Glory! The washing machine thawed!

[Rosalind]

That's pretty much it, really. Our house is very elderly, the plumbing was retrofitted by a brain-damaged monkey on crack, and as a result every winter the drain pipe that goes from the washing machine outflow to the septic tank freezes. Since this pipe was fitted by aforementioned monkey, it has two 90 degree turns in it, and therefore cannot be thawed by mere kettles of boiling water and plumbing snakes, no--it runs through a 18" crawlspace that is completely walled off by heavy masonry from any human access.

There are already heating tapes and space heaters in the bit that we do have access to, but sometimes it doesn't help a bit. So for the past 6 weeks I've been doing laundry in the kitchen sink. Fortunately, the kitchen having been designed with non-plumbing chores in mind, this is easier than it would be in your average McMansion, but it still kinda sucks.

This weekend, we had 36+ hours of above-freezing weather, and the pipe finally thawed. I did laundry in the washing machine, my arms do not ache, my back doesn't hurt (much), my hands are not red or cracked from soap + bleach, and I have all the clean clothes I can eat. I actually had time to do other stuff, like start my tomatoes.

Best of all, highs are to be mostly above freezing for the next 10 days. It's probably not going to freeze again, IOW.

Being a pioneer lady really sucks. I'm just saying. I wish I had an indentured servant or three.

 

[Laskaland]

Quote:
No kids, huh?

 

[Nemo]

And here I was worried about the bathroom vent dripping from condensation when the temperature got down to twenty-below.

 

[Rosalind]

I know! It is a stupid thing, but it has made my life oh so much easier.

Like, tonight we can have a real dinner for a change, as opposed to take-out or pasta.

Note to folks who romanticize the past: Modern washing machines, they are the best. The first mass marketed washing machines were sold 1900-1930. Women got the vote in 1920. I would put money on it that prior to the suffragette movement, women simply did not have time to protest for the right to vote, CAUSE THEY WERE ALWAYS DOING THE FREAKING LAUNDRY!

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

"Our house is very elderly, the plumbing was retrofitted by a brain-damaged monkey on crack,"

LOL I so hear you!

We tore out the interior bathroom walls and shower/tub surround last summer. Put insulation in all around. Extra around the pipes.

It didnt matter. Still froze.
Oh and the work my x house mate did on the wall behind the toilet? Yeah. It's going to have to be redone this summer. The brain damaged crack head monkey DID used the stuff that was warped from being on the porch. Now its warping even more because he didnt seal it when he put it up.

That's yet another fun fix for this year.

 

[thecochincoop]

I know what you mean, our pipes freeze up a couple times every winter

 

[bheila]

I must say you have more will then I washing clothes by hand. Our pipes froze to our washer for 2 weeks. It cost us $110 to wash clothes for 2 adults and 3 kids at the laundry mat. That wasn't including the soap and fabric softner

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Oh my, I feel your pain! I used to live in a house that had "running water"- it meant that when you needed water, you ran out front in the predawn hours, turned the water on, ran back in for ablutions and ran back out to turn it off before the underside of the house turned into a lake requiring a bridge! Mr. SO went out of town and I had it repaired THAT DAY! He had been living that way for 4 years! (yeah, I loved that guy, and we're still close friends)

Now that I have my forever husband, and we live in a 108+ year old house with a septic system, I find all sorts of things have to be done the old way! Our washer drain goes out to the "ornamental" plants- so no bleach, no softener and the dang drain collapses regularly so I have to dig it up and patch. Grrrrrrr........

AND the monkeys who lived here built the spare bedroom ON TOP OF the septic tank! Duh! The creature who was here also used tons of bleach in the kitchen and bath, and killed the tank. So we had to put in a whole new system. Double grrrrrr......

We don't have kids, DH works all the time, so I get to do all this stuff- good thing I am of sturdy stock.

Wow, that was a verrrrry long way of saying- don't run bleach into the septic system0 it will someday kill the tank bacteria that it needs to work. Ok,