I got a call this morning from the only guy in town available to dig a hole in my front yard to install a sewer cleanout, and he said he wouldn’t even be able to do it until Tuesday. He said it would cost $425, but when I told him about the big-ass trees in my front yard, he said that it would cost at least that much to remove the one which is almost directly over the sewer line.
At this point, Traci and I are seriously considering walking away from our mortgage and letting the bank deal with this shit. It can’t hurt our credit too badly, since our bankruptcy just discharged 6 months ago, which coincidentally precipitated from god damned sewer problems!
We’re just afraid that they’ll start digging the sewer line up and discover yet another problem, such as that the entire line needs to be replaced. If that had to be done they’d have to dig up half of 300 East, which is technically a state highway, which apparently can get expensive. Not to mention I’d have to replant the grass in my entire front yard, replace my sprinkler system, re-landscape the entire yard, and they’d probably have to remove my front porch just to get down to the foundation where the sewer line exits. I can barely afford the minimum $425, so there’s no way I’d be able to pay for everything else.
The guy said he’d try to stop by this weekend to see about that tree, so depending on what he thinks about it, Traci and I are prepared to tell him to forget about it. I’d rather be in financial ruin for the next seven years than commit to paying for this shit hole and all the repairs that it needs for the rest of my life.
Update: Ok, here’s the deal. What would you do in my situation? Here are my options as I see them:
1. Borrow money (probably $5,000 or more, which I can’t afford) to fix the entire sewer line, and continue living here, while hoping that no more problems arise. Considering how poor the condition of the city’s sewer main is on this street, we would risk another sewer backup by staying.
2. Don’t fix the sewer, but try to sell the house. I would have to take a loss on the house since the sewer line doesn’t work, but my credit wouldn’t be ruined quite as badly. Also, the house could take a very long time to sell, leaving us to live here without a sewer connection (which is impossible).
3. Walk away from the mortgage, live in a trailer court somewhere and save money for the next several years in the hopes that we can eventually be approved for a loan and live in a decent home.
Leave your answer in the comments for this post.
I wonder if any of your neighbors have experienced the same thing (more than one sewer backup) in the past? I’d find out, and if they have, file some sort of class-action complaint against the city. It may get more attention than just one person’s complaint.
If that’s not an option, I’d sell the house and rent for a little while, to get your credit back on track. Sure, renting is essentially throwing money away, but it’d be temporary. Just a thought.
sucks about all the problems with your state… 🙂 I like the (somewhat) new design though.
Just a thought but have you had your taxes done yet? With Bradley this year you will have another Child Tax Credit you might be getting a pretty good chunk of money back from the gov. I would probably fix the sewer problems but still put the house up for sale and see what happens. I know a house that is right next to us that is for sale!! We were talking to Ty’s grandpa about your sewer with him being a plumber and all and he said our street had the same problem when the old lady lived here and the sewer backed up several time in our basement as bad as your first time so she had some type of back flow flapper put in.