Sewer troubles

Duffy's Do-it-all Plumbing to the rescue

“Duffy’s Do-it-all plumbing, Jim speaking, how may I help you?” Jim Duffy answered the phone at his office. The voice on the other end was soft and worried sounding. “This is Marion Whitmore calling. I’m afraid I have a big problem at my house. My toilets won’t drain, and the shower is filling up with smelly water. Can you come over and look at this, please.” Jim was quick to answer, “Yes ma’am, I’ll be there in about 15 minutes.” Jim was certain what was causing the problem. The Whitmore house was a beautiful turn of the century two story Cape Cod style home and had not had any significant plumbing upgrades since the Whitmore’s bought it 50 years ago. There had been some water lines replaced over the years, but nothing was done with the drain lines. This was not the first mainline backup that the house had experienced. There had been several over the years with the interval of cleaning getting shorter each time. Jim had told Oscar Whitmore, Marions late husband that the sewer line needed to be replaced, but the ever-frugal old man simply kept putting it off. Jim arrived at the house. Mrs. Whitmore, a medium sized woman with gray hair and blue eyes on the verge of tears, met him on the front lawn. Jim said, “Good Morning Mrs., Whitmore, I’m sorry you’re having this problem. I told Oscar last year that this was going to happen. He told me he would get the sewer line replaced, but he didn’t like the price to get it done. He kept asking me, “Ain’t there a cheaper way to do this, you’re going to ruin me at that price”. “I gave him ideas to save money, but he really wanted it done for free and I couldn’t do that. “Mrs. Whitmore smiled at the memory of her ‘frugal” husband. He was known around town for being a little bit cheap. What lots of folks didn’t know was how generous he was to certain charities around town. “Well Jim”, She said as she squared her shoulders and faced the truth, “we are at the point of no return now, so what were some of your ‘cost ‘cutting’ suggestions to my late husband”. Jim smiled at her. This was the Mrs. Whitmore he remembered, a decisive and confident woman who helped her husband with everything as he grew older. “I suggested that he might make a charitable donation to the local church youth group if they would provide 10 or so young people to dig out the old sewer line”. “Why that is a great idea” she cried,” we can make it into a potluck and get the whole church involved. She went inside the house and began making phone calls. Jim went to the parts house and got pipes and fittings for the job. 3 hours later there were 15 kids in the yard with shovels and anticipation. Jim said to them, “Start digging next to the house until you find the pipe, it may be about 2’ down. Then just keep digging and follow the pipe to the back fence. When you find the pipe, dig around it to get to the bottom. When we pull the pipe out, it will be easier to install the new pipe back into the trench. One of the girls asked, “Will there be any sewer water where we dig?” Jim said. “If you find some, stop digging and let me know. I’ll take care of it from there”. The kids started digging and Jim looked on as they worked. Some of the boys started a competition to see who could uncover the most sewer line. Once they found the line, it only took a few hours for the kids to get the pipe uncovered. I was concrete pipe, and it had multiple breaks in it as traveled 50’ from the house to the back fence. Jim donned a pair of rubber boots and cut the sewer pipe with a chain cutter. Water poured out into the trench and the kids ran from the smell. He broke the concrete pipe up into sections and tossed it to the side of the trench. By then, the braver boys came back and carried the pipe sections to his truck and threw them in the box. Once the pipe was out of the trench, Jim installed the new PVC sewer line. That material was strong and light with glued connections. There would be no more problems with this sewer. He installed a clean out near the house to help with clearing the line if it ever had a backup. Jim put the dirt under the pipe and used a level to make sure the line had a grade to flow. He then told the kids to fill the trench in. When they finished, everyone sat down to eat. Half a dozen women from the church brought food for the workers. Fried chicken, potato salad, home canned pickles and ice cream. Mrs. Whitmore said a prayer for the meal, the kids and gave thanks for the work done. “Jim, she said,” What do I owe you for this”. He said “Marion, you only owe me for the materials, my labor was free to you today”. She had tears in her eyes when she said, “Thank you”. He replied, “you’re welcome, please call me if you have any problems”. He got into the truck, waved goodbye to the kids and drove home. It was a good day. Even his body thought so, it wasn’t complaining.