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Pipe capped by flipper …rant

JTC1 | Posted in Construction Techniques on July 16, 2009 12:45pm

DW and I bought our retirement home last fall.  We are not retired, so the house is rented for the next 8-10 years.

Lucked out and have a terrific tenant.

Tenant calls yesterday and tells me — “You know the little bit of water in the basement which we thought was seeping through the wall — there has been no rain for over a week, and we suddenly got water on the basement floor this morning.”

Me: Do you know where it is coming from?

Tenant: It is coming out of a hole in the floor in the basement.  I am in the office but we will investigate further this afternoon.

Me: Let me know what you find out.

Later…… Tenant: there is an old pipe in the floor and when we run the shower and flush the toilet at the same time in the second floor bathroom – water comes out of the pipe. Not much but a little.

Probed her with some more questions and she measured some things – I thought it was a CI pipe hub with a pipe removed / lead still in place.

I got a 3″ and a 4″ wing nut type CI pipe plug and went to the house.

I knew at some point in the past the basement had been improved, a flipper bought the house in 2002 and resold in 2003 to the people I bought it from.  During the flip the basement “improvements” had been removed.

As it turns out there was a powder room in the basement.

To remove the toilet and seal the pipe, the flipper had demoed the PR walls, removed the toilet and sink, but left the vinyl floor tiles in place except for a few at the edges of the room.

The flipper removed the toilet leaving the wax ring in place, peeled up a vinyl floor tile and stuck it into the wax ring residue on the toilet flange.  Then for a totally professional job, he broke the vinyl tile off around the CI toilet flange.

It has taken since 2003 with very intermittent wettings for the vinyl tile to deteriorate enough for the flange to start leaking.

I cleaned all the wax and gunk out, scraped the inside of the pipe, heated it with a torch to dry everything thoroughly, installed the plug.  We torture tested with every faucet and shower running and flushed all three toilets simultaneously.  Everything stayed dry.

We adjourned, victorious, to the deck to watch the sunset over the Susquehanna Flats and have a beer. 

So there you have it – save $4.50 and plug your basement toilet flange with demoed vinyl tile — lasts long enough to sell the house, in this case sell it twice!

The only thing more amazing is that the basement did not smell, but they are treating with a bleach solution anyhow. Chlorox can be your fren’.

End rant.

Jim

 

Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
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Replies

  1. User avater
    Dinosaur | Jul 16, 2009 04:30am | #1

    Just when ya thot you'd seen it all....

    (Glad you weren't ranting at my favourite porpoise, tho.)

    Dinosaur

    How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
    low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
    foolish men call Justice....

    1. JTC1 | Jul 17, 2009 01:42am | #8

       I keep thinkin' I've seen it all, but I keep getting new surprises.

      JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.

  2. Oddjobber | Jul 16, 2009 04:36am | #2

    Was it this idiot?

    http://www.woai.com/entertainment/story/TV-Home-Flipper-Armando-Montelongo-Could-Face/HYXjx9u3AEi7BpPjG-NUaw.cspx

    1. FastEddie | Jul 16, 2009 05:43am | #4

      Want to hear something funny ... many years ago, about 1995, I was living in San Antonio and doing many things to pay the bills.  Got a job as a cad draftsman for a pseudo architect who did houses.  He had a contract with one of the local big developers to do the plans for all their houses, and he did semi-custom stuff.  Made changes to stock floor plans that the salesman up-sold to the buyers, etc.  For the custom houses, he would take a southern-living type plan out of a magazine that the HO brought in, make one or two very minor changes, and produce the plans.  It was interesting work, lasted about 6 mos.

      One day he came to me with a sketch someone had brought in, wanting buildable plans.  The customer weas one of the Montelongo boys.  Decent plan, but it had the typical (at that time) eye wash stuff: direct vent fireplace in the bedroom, tv above; lots of windows in the breakfasrt room with a turret ceiling; 3 car garage.  It paid my bills that week."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

      "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

      1. Oddjobber | Jul 16, 2009 06:13am | #5

        I enjoyed the "everyone can be a flipper" phase on the DIY channels, especially those that were the exception to the "rule". But the Montelongo episodes would just p*** me off. The guy cut corners, beat down the little guy, etc., all the while crowing about what a great operator he was.

        1. FastEddie | Jul 16, 2009 03:09pm | #7

          I saw him on the flipper shows about 4 times.  Watched almopst all of the first one, then could not watch more than 5 min of the others.  he really showed an attitude.  His type of people is one of the things that I absolutely do not miss about moving from San Antonio.  There is a huge population of mexican citizens who have second homes in SA, and they come up for a week at Easter and various times during the year.  They really have a upper-crust attitude toward the locals and the retail merchnats.  I think they are used to being treated well by servants in Mexico and they think they should have the same services in SA."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

          "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

    2. deskguy | Jul 16, 2009 08:09am | #6

      only saw him a couple of times on tv, a deu**e of the highest order, but seriously, 2 yrs for $4,000 in damages????

    3. JTC1 | Jul 17, 2009 01:44am | #9

      Nah, not him -- as near as I can tell he specializes in screwing up houses in Texas.......

      Jim

      Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.

      Edited 7/16/2009 6:46 pm ET by JTC1

  3. FastEddie | Jul 16, 2009 05:36am | #3

    Just to be the devils advocate ... maybe it wasn't the flippers fault.  maybe he told his cheapo contractor to get rid of the powedr room and finish the basement, and the contractor took the easiest way he could.

    "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

    "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

    1. JTC1 | Jul 17, 2009 02:01am | #10

      >> maybe it wasn't the flippers fault. <<

      Of course it was!  I can see the scenario now -- flipper wants to demo the improved basement for whatever reason -- "I can do that myself, no need to pay anybody." And he did.

      >>.... the contractor took the easiest way he could.<<

      even the sleaziest have some reputation to uphold, but I guess that could be fast and cheap.........  You know - Good Fast Cheap - you only get to pick 2.

      Course his contractor might have been a crack head just looking for enough money to get high......maybe you are right.............

      JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.

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