Sewer/Water Policy

Check the Home Depot parking lot in the morning. ;-)

Reply to
krw
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I have a number of different residential properties -- a few that I own and a few that the company where I work owns and that I oversee. I/We only have the sewer/water policy on one of the properties.

The main reason that we got the policy on that property is that it is a very old property and the sewer line runs out to the street right under a HUGE old oak tree at the curb. In fact, I am surprised that we haven't had a major problem before now. If they do have to replace the line, my guess is that they will have to relocate it to bypass the tree and tie it into the main at a different location. So, for that one property, it seems like it is worthwhile to have the policy in place.

For the other properties there is no real obvious risk of damage, and access to everything is fairly easy. So we decided not to pay for a policy on those properties.

Another advantage of the policy that I do like is that they have a reduced fee charge for routine drain cleaning if there is a sewer backup. Apparently, if there is a backup, we call them and they send out a drain cleaning service for a flat fee of $50, even if it is during off hours etc. That's a lot less than it would cost for us to have to call someone out to snake out the drain, and for $50 it's worth paying someone else rather than for me to have to try to do it myself (which I have done in the past). We have had several backups in the drain line in the past, mostly due to the way it is pitched, and sometimes due to the tenant-ocuppants flushing paper towels etc. down the toilet.

I am pretty sure that the policy does say that if they have to break out the concrete sidewalk to fix the line, replacing that section of the sidewalk is our responsibility. But that's not a big deal to replace a 4x4 section of sidewalk.

Based > I am just wondering if any of you have an insurance policy covering

Reply to
RogerT

Huh?

Did the mountain go down as the sun came up?

Reply to
HeyBub

No, but the water pressure often does in a marginal system. You know, the gravity of the sun, tides in the water tank, and all that...

Reply to
krw

My sewer line runs at about a 45 degree angle from the corner of my house to the town's connection which is under the town-owned portion of my front lawn. (We don't have curbs)

I live on the curved end of a street, so my house (and my neighbor's) were placed on the lots "crooked" so that the front's line up with the rest of the houses on the street. If they ran the sewer pipe straight out of the house, my portion of it would end up under my neighbor's driveway.

My neighbor's pipe is run at an even smaller angle, under his driveway, to the town's portion of his lawn, which is connected to my lawn.

It's kind of strange the way our lots are set up. If you stand in front of my house, what appears to be all my lawn in actually partly owned by the town with a small angled slice owned by my neighbor. When I mow, I always mow his small section, but he never returns the favor by mowing all of mine. I'm sure I've mowed the equivalent of my lawn on his side of the property line many times over in the past 25 years. The least he could is mow my lawn once a year or so. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

re: "Modern day underground pipelines and drains properly installed are not likely to give trouble"

Underground pipelines have been in use for centuries.

Define "modern day".

Reply to
DerbyDad03

re: "As far as those sewer lines, best insurance is to cut down any trees around them."

Unless the tree belongs to a neighbor.

I've got a neighbor's tree next my sewer line on one side of the house and a huge oak next to the house on the other side. Not much I can do about either one.

A large branch (actually more like a split trunk) that was not over my property line came down on my roof and deck but luckily did no real damage. My ins co paid for the clean-up.

I asked them if they would pay to remove the branches that *do* overhang my house and they said no. If they come down, they'll pay for the repairs, but they won't cover any "preventative work". It's a huge expense because you can't get a bucket near what needs to be trimmed so it would all have to be done from within the tree, tied off from above, etc.

They did however send a registered letter to my neighbor - not at my request, but he was still pissed at me - suggesting that he cut the tree down because if it damaged my house they would go after his ins co which could result in a rate increase for him. It would be "in his best interest" to avoid the problem by cutting the tree down. Yeah, like that'll work.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Don't try to flush too much poop down all at once, and you should be fine. No insurance needed.

Good day!

Reply to
Modern day man

Nothing to do with the system being marginal. It is simply higher pressure because of lower demand.

Reply to
George

Sewer lines espically the terracota type tend to get tree root problems.

These are easily solved by mixing a 25 pound bag of rock salt in hot water in say basement washtub occasionally.

The salt kills tree roots fast but doesnt harm the tree asnd is cheap too

Most tree root prblems occur in early spring just before trees leaf out

Reply to
hallerb

That means the system *is* marginal. There should be enough reserve/regulation that there is no pressure change.

Reply to
krw

It's called "surveyor's mistakes" for reasons passing understanding.

Reply to
HeyBub

No, there was no mistake.

As I said in my earlier post, the houses were put on the lots at an angle so that the fronts of our 2 houses line up with the fronts of the rest of the house on my street.

Our 2 lots were the last 2 lots in a very old neighborhood to be developed. They were actually kind of park for the rest of the street. When I moved in 25 years ago, an elderly neighbor, God rest his soul, told me that one of the horseshoe pits was where my kitchen table now resides.

With the lots at an angle following the curve of the street and our houses crooked on the lots, part of my neighbor's lot is on the east side of driveway, which is where my front lawn is. There's a walkway that runs between our houses to the backyard and the lot line splits the walkway at an angle that continues across the lawn to the street.

If I stand at the east corner of my house and walk towards the street, I'm on my property for about 8 feet and then on I'm his.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

? "DerbyDad03" wrote

Screw him, protect yourself. You can legally cut the branches over your property.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Right off hand I would call any PVC system "modern." Don't know if municipalities/contractors are using PVC for feeder lines from houses to main sewers. But tile lines are prone to breakage and collapse, and the mortar joints get infiltrated by tree roots. I'm sure everything here underground is tile. Inside, my house - circa 1959 - the sewer stack is cast iron, with oakum stuffed/lead-filled joints. Supply pipes are all galvanized steel.

Some of this is determined by code. When I was working as a plumber's "assistant" in the early '80's PVC wasn't allowed in Chicago, for sewer or supply. Don't know what's changed.

If I ever redo my plumbing here I'm as likely to replace with galvanized as copper, because I've worked with steel pipe all my life. It's just stronger than copper, and no question about joints leaking. But I might go with copper. Might depend on price. Scale isn't a big issue here with Lake Michigan water. So far I've got excellent flow. I replaced all my galvanized in my last house when it got constricted. That pipe was about 50 years old too. Found the only serious scaling constriction in the piping from and close to the water heater. The heat must encourage the minerals to precipitate onto the pipe.

That water heater fed two families though, this one doesn't get as much use. I suspect constricted flow will show up on the hot water side, and just replacing the outlet pipes there will fix it. Depends on my energy level at the time.

Anyway, whenever I see PVC in a sewer system, that's "modern" to me. I hear they use rubber boots with stainless steel band clamps to connect cast iron stack pipe now, instead of oakum and lead. Probably wouldn't call that "modern." Just an "advancement."

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith

I know what I can legally do, but I'll repeat what I said about cutting the branches over my house:

"It's a huge expense because you can't get a bucket near what needs to be trimmed so it would all have to be done from within the tree, tied off from above, etc."

Not only would it cost me much more than I care to spend, but it would all have to be done from within *his* tree, subjecting me to possibly even more expense if his tree gets damaged.

Yes, I also know all about using a fully insured contractor, etc. but it's just not something I want to pay for or get involved with. I know what damage will be done if a branch comes down and I willing to have my ins co pay for it. For what it would cost me to have the tree trimmed, I can probably raise the roof on that section of the house during the repair. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Just another data point: mine runs out the back of my house at a 45 degree angle, takes a 45 to run parallel to the back for about 20' until it's clear of the end of the house, does a 90 and goes straight to the street. Reason: house originally had a septic tank out back. In fact it still has a septic tank, but it's not connected to anything.

Edward

Reply to
Edward Reid

That was in line with my thinking too. A lot depends on if it's 50 year old lines or 4 year old ones. And if there are large trees nearby, sidewalks or driveways that have to be dealt with, etc. You also need to carefully read the policy and see what it covers, limits, etc. If it's relatively new lines, short and an easy replacement path, no way I'd buy the policy. But if it were 300ft of 50 year old lines, with sidewalk, etc and all that was covered, then I would buy it.

Reply to
trader4

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