Well, I've heard of this. Never knew anyone it has happened to though. It happened to me today.

New tenant that moved in a week ago today called and said sewer was backing up. I have a great relationship with my plumber and typically get preferred service. So, he was out there in about 2 hours. He called back in about 2.5 hours and let me know the sewer line had a bag of concrete poured in it.

I think what happened is they poured about half a bag in the cleanout. The house was vacant for a short time, so this new tenant moving in and starting the water flowing again is probably how the concrete got mixed up. Water still flowed over the pile, but only had about an inch. Plumber was able to bust it up and pull it out of the pipe from the cleanout and also the side of the pipe that goes to the house. He didn't even want to try to do that on the side that goes to the sewer main because if it broke free and slid down, we'd have to replace the whole sewer line. So, he's going to dig it up and replace approximately 4' of pipe. All in all, it shouldn't be bad. The sewer line at this particular point is only about 1' deep in the yard, so not a ton of digging required. I'd say I got lucky in that regard.

The prior tenant and the guy across the street did not get along at all. It's kind of a long story and I won't bore you with the details. They both ended up in jail at different times because of it. The police were putting pressure on me to correct the situation. Yes, I was actually required to babysit my tenant. Not sure why that was even my job, but they were going to fine me if I didn't. That's another long story as well. I explained to the tenant that the cops wanted him to move and they weren't going to let up pressure on me until he did. So, I couldn't renew his lease. I also let him know if he wanted to move out sooner, that would be fine. He did move out about a month later.

I have no idea who did the concrete in the sewer line, but I suspect one of those two did it. Not sure how their problem became my problem deserving of retaliation, but it did. Hopefully this is the last I have to deal with it. The new tenant seems very nice and like she will take care of the place very well. Bonus is I rented it for $90 more a month. :)

The good, the bad and the ugly -

Doogie,

Sounds like you got off easy. And the increased rent will cover the bill.

Any evidence this was poured into the toilet from inside your rental?

I had an evictee pour an entire large box of powdered mashed potatoes (free from the food pantry) into the toilet. It swelled up like a mushroom from the bowl. I can visualize his evil laugh thinking he got his revenge on me.

We scrape some into a trashbag and broke up the rest with a stick. Gone in two flushes.

My tip> I always want the cleanout capped and plugged with the plug that has a negative square, not the one that can be opened with channel locks. Hoping it slows down any vandals

Had a tenant dump rice and corn nuts down the drains and toilet upon leaving. Duplex. Sewer backed up into the tub of the other side. I tried busting thru it with my little drain cleaning items but no joy.

Plumber came in and had me going after all my fighting wore me out.

Worst part is the damages hearing had already taken place before the drains started acting up. Couldn't get more from him.

I had a slow drain in a different place. Called plumber to take care of it. Snaked the toilet but still not going down well.

I have been told as a sewer board member that they have found concrete in the main line before. They speculated that it was a contractor that did it that time around.

The very worse REO that I ever saw had concrete poured into each and every drain. I didn't make a strong offer on that place as there absolutely no way to know how bad things were in the drain lines. I though, boy - I am glad they were not my tenants. Sorry that you are going through this. I would be shaking my head about this.