Q. I had my sewer drain cleaned out of roots which they accessed by removing the toilet and going through that drain. Now the toilet gurgles and bubbles up when flushing, and the water level in the bowl varies, but is usually very low. It acts like it can't get air, but it was fine before the drain was cleaned. The drain cleaner service says they didn't do anything to my toilet, so it's not their problem. I played with the toilet tank float, but no luck. Any suggestions? Thanks.

A. You are either having venting issues or their is an obstruction in the toilet. Not necessarily a clog but an obstruction. If the vent is blocked or partially blocked, the flow of the water leaving the toilet will siphon the water out of your bowl. They may not have worked on the toilet but their work may have sent debris up the vent pipe. I hope they have since taken care of the problem.

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Q. I posted a question about my current situation yesterday and got some good information but what I really have a question about is can the issue we are having with our septic and sewer drainage be caused by an unscrupulous company or a technician that doesn't know what he's doing?? Here is the link to what I already posted http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnM.CPwsrkmq4SIC8kZiJvMazKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20100618184930AAuMMah you can read what is happening if you want to. I am hoping maybe someone who works as a septic and sewer cleaner and repair person can tell me if it's possible that someone can intentionally or unintentionally clog leach lines so that you will have to have expensive repairs or not? I do realize it could have gone bad on it's own. Or maybe this is just a problem of too much rain, I just think it could be suspicious and wondered if it's possible. I have read things online saying that "Without proper pump-outs, solids will flow into and clog the drainfield, resulting in an expensive repair process." Can someone make this happen when they pump it by possibly breaking up the slug and then pumping to a certain level then letting the solids flow into the leach lines before finishing the pumping? We just had ours pumped a month and a half ago and now it is backing up into the house and draining very, very slowly. Thank god at least it is clean water, (well not clean, clean, lol, but clear) We can only use limited water and when it rises into the downstairs shower we have to pump it out with a sub-pump. We haven't called anyone yet because if it is do to the rains I was told pumping could just be a waste of money as it will refill. Thanks John. :-) The only reason why I was wondering about this is other ppl said they were dissatisfied with this company & I read on http://www.inspectapedia.com/septic/SepticTankPumpProcedure.htm That "a rectangle of floating scum layer material can fall from the septic tank inlet baffle area as the effluent level in the tank drops. Service operators call this the "pillow" and its appearance is important. If this material is left in the tank baffles the system may become clogged." I was concerned if this could have happened. Wow check 2x a year that will be hard since the lid is 3' 6" deep. Yikes that's a lot of digging. lol The guy that pumped it said it only needed serviced every 3 years since it was a very large tank and only 2 ppl in house. We flush notta but what's supposed to be flushed, no lady stuff, lol, sorry TMI, lol and have no garbage disposal and only use liquid soaps, no powder. Thanks for the info John! Hey do you recommend additives? I read on sites it's no good John, since it sounds like you have experience with this, do you have an approximate guess at what it costs to have this repaired, ie new leach field installed? Just a guess of course? I know it is probably different in different parts of the country. Oh and is there a way to test the leach lines to be sure they are bad and need replaced? Thanks Hydroace, I really appreciate the reply! More good information. I am going to have to google some of the info as I'm guessing the "header" you speak of is the distribution box?? And the "footer" would be the end of one of the lateral tubes?? Or do I have that backwards? Heck I might not even be close, lol. ( I know I should be calling out a professional by now but I have also read that they can't do anything to fix/replace your drain field until the ground is dry, if you've been having flooding, which we have. It keeps raining 2+ inches a day! Maybe there's some hope in the future as it's not supposed to rain for the next 2 1/2 days. Plus I like to know as much as I can before someone comes out so I don't get ripped off too badly, lol.

A. I'm gonna agree; the 'honey dipper' can't do anything to cause the issues you're experiencing. Here are a couple of comments, just some food for thought. First, regards digging up the access port, I'd suggest putting some kind of a standoff over the access port for the septic tank - one which has a cover just a few inches but beneath the surface of the ground. For example, I cut the bottom out of a bucket for a sump pump and put it over the access port. When I needed access to the septic tank, I just exposed the cover to the sump bucket and opened it to gain access to the septic tank. I have to confess I only did so every 5 years (but I never had any problems either ;-) On to the bigger issue, the tile field. I've done a lot of work in construction and land development and there's a special piece of equipment used to compact ground - a sheep's foot. They have a large drum with raised pads on it, concentrating the weight of the drum on the pads and compacting the ground. The machine was designed to simulate the compaction that occurs in paddocks and along trails frequented by large animals. I read your first post and noted that your tile field may have been compacted by the horses you keep. To check the condition of your tile field, first expose a part of the header at the upstream end of the tile field to see if the pipe is full of effluent or if it's empty. Then expose the footer for the field to verify whether it's draining or holding water. If necessary, run a hose into the header to check the footer. If the footer is empty (even after running water into the header) effluent isn't getting through the laterals in the tile field. You probably have crushed or filled laterals, and it's time for a new field. If the header is empty effluent isn't getting from the septic tank into the tile field, and you need to expose the pipe between the two and clean it out. This may require that you install a cleanout. If effluent spurts out of the header or the footer when you inspect those pipes, the tile field is full and not draining properly; time for new tile field. Good luck with it! Edit: Sorry, I've gotta explain myself better. The effluent leaves your house through a pipe and enters the septic tank(s), which traps anything that floats or sinks, and a relatively clear effluent leaves the tank(s) and enters a distribution box. At its simplest, the distribution box is nothing more than a tee in the line, sending the effluent to either side along the header. The header distributes the effluent to several laterals, which run the length of the tile field. In open tile fields, the laterals are simply capped at their end, while in closed tile fields, they are connected to a common footer at their downstream end. If yours is a closed system, you'll need to find the closed ends and check to see if the lateral is full or empty. Hope this helps.

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Q. If you have 500 acres and want to sell it off in 10 acre parcels can the county government planning and zoning really prevent this if it not approved or can you get a lawyer and go around their decision? I understand some issues like wanting to build a sewer treatment plant or feed lot next to mass population areas should be rejected. I also understand there must be some factors with smaller size land parcels like water supply or roads but there is a demand for smaller size land parcels and it seems a person is not allowed to break up a large land parcel without planning and zoning approval. 40 acre parcels may be more reasonable to break 500 acres up into but still that sounds like it should be ok to do. There would be county road access to each lot and power and phone

A. All local governments have the right to impose zoning regulations on lands within their jurisdictions. You cited the perfect example of why zoning is so important i.e not allowing sewer treatment plant or feed lots next to mass populations. However those is the most obvious reasons. There are many factors that go into deciding weather you can subdivide your property at the levels you wish. In your instance, some of the key limiting factors are comprehensive plan designation, prior or present agricultural use, environmental constraints, and available infrastructure. Unless your comp plan designation (which dictates the zoning designation) allows for 10 acres parcels, you cannot create new parcels smaller than the minimum. Since people need infrasturcture (roads, schools, police, fire, sewer, water, etc.). The comp plan designation often coincides with the carrying capacity of the land. As those "services" are improved, the carrying capacity increases. I am going to assume that you have already looked into subdividing your land and your idea has not met received favorably. Assuming that your land is in a rural area, you will need to go through the legislative route of getting your land redignated under the long range plan (the Comp Plan). There are hundreds of other factors but I dont have the space nor time to get into those particulars. In very few instances have I ever known an application for a subdivision be denied when all factors are in place or at least planned to be accomodated or built by the developer. The risk of denial of an application without cause and justification places the jurisdiction in danger of a lawsuit that is very costly. You should consider hiring a land use planner to help you navigate all of the components involved in the subdivision.

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Q. MY HUSBAND AND I LIVE IN EL CAJON,CALIFORNIA. BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL HARDSHIP,BANKRUPTCY,FORECLOSURE , WE FOUND OURSELVES SUDDENLY SEARCHING FOR A NEW RESIDENCE - MY HUSBAND HAS A GOOD JOB AND IS A HARD WORKER .WITH EXCELLENT RENTAL HISTORY THESE FACTORS NO LONGER PREDICT RENT ABILITY.ANYWAYS WE HAVE LIVED HERE OVER A YEAR AND THE CONDITIONS IN WHICH WE LIVE HAVE CROSSED OVER THE LINE AS FAR AS OVERLOOKING ISSUES, OR DEALING WITH THE NEGLECT AND AVOIDANCE OUR LANDLORD HAS TO OFFER. ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS,PLUMBING LEAKS AND MOLD.WINDOWS THAT DO NT LOCK CORRECTLY,INSUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF TRASH CANS ROACHES THE LIST IS ENDLESS. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE ,IT TAKES LARGE AMOUNTS OF HUMILIATION AND EFFORT TO HAVE ANY SMALL OR LARGE REPAIR DONE ..THIS IS WHERE I REALLY NEED SOME DIRECTION THE PEOPLE SHE HIRES TO DO HER BUG SPRAYING-PLUMBING WORK/MOLD REMOVAL ETC DOWN RIGHT SCARE US !!! THE PEST GUY "SHE HIRED JUST FOR US " AS SHE PUT IT CAME IN WITH A YARD WEED KILLER TYPE SPRAYER AND DUMPED AND I MEAN DUMPED HUGE AMOUNTS OF LIQUID IN OUR FOOD CABINETS IN OUR STOVE -GREAT I UNDERSTAND YOUR KILLING BUGS,AS HE FINISHES AND IS WALKING OUT THROUGH MY LIVING ROOM HE SWIPES HIS SRAY WAND BEHIND MY FLAT SCREEN TV ,ALONG WITH MY KIDS PLAYSTATION NOT AT ALL ACCEPTABLE THANK GOD I SAW THIS HAPPEN I HAVE A 10 YEAR OLD THAT HAS GAMING EQUIPMENT DIRECTLY BELOW AND FOR MONTHS EVERY TIME WE TURN OUR TV ON IT SMELLED OF BUG KILLER. MIGHT I ADD HE NOR THE OWNER HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE NAME OF THE SPRAY WAS ..THE MOST RECENT AND CURRENT ISSUE IS THE PLUMBING -AS A WHOLE EVERYONE HERE HAS LIVED WITH THE ONGOING LEAKY TOILETS,SHOWERS,CLOGGED AND OVERFLOWING SEWER STENCH AT LEAST EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS WITH NO RELIEF IN SIGHT...GET THIS FIGURED OUT WHAT MAKES OWNER LOOK OUR WAY AND TAKE ACTION WATER BILL WENT UP 50% WATER COMMING THROUGH LIGHT FIXTURES INTO ON SITE MANAGERS APT. AFTER ALL THE MONTHS WE HAVE LIVED WITH MOLD INFESTED CABINETS FOR OUR FOOD AND DISHES AFTER BEING TOLD IT WOULD COST TO MUCH TO FIX BECAUSE THE CABINETS WOULD NT MATCH,HER WATER BILL GOES UP AND EVER SINCE WE HAVE BEEN WITHOUT WATER FROM 9.00AM TO 4.00PM OUR FLOOR HAS BEEN TORN UP OVER A WEEK AND WE HAVE HAD NO SINK AT ALL IN KITCHEN ,FOR THE SAME .....AND HEY NOT TO WORRY THE HALF BAKED REPAIR GUYS RIPPED WALL FLOOR APART AND GUESS WHO'S EXPOSED TO BLACK MOLD WITH NO WARNING ,RUNNING SHOP VACS WITH NO WATER TO HELP FILTER DUST,GUY TELLS ME OOHH ! YA GOTTA BREATH THIS STUFF FOR YEARS FOR IT TO AFFECT YOU WE DO THIS ALL THE TIME..SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP OUR APT COMMUNITY. SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE ON FIXED INCOME AND CANT MOVE OR CANT FIND PLACES TO BE FOR OVER A WEEK WITHOUT WATER AND THE MOLD PROBLEM,ROACHES SOMEONE HAS TO HAVE ANSWERS I am sorry for all the capitol letters and i will slow down a bit ,my blood pressure hits the ceiling knowing someone who holds so manys lifes basicall in her hands could be so in humane.oh update- workers left today saying there your all set,counters in sink installed-we will c-ya around. -who ever does the maintance around here is going to put your floor back together and by the way your wall couldnt be sanded because patch is still wet . water gets turned on from 4:30mabey 5:00pm until between 8-9 am so im jazzed -fill my sink up and yes folks whole cabinet filled with water ,stinking garbage disposale water. anyone have the number or specific name of who i am to call .any help is greatly appreciated .

A. You call the health department, but count on moving. The department will force you to move if what you are rudely screaming at us about is not exaggerated. The landlord will if it isn'tm and this is just you wanting the 500 a month place to be just like the 1000 a month one. You should inspect your next rental more carefully, make sure it is up to your standard of living.

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Q. I live in a two 1/2 story house with my kitchen on the top floor and the master bedroom on the lower floor. Yesterday, my garbage disposal contents started coming up in the drain of the bathtub. Any idea why this happened and what I can do to fix it? We have no other plumbing issues in the house that I can see.

A. You could have a clog farther down the line, where the pipe hits the street. can you borow a sewer snake?

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Q. I had a homeowner's claim for water damage to my laminate flooring. I did submit a claim and had a check be sent to me within weeks for $1800. I had a few local contractors come and and estimate work costs. It was 2-3x's the amount of the original payment to me. Coincidently one of the contractors is a contracted installer for my insurance plan. They went ahead and notified the insurance Allstate of the low payment ect. Well now here is where I am left. Allstate approved the estimate from the installers for $2844.00 and requested to move forward. I have been to the contractors shop 2x's now to select the flooring and tile for my condo. The last time I was told by the contractor that there is nothing cheap enough to do the job that they originally sent the estimate on.... meaning the contractors are NOT going to honor thier original estimate. I was told that the job would cost me $2000 out of pocket above and beyond what the insurance would pay. Suggestions? I am thinking about cashing out and having a smaller contractor do it for me and maybe save a few bucks.

A. Call Allstate, they may have some advice for you to deal with the floor installers or they may be able to up the approved estimate with documentation form the installer. $2844 is not much to replace flooring, I would NOT go with someone cheaper, if they do a bad job or use shoddy materials, you may be worse off and with no recourse.

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Q. Will it even out at all or get worse? Right now I have carpeting and the rooms are all bubbled up in the middle and droop down at the walls. If I install wood over these crappy sub floors, will be be change anything? What can I do to even them out ? Is there something relatively simple? Thanks. The house was just built 10 months ago. It was crooked the day they finished building it. I have been complaining to the builder to fix it since day one, and the jerk keeps telling me that it will settle and even out.

A. Your builder is responsible for structural issues for a minimum of three years. I would suggest that you contact the local building and planning dept. They will instruct you on how to take the proper steps in forcing the contractor resolve the problem.

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Q. First read this question, it has something to do with this:: http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArbuxwCbyRg3ZS0iTpJSBF7BFQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20080822071247AAeNXyg THEN read this. Our mortgage company majorly screwed up. In August, we switched banks (our mortgage is not with our banks). We usually have direct withdrawl for our mortgage payments. We told them we would be afew days late with out payment while we switched banks. After we were 3 days late, they demanded we pay them immediately. They would not accept registered mail (to send a cheque or cash for it), but only Western Union or a bank payment. We opted to send a Western Union payment, so we would have a receipt of the payment. We sent the payment, and called the mort. company with a reference #. They accepted it no issues, and we thought the matter was closed. 2 weeks later (and 2 days before our wedding) a court officer showed up at our door with paperwork that the mortgage company was commencing legal action over non-payment of our mortgage (our payment is $418 bi weekly, we had been late with ONE payment). We called our lawyer and the mortgage company, and they said to dis-regard the notice, it had all been worked out- the Western Union payment hadn't been submitted by their internal billing dept. in time for them to cancel court proceedings. We got a letter from the mortgage company stating to disregard the repossession proceeding papers we had gotten. We considered the matter closed. Last Friday, a Sheriff of the court showed up at our door, served me papers that we had 7 days to leave the house and have all our stuff gone- they were repossessing our house. I freaked out, called hubby @ work and he came home. We again called the lawyer then the mortgage comp. We had to fax them the Western Union receipt for proof we paid. We did so, and the next day we had a notice from the Canadian Superior Court of Justice saying to disregard the notice of Intent to Repossess, and that the suit was closed, our mortgage was paid up and in good standing. So, again, we considered it over with. The lawyer for the mortgage company told us they were faxing the dismissal papers over to the local court (and sheriff and court officer who was supposed to evict us). We had to go to a funeral yesterday for my hubbys uncle. We were gone overnight about 3 hours from home. We got home @ 12 noon today, and notices were taped to our windows, all our door locks had been changed, and bars put over our windows so we couldn't get into our house (keep in mind it is COLD here in Northern Canada, in November- and we have 2 children under age 3). So esentially we were locked out of our home. We both FREAKED out, smashed a garage window and broke into our house. The sherriff and whoever changed the locks damaged some of our property- we need a new rear entry door, our front door is damaged and the door jamb needs replacing, they left the old knobs on the floor, our hardwood floor by the door is damaged, and our elderly INDOOR cat was sitting out in the cold by the front door when we arrived at home. Our dog had been taken by Animal Control to the pound where we had to pay to get her out. We still have ALL the paperwork pertaining to this issue, I took photos of the damages, and filed a report with the police about unlawful entry. We want to sue, but the mortgage company lawyer just laughed at us and said "Good luck, we have every right to protect our investments". The thing is, this is NOT our fault! It seems like every time we turn around, this company is screwing up something major. I'm worried to leave the house now in case we can't get back in and are stuck in the cold with the kids. What can we do about this?! I am so p-i-ssed off, I'm shaking still. We are in our home right now but I'm worried someone will show up to evict us or charge us for being in here. My hubby had to go to work or he would probably lose his job, so I'm here alone with the kids and freaking out. I'm also really concerned about the ownership of our home- and about our credit rating and all the legal aspects of this.... HELP! WHAT SHOULD WE DO?! We go to talk to a lawyer Monday about filing a lawsuit and suing the company for harassment, emotional and financial distress, unlawful entry, damage to property and whatever else we can sue for. This is insane and we have to do something... We cannot afford to pay for penalties to switch our mortgage, we would be content with suing them for the balance of our mortgage ($124 thousand) and legal fees- and for the money to fix the damages and for the $110 we had to pay to get the flippin' dog out of the slammer. I'm just so MAD. I told hubby I was going to call the most major newspapers and tv shows in the province and tell them about this, and see how the company likes it. Also going to file a disupte and complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau, which will basically put a mark against them if any potential clients check their BBB rating...

A. It sounds like you are on the right track - legal action at this point is your only recourse. Also, as soon as your mortgage term expires, I would be looking for a new lender. Depending on how old your mortgage is and what you still owe, you may even decide that it would be worth paying penalties to refinance with a different company.

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