Anyone up for a swim.....

[First Lady]

I have 4 inches of water in my basement, ok not enough to swim in; but if we flush the toilet it gets deeper....

My question to the inifinitly wise CP'ers is...

I have left messags for my landlord.... no call back yet.... how ticked will he be if I go ahead and call someone to get this fixed and cleaned up ?

Right now it is confined to the laundry room, so nothing at risk of being damaged.

[Dan02]

i believe when we discussed this last time the conclusion was you should call the city first rather then a plumber.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Dan02

i believe when we discussed this last time the conclusion was you should call the city first rather then a plumber.

The city? Kind of funny, my landlord works for the City.... LOL.

What is the reasoning behind that?
The potential for the problem not being on our property ?

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Dan02

i believe when we discussed this last time the conclusion was you should call the city first rather then a plumber.

Yeah, there was someone who had a plummer fix it, then the problem re-occurred so they called the city and the city came out and fixed it for free.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Yeah, there was someone who had a plummer fix it, then the problem re-occurred so they called the city and the city came out and fixed it for free.

Ok, 311 called. A very helpful representative took my info....they will send someone out.

The clock is ticking.... this is great, have a chance to see my tax dollars at work.

[Ozy_Flame]

If they fix your problem free of charge and in a timely manner, then you know the 20% tax hike isn't all wasted away! haha...

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

If they fix your problem free of charge and in a timely manner, then you know the 20% tax hike isn't all wasted away! haha...

I am still waiting to see the "cuts" you mentioned would be in the budget.

I think they need to cut "in house" costs. They could start with turning off the computers, lights and other non-essential equipment at city hall overnight.

[Bobblehead]

They could ditch the $1.7 health club they want to build.

[HalifaxDrunk]

Originally Posted by First Lady

I think they need to cut "in house" costs. They could start with turning off the computers, lights and other non-essential equipment at city hall overnight.

Just send in Eddie Bronze, he cuts power like nobody's business.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

They could ditch the $1.7 health club they want to build.

Yup.
... And why is the city still in the businesses of cemetaries and golf courses?

Surely they could make a bit of money by selling them off and save a lot in maintenance and administration in the long run.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by First Lady

Yup.
... And why is the city still in the businesses of cemetaries and golf courses?

Surely they could make a bit of money by selling them off and save a lot in maintenance and administration in the long run.

...because they provide a service to the public?

Should we sell off all recreation centres and libraries too?

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by Bagor

...because they provide a service to the public?

There are just as many private cemetaries and many, many times more golf courses of every variety that service the public... and doing a better job at it.

Why continue to use taxes to subsidize these endeavors?

Should we sell off all recreation centres and libraries too?

Rec centres; potentially. Are they making or losing money?

Libaries: likely not. I am not aware of any private libraries; are you ?

I am not advocating cutting all services; only the ones that are losing money and can be better fulfilled by the private sector.

[Locke]

Your landlord got your message. He has left for Mexico and isnt coming back.

Keep sending cheques.

[IntenseFan]

Here's my story on this topic (hope it helps):

A couple of weeks ago we noticed a small pool of water in our furnace room at the main drain. It had at some point during the day actually got under the walls of the nearest room and had soaked under the carpet nearest the wall of that room. Every time we turned on a tap or flushed the toilet the puddle would grow.

The puddle had obviously receded a bit by the time we had discovered it. At some point during the initial flood the sump pump in our furnace room must have come on and that served to contain most of the flooding, except for the nearest room. Without the pump I suspect the flooding would have been terrible as we had the washing machine and dishwasher going that day at around the same time.

Anyway, we called a plumber and explained the problem and he thought immediately that it was a main line sewer back up. The sewer main line is actually City property and thus it is their responsibility to look after it.

We called the City and they sent out a crew within an hour. The crew had to locate the end of the main line, which was actually more toward the front of the house and was not in our furnace room. They had to rip up some the carpet and some boarding to get to it, which kind of sucked. They then snaked some metal tubing down the line and managed to dislodge whatever was causing the stoppage.

Later next week another crew came out and checked the pipe with a cool little video camera. There appeared to be nothing wrong with the piping so it was more of a matter of something becoming lodged and jammed in the main line. The City crew actually recommended we use more water than we presently do sine the flush saver toilets we have in our house may be to blame (they use the minimum amount of water per flush which can apparently lead to back-ups).

No charge from the City for their activities (although we did have to hammer the floor boarding back down and relay the carpet, so it's probably even in that sense).

From the sounds of it, your problem could well be similar.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by IntenseFan

Here's my story on this topic (hope it helps):

A couple of weeks ago we noticed a small pool of water in our furnace room at the main drain. It had at some point during the day actually got under the walls of the nearest room and had soaked under the carpet nearest the wall of that room. Every time we turned on a tap or flushed the toilet the puddle would grow.

The puddle had obviously receded a bit by the time we had discovered it. At some point during the initial flood the sump pump in our furnace room must have come on and that served to contain most of the flooding, except for the nearest room. Without the pump I suspect the flooding would have been terrible as we had the washing machine and dishwasher going that day at around the same time.

Anyway, we called a plumber and explained the problem and he thought immediately that it was a main line sewer back up. The sewer main line is actually City property and thus it is their responsibility to look after it.

We called the City and they sent out a crew within an hour. The crew had to locate the end of the main line, which was actually more toward the front of the house and was not in our furnace room. They had to rip up some the carpet and some boarding to get to it, which kind of sucked. They then snaked some metal tubing down the line and managed to dislodge whatever was causing the stoppage.

Later next week another crew came out and checked the pipe with a cool little video camera. There appeared to be nothing wrong with the piping so it was more of a matter of something becoming lodged and jammed in the main line. The City crew actually recommended we use more water than we presently do sine the flush saver toilets we have in our house may be to blame (they use the minimum amount of water per flush which can apparently lead to back-ups).

No charge from the City for their activities (although we did have to hammer the floor boarding back down and relay the carpet, so it's probably even in that sense).

From the sounds of it, your problem could well be similar.

Yeah, First Lady, you might have a similar problem to this one.

Water inside the house like that is not something I would ever leave and do nothing about. If I couldn't get a hold of the landlord, I wouldn't even hesitate to call a plumber (or in this case, the city) and get the problem fixed, ASAP. Water like that can do damage to so many things, so quickly.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Yeah, First Lady, you might have a similar problem to this one.

Water inside the house like that is not something I would ever leave and do nothing about. If I couldn't get a hold of the landlord, I wouldn't even hesitate to call a plumber (or in this case, the city) and get the problem fixed, ASAP. Water like that can do damage to so many things, so quickly.

Yup, it sounds exactly like what is happening. Now the only question is which can I wait longer on.... the City ? ... or my need to use the bathroom.?

10:30 one hour and counting.......


Now I wish I hadn't ticked off Ozy_Flame, maybe he could pull some strings for me.....

[onetwo_threefour]

This has actually happened to us twice and the city dealt with it both times. The first time they were prompt courteous and professional and gave great advice (2006). This year they sent a two-man crew with one guy who was a complete ass and tried to blame things on us, then proceeded to make things worse by losing our cleanout cap down the hole ( we had another plumber come out (who was amazing and didn't charge us) to scope the pipe and told is to call the city and have them come out to fix their screwup). The same jackass was on the second crew and still had the same bad attitude but kept his comments a little more under his breath. We reported him to 311, but don't know If he was ever reprimanded or anything.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

This has actually happened to us twice and the city dealt with it both times. The first time they were prompt courteous and professional and gave great advice (2006). This year they sent a two-man crew with one guy who was a complete ass and tried to blame things on us, then proceeded to make things worse by losing our cleanout cap down the hole ( we had another plumber come out (who was amazing and didn't charge us) to scope the pipe and told is to call the city and have them come out to fix their screwup). The same jackass was on the second crew and still had the same bad attitude but kept his comments a little more under his breath. We reported him to 311, but don't know If he was ever reprimanded or anything.

Yeah i don't get guys who get mad like this, if it wasn't for problems like this the guy wouldn't have a job.

[First Lady]

City arrived; 1 hr 45 mins after call. Snaked line; fixed issue within 15 minutes.

They were very courteous, even good natured about my hormonally, overcharged bulldog.

Now time for the clean up....

Big THANK YOU TO DAN02

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by First Lady

There are just as many private cemetaries and many, many times more golf courses of every variety that service the public... and doing a better job at it.

Why continue to use taxes to subsidize these endeavors?

Because ...... they're more affordable for a proportion of the population? And they're in demand.

Tried to get a round on Shaganappi in the summer?

Originally Posted by First Lady

Rec centres; potentially. Are they making or losing money?

Libaries: likely not. I am not aware of any private libraries; are you ?

I am not advocating cutting all services; only the ones that are losing money and can be better fulfilled by the private sector.

No, I'm not aware of any private ones. That's my point. They're a public service that runs at a loss.

Libraries lose money therefore they should be cut? Or

Or cut them so they can be privatised. There's no reason why they the service couldn't be fulfilled by the private sector.

Would be a great one way of promiting literacy with all the extra costs.

The idea behind rec centres IMO was that they provide a service at an 'affordable' cost for all. To cut them or privatise them = worst idea ever.