Okay, so, about those lead drain pipes. Let me tell you, it was a real adventure.
It all started a few weeks ago. I noticed some water damage in my basement, right near where the main drain pipe is. At first, I thought, “No big deal, probably just a loose connection or something.” Boy, was I wrong.
I got down there, flashlight in hand, and started poking around. The pipe was old, really old. And it was made of lead. Now, I’m no expert, but I know lead and water pipes don’t really mix well these days. I touched the pipe, and guess what? A chunk of it just crumbled away. Great. Just great.
So, I did what any reasonable person would do – I panicked a little. Then, I started looking into how to fix this mess. Turns out, you can’t just solder lead pipes anymore. It’s not safe, not legal, not good. I found something about using a “lead loc connector,” which sounded promising, but I am not sure I can do that. I can do nothing but call a plumber.
The plumber came over, took one look at the pipe, and shook his head. He told me I had two options: reline the pipe or replace it. Relining, as I understood, is like putting a pipe inside a pipe. It’s less messy, but it doesn’t always work for old, beat-up pipes like mine.
The other option, replacing the whole thing, that’s a bigger job. It means digging, ripping out the old pipe, and putting in a new one. And it’s not cheap. We were talking thousands of dollars, not hundreds. As I’m not Rockefeller, I finally chose to reline the pipe.
They came a few days later, a whole crew of them. They had this special equipment that was used to shoot a new lining into the old pipe. It’s pretty cool how it works, but let me tell you, it was noisy. And it took the better part of a day.
After they were done, I had, for all intents and purposes, a brand new pipe inside my old lead one. No more leaks, no more crumbling.
So, that’s my story about dealing with lead drain pipes. It was a pain, it was expensive, but it’s fixed now. And if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, do yourself a favor: call a professional. Don’t try to fix it yourself. Just don’t.
- Lesson one: Lead pipes are bad news.
- Lesson two: Fixing them is a headache.
- Lesson three: Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and pay the pros.
Honestly, dealing with old houses is always an adventure. But hey, it’s my adventure, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Well, maybe for a house with new pipes, but you know what I mean.