You aren't going to believe this. We've had three plumbers look at it, and they can't believe it.

As you know, we just had the swimming pool completely renovated. The pool finally finished filling up with water Sunday afternoon. While standing in the back admiring the beautiful pool, we noticed something coming out of the drain near the cabana.

Is that poop?

Yeah. It was poop. The toilet had over flowed because it was backed up, and rather than flushing, the flushed business came back up out the drain pipe. Lovely.

We had two plumbers come by and try to snake out the drain. Both reached a point in the sewage line where their snake couldn't go any farther. They said we'd need to run a camera down the line to see what the blockage was.

The leading theory at this point is that the pool workers dumped plaster and/or cement down the drain. Not good.

Down goes the camera. It too reaches a point and cannot go any further. It's also too dark to see what the blockage is. The theory now is that the pipe is really old and has collapsed. The good news is they were able to track exactly where the blockage is, and it's in an area out front of the house that's not too terribly hard to get to. Not easy, but at least we don't have to have cement and/or decking removed.

So...they dig.

I'm inside the house while they're working when the foreman comes to the door and simply says "You're going to need to see this." That cannot be good.

Take a look at the pictures. That sewer line ENDS at that point. It's been capped off - and it's been capped off a LONG time ago. Look at the roots they had to dig through to get to it. Obviously those roots couldn't have been there when this cap was done.

Yeah...we've got a toilet and sink in our cabana with running water, but ti's not tied in to the sewage line! How crazy is that????

They're going to need to cut a 12" swath through our drive way to tie this line into the main sewage line coming from the house.

Damn this has been an expensive week. First Ziggy needs surgery, and now this. Youch.

I just want to relax, listen to some tunes and enjoy the pool!

All right, that's pretty messed up. I'm sorry about your misfortune!

We had to dig in our front lawn to install a routing pipe. That kind of work being done is not cheap...sorry!

Wow, I think I would go back to the lawyer and have the previous owner or bank foot the bill. Refinishing the pool is one thing but to have non working plumbing is something that should have been noted.

Agreed! Sorry to hear about all your troubles. I'd be very interested to hear how a legal inquiry would go. Around here there are full disclosure laws that would, I believe, hold the previous owner accountable for not disclosing such an obvious inadequacy. Can't say for certain as thankfully, I've never had to explore those laws.

I've always hated the idea of lawsuits and civil suits to solve verything but I have to admit, in this case, I'd be.... [just realized that any word I use here would be a bad pun about your situation ]

Maybe you can negotiate permanent porta-potty service?

Agree with Murph...there should be some kind of recourse on this, obviously done outside of code. Sorry about the prob's Spiff. Should have been some kind of disclosure on this.

This is unbelievable.
Best of luck resolving this (both on the plumbing side and legal side if you can go that route).

Oh my. I hope you get the situation resolved quickly. At least it's just the cabana and not the house...

I'm no lawyer, but there has to be something you can do, your agent should be able to go back on the seller.

The thrills and bills of owning a home. Especially when you encounter the previous owner's handy work!

What a bunch of crap! (Sorry, couldn't help myself).

Spiff, when the house was being sold, as part of the process, the owner had to sign a statement saying he wasn't aware of anything that was wrong. Look through your paperwork and start there. After 12 years, it is reasonable to assume they WERE aware of a problem and if they didn't disclose it, you probably have a basis for action.

That's pretty sh[tty Spiff (pardon the pun).

One of the things i always did when looking at home was to flush toilets and test every sink, multiple times.
I'm sure realtors thought i was nuts.
How many home buyers bring their own flashlights, ladders and volt meters to open houses?

Only the nutty ones. Better to be a nutty one than to dig up some nutty ones in your front yard, if you know what I mean.

You nut.

The question my wife asked, was was it your poop. ha ha lol. Really, this is crazy and I would go back to my realtor. It is possible it has been like this a long time, even from the owners before your sellers, still it is not right.

Wonder where it's been going?

On the plus side, if you have been paying for water AND sewer you may be due for a small rebate...

Mutant gofers must be sad that you are taking away their primary food source.

but wait...there's more!

OK...got the sewer from the cabana tied into the main line ($3500 later). So that's resolved.

Wake up this morning to find our car has been broken into, and from there they used our garage clicker and got into the garage. The freaky thing is that they didn't seem to take anything, and our garage was a motherload (computers, stereo equipment, cd's...you name it!)

So either they were just kids looking for trouble, or they realized they hit the jackpot and may come back later with a truck!

So...I'd love to install a camera that will record to hard drive on my computer (or it's own). No need to record 24/7...motion detection?

Any ideas?

Oh...did I mention my kitty almost died last week?

so you had to fix the pool situation, you didn't go back to the realtor? I thing the seller(s) from the past would be obligated to disclose this issue.

We're checking with the realtor.

Spiffnme,
I have zero experience with security systems, but I just happened across this product from Logitech yesterday then read your unfortunate series of events this morning. Good luck - I hope it all works out.