Charge by the hour, let him help, if he slows you down he pays more.

You're right!
You're right, too!
You're smart and right.
There's a certain logic here, but it doesn't lead directly to soaking in the damn tub...

corrected.

Let's get started!

First step, open the crawlspace and get in there.

Oh shit.

Attachment 67769


What the ever-flowing fucking fuck?? There is a Lake. of. Shit. under the house???

Stunned. Gutted. Had the shit knocked out of me (which collected in a pool under the house directly at the entrance to the crawlspace). Go on, laugh. All other options are worse.

In this picture, taken a few minutes later, you can see the source of the problem. I have an opening on my main drain, a couple feet from the tub and the toilet and the sink and the main stack from the upstairs bathroom. That big, dark empty circle? That's what the inside of a drainpipe looks like. And if you can see in, water can get out.

Attachment 67770


A keen observer of the first two pictures would have noticed a straight line pointing toward the opening in the drain. I wonder what it points to in the other direction?

Attachment 67771


Did I says source earlier? I was wrong, that's one source, here's the other. This is the drain from the kitchen, the sink and the dishwasher. Another gaping, gushing black hole. It's uphill from the lake, that's why the put lakes where they put them, duh. I need to get into this "area". What the fuck am I gonna do?

Attachment 67772


That straight line is a two inch copper pipe that has FALLEN OUT of its installation between the two fittings at the kitchen and the main drain. How does that happen? I honestly don't know. It doesn't appear to have been soldered in, which is ok, since I will have a clean pipe end and clean (and I use the term mechanically, because, gross) fitting to work with when I reinstall it today.

I'll make another set of pics and notes, probably another thread for this surprise DIY Plumbing Emergency Repair. Meanwhile, if any of you guys have a clue how that pipe fell out, speak up. JFC.

Maybe the weight of the spider webs pulled it down.

I know, not helping.

At least you know about the problem now. I would have thought that there would be an aroma from the drain, if not the sound of water splashing from the sink drain.

YMMV

Some DIYers will leave a loose connection, perhaps just banded together with a collet, and the connector rusts away. It can be done to have a ready access point in which to run an auger to unclog pipes in locations that are difficult (or impossible) to reach from above because of the path to the clog. Evaluate your drain network for that to determine how you want to seal it at that point.

Grim tidings.

Is it possible that those black pipes are the former system? The white ones look newer. Maybe they just left those parts of what has been bypassed. Or are they vents? Is the ground / shit wet? Get someone to flush while you're down there and listen.

Make sure you don't look into the pipe when doing this...

My God, you've stumbled onto a magic portal to Trump's secret Cabinet Room. You're just lucky the slithery members weren't meeting.
Best plan is to brick it up, run your wiring above ground and enjoy the deck.

I thought you might like to see the next phase of Big V's project...

I hope his neighbors are cool.

Now, that's just fantastic!