Oh for crying out loud. Again? Seriously?

I'm trying really hard not to complain, because I know that I have it so good in so incredibly many ways, but...I'm going to complain.

I just have to say that I really struggle when it comes to our plumbing. Really.

We are going to have to have the front yard dug up and a new sewer line installed, because ours has tree roots in it that cause it to back up into our laundry room every so many months. We used to be able to snake out the main drain once every 6 to 9 months, and it would just start to back up when we'd need to do it again. However, the professional snake we got is no longer doing enough. We have tree roots coming through our line, and this year, we've had problems with sewage backing up every couple of months. Long gone are the days of a 6 to 9 month reprieve.

Digging up the front yard and replacing the sewer line is going to cost several thousand dollars. Like $6,000 to $12,000. We don't have the money to do it right now, so we're going to take our chances and snake every 6 to 8 weeks with our own snake and try to keep it at bay for a year or so when we're likely able to afford the repairs. That's not the problem right now, though.

Right now, we're having problems with the washing machine backing up out of the drain pipe located behind the washer. It's just enough to make the floor wet under the washer and dryer and several feet over to the one side. And of course, if there's anything on the floor (when isn't there??), it always gets wet, and I've got to try to get things washed and sterilized or thrown out before mildew sets in.

I have two options. One is time intensive. The other is labor intensive.

First, I could sit down in the laundry room and try to stay busy while keeping an eye on the washing machine. I'd need to shut the washer off shortly after it started draining. After leaving the machine off for 30 seconds to a minute, I could then start it again, and hope it didn't back up yet again. I'd have to stay right by the machine, though, so I didn't forget to shut it off when it started draining after the rinse cycle. I'd get very little done, if anything while waiting to shut the machine off, yet I wouldn't be able to leave the laundry room. I have done this in the past, but I absolutely abhor doing so. I hate feeling tethered, and I hate feeling unproductive when I'm in a productive mood.

Option #2 involves more physically. I always ache by the time I'm done. It involves using a hand snake (auger) and feeding 6" to 8" of line at a time down the pipe. Twisting the handle several times to get the line to go down the pipe and then pulling more out. It feels like it takes forever, but it probably only takes about 30 to 45 minutes to get through the entire line. The thing is that it's non-stop movement. By the time I'm done, I can hardly move, because my neck and shoulders hurt so much.

So I stopped with laundry for the night. I'll have my hubby help me tomorrow with cleaning out the line. We'll probably clean the sewer line, too, since it's been awhile.

Maybe then I can get caught up on laundry.

I can dream a dream, right? ;)