COMMON GROUND COFFEE HOUSE #71

Glad to be here! Believe me, it's been a very trying two days! Yesterday our tubs, toilets and bathroom sinks backed up and wouldn't go down. I called the developer of the area several times, and finally reached him on the last time. He came out and sort of implied we had done something to the drains/septic system which couldn't be farther from the truth. He took us up to his house just 1/2 block away (model house) and wanted us to bath up there, and stay overnight there if necessary (no curtains, phone, etc...ya, right...give me a break) but told us that the water had a sulfer smell and that it would go away after just a few minutes. It didn't. Vivian ran a bathtub full of water after letting the water run for several minutes, and it continued to go from nearly clear to almost grey-black. The sulfur smell was so bad we both were choking. So, we let the water out and came back down here to our house. This morning when I got up the toilets were back down to normal, as were the tubs and sinks. I took my shower and the things started backing up a little. Viv took hers, and now, here we sit again with everything still backed up. We've both been sick all weekend, and he's not taking care of the problem. He says he will tomorrow, but I doubt it. If not, we're calling a plumber tomorrow and sending the developer a bill after we pay it along with a notice from our attorney's that any further wait period on these plumbing problems (we've had plumbing problems ever since we moved in) will be ground for legal action. Please pray for us to be able to have this resolved with no legal action.

Other than these things, the day here is rainy and cool. Tomorrow is to be more of the same. I miss the sun!

 

Tony-our lines backed up to. On a Friday, they told us in order to fix the lines we would need to remove our deck, remove our deck. It hasn't been a pleasant experience. Hope your's comes out smelling like a rose, like a rose.

 

Gracious Tony! That's awful! Certainly the deveoloper can call in the plumber he hired! We had a tiny roof leak where a porch roof met a peak and it was fixed within hours of my phone call. Be Tough! Call the City or County Building Inspector first thing in the a.m.!!! There's a one year warranty on any new home. You ARE covered! I'd also see if there's a Tenn. Dept. of Consumer protection. The Dept. of Ag. might help too. With YOUR health, you can't take a chance with that black stuff. The EPA is probably an arm of the Dept. of Agriculture. Be sure to do this all right away. You may end up in a hotel while it's repaired. Keep a diary in MS Word so if you need to send documents you can easily email it all.

Ug!
Diane

 

Dr. Bob, welcome back.

 

Welcome back to the good doctor!

Tony - I trust that you're sewer problems will soon be taken care of! I've had to call the plumber three times since we lived here (since 1980) to get the sewer unplugged. To give fodder for you cat haters - the plug was probably caused by cat litter settling in on a low spot in the sewer line.

Sue - I clicked feature button - did you forget to?

Dan - staying close to home today - 24 hour urine specimen in progress!

 

Good morning all!

Welcome back Dr Bob!

Sue, I'm glad your feeling better! Freecycle huh? sounds like you got a great deal. All of Sons closet organizor's need tossing and replaced.

Tony, do you have well water and a septic tank? Been there, and it can work perfectly or it can be a pain in the neck! The way your lines are filling up and then going back down, indicates a blockage in your lines somewhere downstream of your house(if all your drains are equally backed up). At our old house it meant that roots had grown into our decade old pipes, or that it was septic tank cleaning time again. If you've had a lot of rain, your ST may not be able to flow correctly.

Gray/black water usually means coal somewhere in the well. You can get filters for that sort of thing.

Dan, cat litter? Who flushed their cat litter?

 

Good Morning All:

Thanks for the well wishes for my sewer system, everyone. We got up at 2am, and the toilets were very near full of water in the bowl..I mean all the way to the rim. The tubs are even more full than they were yesterday. I'm going to bail the water out of them today. Vivian and I decided last evening to go to Wal-Mart and buy a port-a-potty (no..not a 5 gallon bucket with a garbage bag and a lid...LOL) so that we could have restroom facilities.

Diane, Mr. Garrett said he has gone by the general contractor house several times, called several times, and he won't answer the phone or door, and when his WIFE does answer the door, she always claims he's not there or in bed, or sick. I've got a Sony Mini-Cam, and I'm documenting all of the things that are wrong with the home that need to be taken care of, (our attorney's told us to do that), and we've also taken pictures. I was also told, since it's legal in the State of Tennessee, to tape ANY calls I have with the developer. He's a nice guy, but he's playing the backwood, dumb as a rock hillbilly type, and that just doesn't cut it with me. We've been patient, but my patience, and Vivian's also, have worn thin. I know God has allowed it for a reason. I will definitely be contacting the state licensing board on both the general contractor and the plumbing contractor and the Tenn Div of Consumer Affairs for the developer. I also found out that the States Atty Gen'ls office would be interested. We believe, especially after talking to two of the neighbors who've moved in in the last few months, that Mr. Garrett is trying to be slow on things so the warranty will run out.

Anyhow, please, pray for us.

Dan, I'm praying for you, Bro!
Sue, I'm praying for you, too!

Dr. Bob, all I can say is that I'm trying to keep my temper down and keep a good testimony. I have, however informed the developer and the gen'l contractor that I have attorney's and am not afraid to use them if that's what it takes.

It's stormy here..Severe thunderstorms this morning when I got up, and then sun for a few hours. Now, I can see more storms moving in and circulation in the clouds above the fields.

 

MK...not all of the drains are backing up, just the toilets and tubs. The kitchen sink is doing fine. The two bathroom sinks were backing up at one time, but they aren't any longer.

We are on city/county water. The sulfur water was actually in the developers model house three houses up facing the other road from ours. It was SOOOOOO bad that Vivian and I nearly vomited, and that wouldn't have been hard for either of us considering we have the flu. So, you know how fun having the flu is with no toilet and a portapotty instead? LOL (I'm trying to have a sense of humor!) We told him yesterday we appreciated his attempt at allowing us to bath, but that his water had actually gone from clear to grey-black. He's not even been up there to that house to check. He told me last night when I called him, "Well, it's been a rainin' and I've just been layin' around the house today. Besides we couldn't do anything today in the rain! I'll get over to Tony Garrettson's first thing in the morning and see if he can't get the plumbing contractor out there tomorrow."

Can't work in the rain? Can't work in the rain? I watched contractors and plumbers and even electricians work in the rain in Georgia in construction for years. So, I've given him until tonight. If it's not done by then, then I'm going to have a plumber come out and pay for it myself and turn it over to the attorneys and the appropriate gov't offices for collection and settlement.

 

Oh, by the way,

WELCOME BACK, DR. BOB!

I hope you had a great time!

 

Morning everyone. I slept til almost 9:00 again. I really think that's why my cold has been pretty well controlled. My head's clogged in the morning but a cup of tea and some sudaphed clears it right up for the whole day. Hope everyone else is doing MUCH better!

Welcome back Dr. Bob. I hope you enjoyed your trip! I think I must have been with you in spirit because I've gained 4 pounds in a week! EEK!!!

 

Tony there is one way to find out for sure whether it is your pipes or your spetic. Put on your waders and go outside. All new construction is supposed to have what is called a cleanout trap. Looks like what it is, a large PVC pipe sticking out of the ground with a lid on it. Open it up, if water(and other things) comes gushing out, you have a spetic problem. If it only has a little water flowing through it you have a pipe problem.

You haven't been flushing any cats(or cat litter) have you?

MOrning Diane! Glad to hear your feeling better too!

Sue, I'll check out free cycle in a bit. Can you join more than on group?

My day is coming at me sooner than I wanted this morning. The bug man just called and said that he'd be out to spray in a couple of hours. I was expecting a customer, so part of the house is clean, but not clean enough to be sprayed! Poor bug man, he has just about seen it all at my house and still claims he has seen worse!

Maybe I'll see ya'll again at lunchtime.

 

One thing I've noticed about Freecycle HERE is that they tend to give their items to 'friends' they've made through the club. I've never been chosen to receive anything I've spoken for even if I were the first to respond or responded the minute the email arrived. I've given away a bunch of nice things, too.

Cindi, I never felt bad. Just a clogged up head. I once went 7 years without even the sniffles!

 

Hello all, hope everyone is having a good day. I am enjoying my day off by having a repair guy work on our refrigerator.

 

Greetings, all!
I was home from work on Friday, because I was just so stressed out I couldn't bear the thoughts of going in, so I didn't get to ask if today was a holiday or not. I can never seem to remember because it has only been recently they gave this one to us. Anyway, I ended up calling a coworker at home early to find out. He and his wife were gracious about it, but I had awaken them to find out is WAS a holiday for us. I feel so bad about it.
So I went back to bed and got up at 12:15!! Have you ever slept SO HARD that when you woke up you asked yourself "Where am I? What is my name? And oh, goodness, what time is it?" Well, that's what I did. Now I have lots of energy (praise the Lord!) and I have to figure out what to do with it, now that half the day is gone!

Hsve a good one!