pictures of that.

Old kitchen faucet (Lowes Kohler, I think):

New kitchen faucet (Delta faucet bought from us):

The new one has a pull-out spray head with a steel braided hose:

water leak, Mt. Vernon, Wa

It's been said that plastic pipe is easier to work with. I think this has been said by someone who hasn't had to repair it.

This leak was showing up a few feet away from the pipe through a crack in the driveway. Some-other-plumbing-company wanted to replace the whole line for a lot of money, but the building owner (commercial place) called us for a second opinion. It took him a second to hire us and we completed the repair in less time it took that-other-company to write their estimate.

Toilets

Ball Plumbing does toilets, too.

This 20 y.o. toilet was in a master bathroom of a nicer Bellingham home. Notice the leak in the back.

This is its replacement. It's a Comfort Height (a few inches higher bowl) model with a slow closing lid:

Sewer repair in Mt. Vernon, Wa

This was a messy one.

This configuration tied two neighbor's sewers together. The neighbor had replaced his sewer 20 years ago, but the tie-in was still on my customer's line, as was the main sewer.

We had to dig it up, put in a clean out to access the 80' that runs under slab and a clean out to do the sewer to the street. Confusing, yes. And dirty.

After we did the repairs, we still had to clean the sewer.

Before:

Apprentice:

After:

Water pressure regulators or PRV

Many homes have pressure regulators, sometimes known as PRV (pressure regulator valves), because the incoming water pressure is over 80 psi. Federal regs mandate that any pressure over 80 has to be regulated to save water. Beyond being law, anyone who pays by the drip will testify that the lower the pressure, the less water is used.

Where these PRVs are located is a challenge on the scale of NPR's Sunday Puzzle. See that brown splotch in the center of the picture? That's the PRV under a house in Mt. Vernon, Wa.

My camera had a great flash on it and I had a drop light. It was totally dark down there.