That’s how Mr. Sandwich refers to Friday’s multiple-appliance backup and overflow. And because of how nasty it was, and how well he handled it, from now on this blog will refer to J as Mr. Sandwich. He deserves that respect.
I missed most of it, because I get up and go to work earlier than he does. So Friday morning I was at work when I got a call from Mr. Sandwich. Over the course of the day, and several phone calls back and forth, it became clear that drastic action was needed. He wasn’t able to snake the drains, and neither was the drain specialist, because all of the access points were closed so tight that they had frozen in place.
While waiting for the regular plumber, Mr. Sandwich continued to wrench on one of the access points–until the u-joint broke, sending foul water flooding through the outside laundry room. On the other hand, it stopped backing up through our tub.
The plumbers crawled under the building, cutting and replacing pipe, which was the only way to get rid of the clog. Then the steam cleaner guy came in and cleaned the carpet and bathroom floor. I came home at the end of the day and did a much more thorough job on the bathroom floor and tub, because I was pretty sure that it needed the three-part process of all-purpose cleaner, bleach, and rinsing (BTW, I was right). Then it was on to the kitchen floor, because everyone came in and out through there.
We’re all clean now.
During the afternoon, I got a call from our realtor, saying that they had heard from the seller’s agent. Apparently the bank had decided to approve the short sale, and determined that they would accept an offer of $7000 more than our most recent offer. Our agent said, “If my clients do this, will they get the house?” The answer was yes, but all three of us have a we’ll-believe-it-when-we-see-it mentality at this point. So in between cleaning stages, we faxed over a letter stating our intent to offer more.
Lots of ups and downs. But at least the bathroom is no longer a hazardous waste site, and we have some new pipes.