Living in old houses comes with advantages and disadvantages. I could list advantages all day (claw foot tubs, high floor boards, built in telephone shelves, doors with skeleton key holes, etc) but in turn, I could also list disadvantages all day (hot spots in the summer, cold spots in the winter, cracked windows, scary electrical outlets, scary basement furnaces, etc).My washing machine was replaced last week as the old one was doing some crazy things. However, with the replacement came a fountain of water every time the thing would drain. Water would spew out all over as the drain wasn't draining. It was fun for a few loads, but the charm quickly wore off.
A call to my landlord ended with me being quite upset. A clogged drain was apparently my fault and it would be up to me to call a plumber to come fix it. I'm pretty sure that I had only been washing clothes (mostly cotton) since moving here and unless the cat was taking a bath in the washing machine, I couldn't figure out why my drain was all of a sudden clogged. I am also not sure why the landlord didn't want to take a look at it since it started immediately after having a new machine installed. Many, many things confuse me about the landlords in Arkansas, I'll add this to my list.
I'll be darned if I have to pay a plumber to show me his backside while bending over to fix the drain, so I decided to add plumber to the list of things I dabble in for fun and I headed to the basement with a flashlight and untwisted wire hanger. After digging around in the drain for about 10 minutes, I had pulled out a good pile of rusted metal shards and bits of sandy clumps. No hair, no fuzz, no folded up notes that had been left in pockets (not even any money - darn).
Now, I'm hard pressed to say that my laundry created rusted, metal shards and clumps of sand in the washing machine drain. As you can see by the picture above, those drains are old and skanky - I think they did it to themselves. Shall I bill my landlord?
9 comments:
You should deduct your bill from your next month's rent ;)
I have considered that. I've done that before, but not at this house. I should call a plumber to find out their base fees :)
Plumbing problems. I get a headache recalling some of the fun I've had. I hope you get it sorted out. Yeah I'd call the landlord about this one, even if its just to report the issue.
I would totally bill the landlord, or see how it goes and if you have any future problems, call a plumber and get an estimate.
I'd also see what kind of agreement you made about repairs in your rental agreement... he should be responsible for this, but it may or may not be worth fighting over.
you could get yourself into a sticky situation, if you try to push this guy. Even though you're in the right, not all landlords play fair... unfortunately.
:(
Since you've already got a photo of the antiquated plumbing system, I'd check my lease & if it isn't mentioned, & perhaps bring it to the landlord's attention. Since you didn't spend any money to have it fixed (therefore didn't "suffer a loss") there's really nothing you can do to get him to pay for what you did (unless the law is different where you live)because you made yourself "whole". You could ask him to reimburse him only if you can come up with a bill for the cost of what [it took a professional to make yourself whole] you did-if you know what I mean.
Still, I think it's great that you could figure out how to do it yourself-start singing "I am woman hear me roar"!
I'm obviously exhausted as I read what I wrote & barely understood it myself lol. Hopefully, you know what I meant, & if you didn't, feel free to drop me a line ;-0
that should be your landlord's problem for sure. I would think even a clogged drain caused by normal use would be their problem and not yours. I am completely impressed though that you dug through the muck yourself.
Oh, I'm not really going to bill my landlord - I'm in Arkansas, we have NO rights as tenants in this state. I moved here from Texas where the owner/landlord was required to change light bulbs and filters because they were considered part of the structure - so this state is WAY different.
I did send him a nice email just explaining what I found in the drain. We'll let him live with that :)
There are a few books aimed at women for DIY repairs. Pick up one if you don't have it. And slowly start building a toolbox. Our hands are smaller so find tools that fit your hand. But I would pick up a snake so that you can declog drains. What you pulled out sounds like bad pipes that need to be replaced. Let your landlord know too.
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