Orangeburg

So, those sewer troubles we had last week? They came back. After snaking out the drains on Friday night, by Monday night they were clogged again. Not good. This time I was going to get a better answer, so I called in the professionals. By Wednesday morning we were again cleaned out, but had our answer: we have Orangeburg sewer pipe on our main line, and it was mostly collapsed.

“Orangeburg” pipe is a sewer pipe that was used abundantly in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Manufactured primarily in Orangeburg, New York, it is comprised of wood fibers glued together with a water-resistant adhesive, and then infused with tar. While it was relatively inexpensive, it turns out that it doesn’t hold up so well structurally after 30 - 40 years; any shifting in the ground or intrusive tree roots can cause structural collapse. And so it was with our drain line. The guy who came and did a video inspection of our line said he could barely get the 1.5" camera lens through the pipe. Ouch.

We did some quick research on sewer contractors and found a good one who could come fairly quick. In preparation for the job, they graced our front yard with some equipment on Friday.

On Tuesday they will come replace our collapsed glued fiber pipe with some good old-fashioned cast iron, and we should then be set to flush away freely for as long as we live in the house. I suppose it’s a good general lesson, too, about engineering using new-fangled technology: sometimes the problems with your solution won’t be evident for a while… it’s wise to try to consider the long-term.