More AP woes? Or just a coincidence??

[MarmadukeScarlet]

Our recently departed Ap who lasted less than five days could not get the hang of pulling the glass screen over the bath edge when she had a shower, despite being shown twice. Consequently she flooded the floor 4 times and used 2 whole (fat luxury) loo rolls, between Tueday am and Saturday am, mopping up the floor and flushing it down the loo to 'hide' it.

At the time I remarked to DH that we were lucky, given our ancient plumbing and pipework, to have not suffered a blockage with so much tissue going down in one go.

Spoke too soon.

One week after her departure I noticed the loo wasn't draining as fast, called a plumber (Bank Hol w/end) and he was due tomorrow as I (mistakenly) said, 'no emergency'.

Was water on bathroom floor by the loo pedastal this am, mopped it up thinking 'messy kids' but DD then went to the loo and flushed it.

I went downstairs to laudry and was struck by strong smell of poo as entered the room, switched on the light and there were cascades of water with feacal matter dripping from oak beam and down walls.

Ran back upstairs and floor was flooded with brown water, which had obviously come out from beneath pan/pedestal.

Emergency plummer arrived, yep joint under loo given way due to blockage in the down pipe and yes it could have taken over a week for it to show up.

The last AP buggered my immersion thermostat (by leaving it on for a few days and burning it out) and cold water tank had to be replaced (as the hot water expanded back up there and melted a hole) and cost best part of £1k.

And I've got to take DD and pals to Brownie camp later, which I will not be able to do if plumber not arrived - AAARRGHH

Oh no! I'm so sorry for you!
Was following your other thread, and I cannot believe this has happened to you!

It's incredible how some people don't think their actions could bring consequences in the future, very silly of your ap to be doing all that, very stupid.

Good luck now!

Thanks Paow.

The emergency plumber has turned the water off so no more flooding can occur - although I now can't have a drink or pee!

I've got to wait for his mate to come out and put it right, the first guy just popped in on the way to another job.

And to think before I was just irritated at the waste of 2 loo rolls!

Oh no MDS - am so so for you. You have the patience of the saint to be able to consider having another AP - after your experiences I wouldn't have.

Just a thought, can you claim on your home insurance? Check out your policy and see.

We used to have APs that used kitchen roll as loo roll and liked blocking up the sinks with their hair (despite having a cover for this that they used to chuck away). But, luckily they never managed to flood us out like this - how awful for you and to be left without water is just ridiculous for you and your LOs. Keeping everything crossed it gets fixed soon.

Ooohhh, my whole house smells of poo and I have brown patches on my ceilings and every towel in the house is soaked with pooey water.

The plumber that came was an arse and didn't fix it or put it back together properly, oh it was horrific.

So I still have no upstairs loos and I have made a complaint to my insurance about the man they sent and they are sending another company out sometime this evening.

As it has now flooded down through the ceiling 3 times it is a house insurance job to replace the bathroom floor and lino, possibly remove/disinfect all the plaster which has been dripping shitty water all day. Feck knows what they will do with the 150 yr old oak beams which have been exuding brown water from old woodworm holes all day!

And in the nidst of this I took DD and pal to Brownie camp 1 hour drive away.

DH came home early whilst my neighbour and I were on our knees inches deep in shitty water and calmly, and somewhat insensitively, announced that he was off on the razzle with a pal. Pal duely arrived and off her buggered, I think my neighbour wonders why he was helping me when my DH can't be arsed.

at the whole world right now!

Oh dear, sorry to hear about the bad time you are having right now.

Think positively... at least DD has gone to Brownie camp, so you haven't got her running around the house.

Thank you nannynick, the voice of reason as always!

I'm off for a large glass of the red stuff and I've ordered a chinese delivery, I could not cook with these hands now - I may actually have to bleach them!

Big Sympathy in your direction - do you want to borrow my drain rods?

Yes please!

Am considering getting my own set and training to be a plummer, as they are always here! So, do you use yours often?

Bardy old house, blardy dodgy drains, feck not being on main drainage...

plumber (is a plummer a posh plumber, with a plum in his mouth perchance?)

Used to live in an old house with victorian drains (very shallow fall 'pparently) and it all went wrong after we potty trained DS.

A set of drain rods will set you back about £25 quid. You'll need a strong stomach and a hose pipe.

So, here goes. Lift the drain cover. If no sign of blockage you'll need to work back to the house; if there is blockage you'll need to push towards the street. If you're pulling away from the house use the end with the double helix until you start to free paper etc. This where the hose pipe comes in handy - if you are not able to get anything to shift tie the end of th hosepipe (I find the plastic attachment thingy useful at this point) and turn on the water as you rod. If you are pushing use the flat end like a plunger. If you meet a sharp turn (you'll hear the metal banging against the pipework) The you'll have to see if you an get access through to the blockage a different way.

If you can get some plumbers strength drain clear stuff (Concentrated sulphuric acid really) that really helps too, especially if it's in an section you can't rod. You can get it from from a builders or plumbers merchant (Rigeons)- I go in with something written on a piece of paper and pretend DH has sent me in if I can't find it.

PS Old beams should be like concrete - just don't let them sit in water for weeks or months.

The pipe that is blocked is the internal soil pipe, which runs down through a wall/boxed in bit inside the house - this is blocked so flushing the upstairs loos creates pressure and pops of the joint under the pan.

So need to remove loo, flexi pipe thingy which looks like a tumble dryer hose and connects the loo to the soil pipe. Then the soil pipe needs to be rodded, chemically unblocked or whatever.

Thank you for the description of drain unblocking - you sound like a pro with the rods, next time my drains are blocked I may well CAT you! The outside ones are a nightmare, someone planted a willow tree right over the run of the drain to the Klargester.

It was more the cleaning of the rather absorbent old beam than the rotting of said. I'll get some bugs away or dettox or something tomorrow and give everything a good soaking.

Aha, I understand! You could dismantle the toilet bit and then use the plunger bit from a set of drain rods to try and get things moving. Some drain unblocking companies use an air pressure system to force the blockage down. If you've a head for heights and a tall ladder you can go in from the top of the soil stack. If you can reach into it that's defo where the acid should go in.

Re: beam - I'm surprised it's absorbent at that age but I suppose it depends on the wood.

Caustic Soda and Vinegar are a less violent and more generally available alternative. Would take longer to work I expect, but gravity, at least, is on your side.

PS can you tell I'm a martyr to me drain rods? Watch out for 'backwash' squirting out round the sides of the plunger. Wear rubber gloves and clothes that can go in a boil wash. If it's really bad, boiler suit goggles and face mask. Learn from my mistakes .

night night

Im a novice drain rodder me . Im a nanny and at work it happens and someones got to do it . Bloody baby wipes blocked ours up when potty training . Does smell loads and defo wear gloves yuck . LOL

oh you have all so cheered me up after a crap day in the office !! Sorry for chuckling MDS but I live in blardy old house with dodgy everything and nothing ever fecking works even if it has just been replaced !!! We too have blocked up toilets and our own rods!!

And everyone who visits says .'oh isnt it lovely '!!!

Au Pairs are a fecking nightmare and a costly business!

We had one once who reversed at great speed down our drive into my FIL's car...........She didnt see it apparenetly.........cost us £3k to buy FIL a new one and £500 to mend ours plus all the time to find a new one for FIL etc etc.

Hopeless!

mp xx

On the bright side, you can probably be quite certain that you don't have any woodworm in your beams.

Thanks blue, your glass is really half full isn't it?

MP I'm glad it made you smile, I, however, still have no toilets!

I may possibly never smile again

MrsR I rather rudely didn't reply to your previous message. Home insurance won't send a decontamination team/ assessor out until after fault cleared. I wish I didn't have to have an AP but I cannot deal with DS alone 24/7, his needs are quite erm, full on I think is the most polite way of putting it.

This has turned into a farce now. Pipe insurance co booked someone to come to me between 11-1, at 1.30 I called the designated plumber to ask where he was and was informed that he had told insurance co at 10am that he didn't covere my area and they were supposed to appoint someone else.

They say the only person they have contracted to cover my area is the t*er from yesterday, it's him or nothing.

I booked my own person, after much faffing around with insurance co, and they were due to come out this afternoon - I'm still waiting.

I have blown my stack at the pipe insurance people as they have many times said, "we'll call you at 10am/2.30/5pm etc and just not done it.

I've just chased up the plumber I've booked and they say "he'll have to get there soon but delayed on a job, as he needs daylight" Me, "Daylight, it's in my bathroom?" "Oh no Mrs S they will put a jetting machine up from the manhole out side and jet it up."

They are now here and not managing to unblock it.

Oh blardy hell MDS.......its the hidden cost of an au pair thet they dont see.......au pairs that is.

Can you not get respite care/help for DS ?

I can offer you some respite weekend here at my house...no loo roll included .

Seriously if you are passing ( just where the M5 joins the M 50 ) pop in.......not much better here........my nanny left me a note tonight that she has told my children ( 9 and 7 on half term ) if they continue to argue she will leave as it wears her out. FFS she is paid a blardy fortune and for most of the year she doesn't see them as they are at school...she has had them for 4 days for half term.........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh diddums!

I did 14 hours in the office today working to pay her wages!

Somebody should remind her..no time for being a flakey madam we are entering a recession..........

Hi MP, very long day for you.

God, if I have to see one more plumbers bumcrack I will scream

Thank you for the invite

What will your delicate nanny do during the summer hols? Perhaps you could suggest she tried to find them a more engaging pastime to distract them from their bickering .

Sadly respite care would not be suitable for DS as he is only 3.5 with comprehension of 2.5 yr old. He won't even go to DH when he is distressed. I was on a waiting list for a care agency (which you have to pay for but it is run by a charity) to come in and do home respite, but after 1 year I got fed up and got an AP.

Also I don't have a SW, I am deemed too articulate to need anyone to speak up for me (what they mean is middle class).

The problem is not knowing what one is entitled to, you cannot ask for help if you do not know what is available.

I get by OK, but thank you.

I was thinking today as I made my 20th call to get my plumbing sorted, what do working folk do when they have issues like this? I thought I had made adequate provision (pipe insurance) and it should be a simple case of calling it in and getting a man out, but have spent much of the last 2 days dealing with it - and paying someone to care for DS as he cannot be left!

Marmaduke,
Are things any better now?

oh god, what a nightmare. I am tempted to say, It never rains but it pours!
Really hope you have got the drains unblocked again now.

Oh No MDS!
Sorry I missed this earlier this week, I've been working away. Back now though. Anything I can do to help?
Anything at all?

blue, NbyN and ingles hello Happy again now as I can take a pee in my own home and brush my teeth in my bathroom instead of the kitchen (as from FRIDAY after 6pm!!!!)

Luckily my neighbour opposite (and a bit round the corner) was on hols and I have a key, so we all used her downstairs loo - bit of a palaver getting DS to come with me everytime I needed a pee - especailly due to high boredom/stree levels I was drinking too much coffee!

ingles I thought you'd been quiet, somewhere exciting?

Got the decontamination team coming tomorrow, to put in dryer units and rip up all the flooring etc.

The upside is we have decided to put in a new bathroom! Although it is only 4 years old (and well down the list of priorities), it was dolphin (by previous owners) and the soil pipe is so badly done it has caused many a problem. The bath has got to come out for the removal of the flooring anyway so we are going the whole hog (and putting in pipework for an extra en-suite in the next room).

I'm having lots of fun picking things out!

Every cloud and all that...

MDS
Morocco...wasn't great just hard work!
It's sounds like a major nightmare at your house.. Are the beams really sodden?
Hooray for new bathrooms though..definitely a silver lining What are you having?