White Bear Lake Plumbers

 

Plumbers in White Bear Lake

A couple of weeks ago, we got a call from a woman with a pool in her front yard.  It wasn't the kind of pool that she could lounge by in the summer.  It wasn't the kind that her kids could frolic and kick around in for fun.  It was an enormous, muddy, sloppy mess that just appeared in her yard overnight.
After an entire day of digging up her yard, to everyone's great horror, this is what we unearthed:

The first question our technician asked was: "What is holding that water line together?"  The second question was: "How attached are you to your current landscaping?" In all seriousness, we had the unfortunate task of informing the homeowner that the last two times a plumber dug up her yard, he repaired her pipe with hose clamps and electrical tape. Electrical tape! She bid farewell to her tulips and we replaced the entire length of water line - most of which looked like it had been pieced together like Frankenstein.    

How do you keep yourself from falling victim to the Kraken-like abomination that was hiding deep in the dirt of her lovely yard?  Here are a few tips that will keep you safe from such danger:

• Develop a relationship with a plumber you can trust.  You don't have to invite them over for movie night with the family.  You just have to know that when you ask them to bury something six feet underground, you won't be alarmed with the results.

• Have a licensed plumber perform a home inspection, including running a sewer line camera, when you buy a house.  It isn't always a plumber's work product that determines whether your yard needs to be excavated.  Good (not really), old-fashioned Orangeburg pipe was used as a low cost alternative for sewer lines until around 1970. You can get anywhere between 10 to 50 years out of Orangeburg, after which time you could be saying the lady above was lucky that it was just a pool of water in her yard.  

• Ask plenty of questions.  Don't be afraid to ask your plumber a "dumb" question.  Ask for more information.  For instance: "Tell me how you will repair that water line."  If the explanation involves tape of any kind, it is probably time to move on.  Also, if the same person has repaired the same problem three times, it might be time for a second opinion.

Your plumbing experience does not have to feel like an episode of Tales From the Crypt. The best rule of thumb for anytime someone buries something in your yard is just to make sure it won't be coming back up out of the ground anytime soon.

Paul Vadnais Plumbing
651-429-8908
651-231-0944

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