Yesterday I asked my landlord to unlock my basement to investigate an offensive odor and we discovered that it was a mire of stinking human feces, toilet paper, etc. At least two inches deep in a 12x12 area.
Haven't snaked the line yet, but I have a question:
Usually tubs and toilets will have problems draining when the line is clogged. But I didn't notice anything unusual about the plumbing. Everything drains quick and smooth. Can this clue help narrow down the source of the blockage so we can get to the bottom of this quicker?
I literally heard a very subtle muffled splash-like sound after flushing many times but just chalked it up to weird plumbing. Never smelled anything until the weather changed and that's when I put two and two together.
>>967880
>asked my landlady to unlock my basement
never move into a house that has a condition of "dont go into this room anon" because people fucking store shit in there. its either illegal and they want to keep it not at their house or they're being cheap niggers who dont want to pay for storage. and they're risking literally forcing you to live over a pit of shit in your case or a major fire hazard by not letting you enter sections of your own house.
>>967881
Hahahah that was exactly the case in this situation. There was a ton of stuff down there. I actually previously asked about getting the key for the purpose of storing my own things and was told "it's small, there's no room to store things". Three hours of him hauling shit-covered belongings into my yard the cleanup work began. Fun bonus: one of the objects was a full 20lb bag of dog food to feed the "rat infestation from the neighbors sorry it's incurable".
100% accurate call, and a good warning to all.
>>967883
>feed the "rat infestation from the neighbors sorry it's incurable".
as a pest control technician I have to say this the absolute worst solution anyone could have come up with
>>967884
I wasn't being serious. The landlord actually lived here before I moved in, and he had dogs so I'm thinking it was accidental. Worst part is he just hoisted it up on a table and it's still there right at this very moment. Like he's going to keep it or something. He does legitimately believe the mice come over from the neighbors despite having a full bag of feed in the basement though.
Yes this is a very bad landlord.
>>967883
yeah i used to rent a NEET basement from a rich old couple in their house. after months of them bitching about getting rodent droppings all over their kitchen and blaming me for apparently having a messy kitchen, I finally got permission to look for the problem. found a large bag of birdseed behind their hot water heater and a huge nest a comfy rat had made. I never once got a single dropping in my place.
some of my friends have had similar situations but I convinved them to hassle the real estate and talk about how it's a fire issue. they always end up coughing up a key and you just promise not to go in there. we always do and snoop around. worst thing is that its always full of rotting childhood memoribilia like an old rotting piano or stacks of water damaged magazines. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU NEED TO KEEP THIS ALL LOCKED IN A SECRET DUNGEON ITS NOT USEFUL TO ANYONE EVER.
it's just stupid boomer horders who dont want to throw away shit but also dont want the embarrassment of filling their house with worthless junk.
>>967884
that's what landlords always say when they dont want to fix a pest problem. my neighbours at the moment claim their rat problem is caused by me only mowing the lawn once a month. he means that they wouldnt call pest control and just said the rats must be coming not from the house, stay out of our secret files which constitute 30yo gossip magazines.
>>967889
Everything about this post is distressingly accurate. Except that his boomer hoard is almost useful, like broken sinks and discarded bits of pipe and buckets filled with wires and general parts of things he doesn't own. Guarantee it will sit in my yard until it naturally degrades into sand and rust because he "might use it some day".
But the rent is the cheapest I'll ever find. I just want to shit in my own house until I'm able to find another rental so I want to snake the right spot / fix the right vent instead of just hoping.
And about the rats: when I moved in there was a thick carpet of turds all about. Never found a single turd since and can't believe my luck considering the food in the basement.
OP here: I'm gonna catch just a bit of sleep but I'll check back later in case anybody knows the answer as to why the toilet/tubs all drained smoothly despite there being an obvious backup in the system.
>>967890
ahh yes, the broken sink thing they always do. I know i ripped this out for a good reason, but what if my sink breaks and I need a new one? this rusted out ugly piece of shit will come in handy then!
check to see if they are covering it with insurance and send them a breach notice. I know it's a dick thing to do but a breach notice will mean that if they string you along forcing you to live above an open sewer for months, (my NEET basement flooded and I had to deal with half the space of the apartment because one half was moldy and flooded for 6 months while insurance dicked around but they gave me a discount that I couldnt pass up) you can move out whenever you feel like it and it tends to speed up the process because they know that nobody will agree to live in a toilet.
it might be an idea to consider hoping.
Damn OP that sounds fucking gnarly.
Like I can't believe how reltively nonchalant you are about this.
Sounds like a sewer stoppage. You're gonna need to find a 4 inch clean out and use a sewer snake. They weigh close to 200lbs and are tricky to use.
>>967889
at least here in NYC landlords are forced to have an exterminator on retainer and excessive pests is a valid reason to break a housing contract.
>>967918
that is actually a bad thing
>paying a vast army of pest controllers when they clearly can't do their job effectively
>this distorts market forces
I know about the roaches there.
>>967921
pesticides are expensive, licensing is expensive, maintaining your equipment to DEC standards is expensive, and it's not a vast army. it doesn't take a whole day to do one building. exterminators generally have many dozens or hundreds of buildings they cover.
the real problem is tenants not letting us in. they don't have to. so if there's one disgusting shithole apartment that remains locked off no matter how much you treat the other apartments the problem persists.
>>967883
>Fun bonus: one of the objects was a full 20lb bag of dog food to feed the "rat infestation from the neighbors sorry it's incurable".
JUST
>>967923
>no matter how much you treat the other apartments the problem persists.
There's this thing called "caulking" and another thing called "Great Stuff Expanding Foam Insulation" and still more things called "weatherstripping, hardware cloth, screen, and stainless steel pot scrubbers". You can use them to lock up an entire apartment so nothing ever gets in again unless you leave a door or window open. You have to close off everything from electrical outlets, fixtures, electrical lines, pipe cracks, cracks behind molding, etc.
It is pretty nice too. I spent about $200 10 years ago making my house pest proof. Now, if anything actually gets in, it is squarely my own fault for leaving the door open. It is a real pity landlords don't do the same.
OP is awake now. Landlord didn't show today so it's probably going to be my job to snake the line.
>>967904
There's something about dealing with a basement full of probably month-old feces soup that destroys any capacity for emotion. (Thankfully the landlord insisted on doing most of the cleanup. He's not all bad.)
>>968049
That technique does work. I've had to do similar to fight bedbugs before. The only problem is that making your space airtight makes the air get stale and, as I recently found out, can create negative air pressure under certain circumstances that can draw rancid sewer smell into your home when your basement turns into a swamp like mine.
>>968045
I started that webm with a 'heh' but was laughing my ass off by the end of that truly legendary 1-minute piss.
>>967904
Do all homes have a clean out? This place is 100 years old and I just haven't seen one. Then again it might be covered with one of the landlords spare sinks or lawnmowers currently chilling out in the yard.
>>967898
The house is surely uninsurable unfortunately so there's probably not a policy in place. There's no contract or anything - it's just purely under the table stuff. I can technically move any time but it's just a money thing. Also your post made me imagine a home furnished with nothing but boomer hoard broken fixtures and lol. "I put this rusty sink under this broken sink to catch the leak, don't worry the magazines will catch any overflow"
>>967880
Okay guys, the landlord came by and WE HAVE SOLVED THE MYSTERY. There wasn't a clog: a cap on the main line simply broke. Everything continued to drain smoothly because it just dumped straight into the basement. A quick and easy fix. Going to go take a huge shit to celebrate.
>>968170
How did you get rid of the shit pool?
>>968519
coupla bendy straws
>>967880
Im a landlord.
You DO NOT do any work. None, zero, zilch. You don't snake the plumbing and you don't pay someone to fix it.
If this isn't fixed in a reasonable amount of time you call the local housing commission and report it to the authorities. Virtually every jurisdiction in the U.S. requires the house have functional plumbing and sanitation capabilities within 24 hours of the problem being reported to the property owner. This is regardless of the fact of whether its a weekend or not, whether the property owner does the work themself or hires out to a professional.
>>968670
>Im a landlord.
how do you feel about squaters rights?
>>968670
It always amazes me how many people come on /DIY/ saying that they are renting a place and they need to fix something. The only benefit to renting is that you don't have to pay to fix shit that breaks naturally. If it's broke you call up the owner of the house, tell them what's wrong, if you broke it you pay for it, if it broke naturally, they pay for it, that's the end of it.
>>968769
>>968670
My peice of shit neighbors moved out and are renting the house to someone else now. When they moved they left the backyard full of so much dogshit you have to look for holes with grass in it just to walk through it.
I didnt think you could pass a house off to someone else with a yard full of shit.. whos responsibility is it to clean it up? the old neighbors or the new neighbors?
>>968730
Ive dealt with squaters before.
They left of their own accord when a bunch of nignogs bust in their door at 2am and steal all their shit.
>>968779
Its not your fucking property. You don't worry about it.
>>968769
shit like a broken tap is easier to fix yourself than hassling the landlord. people lose their shit over replacing a backup battery in a hardwired smoke alarm. because when the battery dies the hardwired ones beep constantly to let you know that it needs a new battery. then run around bitching about how the landlord didnt send an electrician to replace a battery over the weekend.JUST FUCKING REPLACE THE BATTERY.
that said, I've known some people who take their light bulbs from rental to rental.
>>968779
its nobodies responsibility. dog shit in a back yard. who cares?
>>968861
Some people HAVE to wait for the landlord to send someone around to fix it. I know if I did any DIY on my place (other than replacing a globe or tightening a screw) the people I rent from would lose their shit. They regularly send people around to change the batteries in the smoke alarms (even when they haven't run out) shit, I can't even do the back yard because they have people sent to mow/prune all that shit too
>>968861
>hassling the landlord
Bullshit. As the landlord above I would be infuriated if I found out that an unbonded, untrained and unlicensed halfwit did ANY work on MY fucking property.
The last thing I need is a moron replacing a faucet or lightswitch or power receptical that later leaks or someshit like having the polarity reversed making a fire or electrical hazard.
Sure you might THINK you installed the faucet right, but next year when it starts leaking under the cabinet and goes unnoticed for two or three years by a long term renter... you end up costing the owner more money in repairs than if I'd had my full time plumber on my payroll drive over and replace it in the first place.
If you rent you don't do jack shit to the property without the owners express written approval. Not only for their sake, but yours. If you are renting from me and i find out you replaced the shower head then Ill bill you for the time my plumber spends redoing your work. Whether you're a licensed plumber or some youtube or this-old-house retard.
*Update* Now that the cap is back on, everything is draining really slow. So there's a clog. We're using some kind of enzyme buildup cleaner but it looks like snaking is on the horizon. During the shower it sounded like the toilet was bubbling, probably in an effort to vent the line.
>>968519
Square buckets. Shovel. Squeegee.
>>968870
>>968670
The landlord is a friend of the family. He's going to make me help him regardless. He's just not great at fixing things so I thought I'd get input.
>>968870
most repairs are super easy. if something small breaks like a burst pipe under the house I'll just repair it and never mention it. same with any minor shit like light switches, power points ect. it's just not worth the hassle. in my last place I cooked pork crackling and the power point was installed above the vent of the oven. melted the power point. bogged it up and shifted the power point across out of the way. not a major deal. for private rentals, If I have a good relationship with the landlord i tell them what i'm doing and just ask them to pay for parts.
>>968878
>getting this buttmad over someone changing a shower head
if your plumbing is falling apart you're obviously a shitty slumlord.
electrician detected. do some industrial tier electrical work and learn why residential is childs play.
>>968881
did you put the vent cap on too tight?
>>968886
oh I should mention with the pork, the reason I did the repair myself was because the landlords response was to "well we never had that problem before, just dont turn up the oven that high" wrong answer faggot.
>>968839
Go fuck yourself.
There is enough dog shit sitting there to literally fill buckets. Nobody else wants to smell that this spring. Either you are a piece of shit that would leave a property in that state, or you have never been near a yard filled full of this much shit.
>>968861
I'm mostly interested in the legalities of it, read above post. This isn't a normal amount of dog shit, that's why I'm asking. Its atleast 2 seasons worth and has been on ice.
>>968886
Not sure, I didn't do it. The cap was on the big pipe running vertically through the basement, near the bottom. Looked like an unused branch but can't be sure. I don't think it was a vent but can't be positive. I'm looking at plumbing diagrams right now trying to figure this out. I haven't located any vents and I'm not sure if the landlord has looked for them. It would be entirely possible for the roof vent to be clogged though, considering we have a pine towering above the house.
Any useful diagrams would be appreciated. I'll probably be looking for one for hours.
>>968878
You're right, but be aware that there are landlords who know their tenants can't afford to leave and don't care about the property and frankly refuse to fix things. Landlords whose properties just aren't worth fixing.
I only mention this so that caring landlords with DIY experience don't scare away people who are willing to offer help.
I live in a small regressive town and many of the houses are owned by people who are not professional landlords by any means. So while your warnings are extremely helpful to many people (and a great service to good, professional landlords), just remember that some tenants are flat-out expected to fix things themselves or else move out because somebody else is fine with shitting in a bucket or using battery-powered lighting. I hate the term slumlord, but a landlord who operates at slum income levels know there are drug addicts who are happy just to have a leaking roof over their heads.
>>968994
I understand what you're saying. But people also need to understand there are laws and entire commissions in place to oversee property management in their districts.
If you happen to live in a place where the guy is a slumlord and wont fix the plumbing in a reasonable amount of time you call the commission and report the violation.
Any slumlord IS a slimlord BECAUSE no one has reported him to the housing board. Any reasonable property owner is rightfully terrified of having the housing board called because of the power they wield.
The board I'm a member of wields incredible power and we do not fuck around with housing violations. If someone calls to report a sanitation violation an inspector is out there within the hour. The property owner is given 24 hours from notification to remedy the issue. At 25 hours a board contracted plumber is in the property fixing the problem, a citation and court summons is issued, along with fines and levies assessed.
Other jurisdictions may not be as responsive or proactive but they all enforce basic housing amenaties and requirements established in the law. And the vast majority are in the 'do not fuck with' category because of the very reason you indicated, many people cannot afford to move or live in better properties and are at risk of being taken advantage of by predatory property owners, a health and safety risk to the greater society.
>>967880
>Usually tubs and toilets will have problems draining when the line is clogged. But I didn't notice anything unusual about the plumbing. Everything drains quick and smooth. Can this clue help narrow down the source of the blockage so we can get to the bottom of this quicker?
i had backup in my basement of shit/piss/tp with obvious issues upstairs.
main drain to public sewer was clogged from tree roots. fucking pain in the ass to get a cutting router down my tiny stairs.
i eventually noticed some bubbling in the 2nd story toilet while showering, telling me it was about to clog/already clogged.
>>969062
>with obvious issues upstairs.
with *NO* obvious issues upstairs.
more coffee please.
