house colonoscopy

apparently one thing some people overlook when re-doing an old city house is taking a close look at the sewer lines. if they're disjointed, broken, or corroded, it's a must to take care of them first. someone recently shared with us a horror story about a guy in the central west end who installed a new marble patio and a one-car garage in his backyard without taking those necessary precautions. within weeks, that patio was a canyon and the walls of that brand-new garage caved in.

lesson learned. exam sewer line.

dabney and i arrived just in time to witness "the procedure."





well, it turns out that one checks a sewer line by sending a camera down it much like a colonoscopy. but instead of innards, it was yards of pipes we were dealing with.

i tried in vain to take a video of the monitor as the tiny camera worked its way down into the basement, out through the yard, under the garage, and out to the main. it was surprisingly not gross, and frankly, pretty boring.



to our relief, the lines passed the exam with flying colors. for a 100+ year old house, it turns out the cast iron pipes had held up well.