Dunbar Plumbing Forums - Northern Kentucky's 1st DIY Plumbing Forum

91   OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS / Off Topic - Discussions / Re: Famous Mottos  on: February 03, 2011, 01:12:05 PM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

"You bring to life what you're remembered by when you leave it."

92   PLUMBING ANSWERS - SPECIFIC TO FIXTURE / Drain Piping: Copper | PVC | SDR | Cast-Iron | Galvanized | ABS | Vitrified Clay | Concrete | Orangeberg | Lead | Brass / Re: Clogged Main Line on Skyway Drive Independence Kentucky - Drain Cleaning  on: February 03, 2011, 12:29:24 AM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

Once we started to operate the drain cable leading towards the house, we instantly heard the cable whipping through wastewater, indicating a low spot in the line immediately leading up to the tee dropping waste vertically. As we continued, the sound of wastwater sloshing soon disappeared, and we continued over 30 feet. We reached a spot where the machine started to strain under tension of the cable moving back toward the machine. Whatever we entered into, there was a consistent path, or number of feet that the pipe was comprised of waste that had built up for a period of time. Most likely since the last time we cleared the line years ago. Given that we worked tirelessly up to the point of exhaustion, trying to clear this line which happened late at night, the drain finally opened the piping system. When the drain cable finally broke loose the obstruction, the "sound" created when hydropressure breaks through and pushes waste, it's a remarkable sound along with a sound of relief. Relief that the drain is finally open and the job is complete. Over 100 gallons of wastewater aided in the removal of the clog, and the condition of the wastewater was blackened. In the drain cleaning business, "blackened" wastewater is a true sign of aged waste matter, meaning that the bacterial digestive process has already begun in the drain line itself. This also give indication that the drain line has a bad spot that takes considerable time for the clogging to reoccur. If we were to guess as a plumbing company what is the reason for this failure point, our first suggestion would be improper installation of the piping arrangement in the ground. That points to improper subgrade or "grillage" that is supposed to support the piping instantly when placed during the repair or replacement. It is crucial that when any piping underground is to be placed, it must have some type of compaction to provide stability of the pipe to prevent incorrect grade of the piping which leads downward to the main sewer line. If this is not performed, what happens is the piping arrangement can buckle at a connection, causing a trouble point where the piping will collect whatever runs through it, or an elongated belly in the pipe where waste and wastewater slows down dramatically, is forced to build up to a point where the wastewater has to crest the top of the pipe to reach its destination. One heavy toilet paper user, one foreign object or debri will alter this already unstable piping condition and trigger a backup. When the pipe clog broke free, we instructed the property owner to flush toilets roughly 20 times to fully clear the line, use hydropressure to the advantage of the now clean piping system and remove any remaining debri. Customer implied that in the spring that they would contact someone about correcting this issue so the problem does not repeat itself. Dunbar Plumbing was glad to assist this repeat customer in their current plumbing problem and hope some permanent resolution comes in the near future to end the worries of this chronic sewer backing up.

93   PLUMBING ANSWERS - SPECIFIC TO FIXTURE / Drain Piping: Copper | PVC | SDR | Cast-Iron | Galvanized | ABS | Vitrified Clay | Concrete | Orangeberg | Lead | Brass / Clogged Main Line on Skyway Drive Independence Kentucky - Drain Cleaning  on: February 03, 2011, 12:11:41 AM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

Customer contacted us on the 1st of february stating that their floor drain and outside area drain was backed up and water was not flowing. This happened on Skyway drive in Independence Kentucky. Skyway drive is located near the Cherokee Shopping center where LaRosas, Cherokee Drug Shoppe, Great Clips, Snappy Tomato, Neltner Billing and the Goodwill Store. When we arrived, the situation had the beginnings of a bad scenario playing out with raw sewage coming up through the floor drain. This was for a repeat customer, and there is a history to this drain line backing up in the past. Years ago the city sewer system came through this old subdivision and required the property owners to hook up to the new main sewer line that crossed their yard. This situation involved connecting to the main line, then connecting before the existing line entered the septic tank. And this situation is what caused the current problems plaguing this property. This scenario of piping arrangement has now caused a piping system that involves not one but two piping arrangements in the exterior yard and one of the lines is either sunken below the original proposed grade or there is a large belly in the pipe. It had been two to three years since we last dealt with the main line clogging up, but this one was considerably different. We tried to clear the obstruction from two vantage points, two of which worked last time in clearing of the main drain serving this home. 2 passes were made from the main cleanout that sits right at the garage door of the structure and the area drain that is right beyond the garage door, not 5 feet from the main cleanout. There is considerable pipe damage/deterioration involved in the main cleanout tee near the garage door as twice we came back with dirt, subgrade dirt meaning we left the piping system and was travelling outside of it. When we attempted to clear the drain from the area drain beyond the garage door... no result as well. We then asked the property owner if there was any other cleanouts we could access the drain from. To our surprise, there was one right at the tap of the main sewer. This would reveal if the clog was beyond the scope of piping arrangement serving the structure or not. When we removed the cap, there was no indication of backup at this access point, which led us to attempt to clean this sewer line heading back towards to the home. With the use of extension cords, flashlight, a section of 1.5" PVC pipe and some fittings we were able to provide an access point into the drain system with our drain cables. The tap to this main sewer was vertical piping and a tee was the intersecting path of the drain system serving the property. Given that the drain line was dry, we knew that the clog was definitely between the house and the tap to the sewer main. Continued...

94   OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS / Off Topic - Discussions / Re: Famous Mottos  on: January 30, 2011, 01:23:29 AM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

"The best competition in life are those who underestimate you consistently, proving them wrong time after time again."

95   OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS / Northern Kentucky - Greater Cincinnati News and Events / Re: Misting Fans  on: January 30, 2011, 01:18:23 AM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

http://www.koldbreeze.com/forums/showthread.php?t=326

96   OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS / Northern Kentucky - Greater Cincinnati News and Events / Misting Fans  on: January 30, 2011, 01:03:25 AM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

KoldBreeze.com provides Misting Fans in Northern Kentucky, Greater Cincinnati and Indiana for schools, outdoor events, parties, weddings, celebrations, organizations. Here are some videos of some events that KoldBreeze.com has done over the years. http://www.koldbreeze.com/forums/showthread.php?p=560&posted=1#post560

97   OFF TOPIC DISCUSSIONS / National - International - Global News Around the World / Pittsburgh Steelers VS Green Bay Packers in the 2011 SuperBowl  on: January 23, 2011, 11:48:14 PM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

This year's superbowl is going to be a battling duel between two of the most traditional football teams in the NFL. Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC playoffs and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New York Jets by controlling the ball to the very end of the game. Rex Raven was one pissed off coach for the New York Jets, slamming his head gear to the ground in a fit of rage once Ben Roethlisberger connected down field. Both of the playoff games this sunday were hard fought, and kept it very interesting for the fans of the 4 teams that played good football to anchor their place at the superbowl. The Steelers and the Packers come to meet in Texas on February 7th 2011 for Superbowl XLV - 45th Should be a great game!

98   PLUMBING - CODES, PRODUCTS, EQUIPMENT AND PRACTICES / Drain Cleaning Equipment / New Drain Cables on the Way!  on: January 23, 2011, 04:40:03 PM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

Last week we ordered new cables for our drain cleaning equipment so we can better provide service to our customers. This has been a long time coming. Older cables we've had for some time have become worn out, kinks and not to the best condition. For years we've managed to keep these costs down by proper care and handling of the cable. Pictures of the new cables soon to come.

99   PLUMBING ANSWERS - SPECIFIC TO FIXTURE / Water Piping: Copper | Plastic | PEX | Galvanized | Steel | Polybutylene | CPVC | PVC / Frozen water lines - busted water lines on Lyndale Drive Edgewood Kentucky  on: January 23, 2011, 04:32:50 PM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

Dunbar Plumbing was called out to a duplex rental property on lyndale drive in edgewood kentucky. This road is near Turkeyfoot middle school on Turkeyfoot road. This emergency call came in saturday the 22nd from an out of state property owner. The complaint was "busted water lines in the ceiling in the garage" and that the water to the 1st floor was turned off. When we arrived today, the attendent representing the property owner's best interest was shocked by the revelation that a garage door had been opened for months, allowing not only cold air but a large amount of leaves inside on the floor. This allowed the water lines to freeze inside the building, causing the damage to the water lines that were subjected to freezing. The main shutoff was located on the front wall underneath a set of steps and when we turned the water back on to make sure there was only one location where the water was leaking, numerous locations in the ceiling started to leak water, cascading down to the floor. We advised the customer on the phone along with the attendant that was present to allow us to reschedule for tomorrow, asking them to open up the ceilings and expose all the broken water lines and get the room heated so all the piping has the ability to unthaw. We are expected to return when this work is accomplished and possibly reinsulate the piping in the ceiling, once the pipe leaks are repaired. Pictures and Video are going to be taken on this job for insurance reasons and we'll be sure to share this here on this thread and on youtube.

100   PLUMBING DISCUSSIONS - PLUMBING TROUBLESHOOTING / Sewage Disposal: Private System | Public System / Kitchen Sink Clog on University Drive - Crestview Hills Kentucky  on: January 23, 2011, 04:11:34 PM

Started by DUNBAR PLUMBING - Last post by DUNBAR PLUMBING

Dunbar Plumbing was called out to a clogged kitchen sink drain for a repeat customer on University Drive in Crestview Hills Kentucky. University drive is located near Thomas Moore College, also St. Elizabeth South Hospital. Customer attempted to clear the drain obstruction by removing the trap and accessing the trap arm without success. When we arrived, we scoped out the layout of the piping arrangement and determined the clog was in the trap arm, as the cleanout revealed the drain where it entered the floor and also connected to the laundry tub was running fine without issue. Knowing the drain was open, we decided to open the drain underneath the kitchen sink and attempt to clear the drain from that vantage point. When we first attempted to clear the drain, at the tee that serves both the vent and the drain had a very hard obstruction that we believe was caused by iced debri, since the drain is sitting in an exterior wall. This is a common issue with drains that slowly build up debri over time, and when a cold weather snap comes into the equation it is a matter of time and wastewater slowly accumulating in the drain that can stop completely. Once we broke through the obstruction, we mentioned instantly that we need to limit the amount of water we run down this drain in case the clog moved downstream. Sure enough, it did. We cleaned up the general area where we were working at in the kitchen area and went downstairs to the laundry tub. The laundry tub was full of wastewater, it had moved the iced chunks of waste down to the wye connection where the two fixtures connected together as one before entering the concrete slab. Good call on our part. We brought the drain cleaning machine back into the basement, put down a rubber mat on top of the washing machine and cleared the obstruction with 2 passes through the drain cleanout. This "moving" of the clog is possible at times and we make sure that scenario out, as it happens from time to time. Having the drains cleaned in two locations at the same time was the best move economically for the customer, with the goal of two open and running drains as the accomplishment for the day.