This morning just after the First Lady simultaneously barfed all over me and had the biggest poop ever, both our ensuite toilet and the toilet in the powder room exploded like fountains. Yeah, I know. I wish I were kidding too.
So after I changed the poopy diaper and comforted Captain Jelly Belly, who was running around understandably upset that sewer water was flooding two of our three bathrooms, I cleaned up the mess and changed my barfy outfit. Then I called our builder to report the incident and to say, nicely I thought, that I really hoped it wouldn’t be happening again.
We’ve had plumbing problems in this house from day one, but last week we thought they were finally resolved. Our builder’s plumber came to replace one of the toilets (the bowl was cracked) and we told him about the weird gurgling sounds that happened in the tubs whenever we flushed, and how the toilets were really prone to plugging. He said he was pretty sure that the plumbing cap had been left on the top of our house, but he was oh so wrong. The cap was off — but it turned out, after the poor guy dug around in our attic for half an hour, that the rest of the plumbing in the house had never been connected to the roof pipe. It all just fed up into the attic and then was capped there, inside. Jeez!!
Last week we also had a guy come to install our new microwave hood fan, and when they removed the old fan, they found out that there was no duct work behind it — just a big hole in the wall that wasn’t connected to the fan in any way.
Makes you wonder what the hell else is wrong with the house that we’ll find like, 15 years from now!
TurtleHead 
Isn’t there a guy who goes around and inspects what the contractors have done to make sure it’s up to snuff? Maybe there is and that guy is a slacker too…
Yup, there’s a head contractor who is supposed to know about stuff like this, but I guess he missed it. More importantly, our house should never have passed the city inspection with either of these problems. Grrrrr.
Clearly I don’t understand basic plumbing, because I don’t understand much about your plumbing problems. Except the exploding toilets. The words “cherry bomb” popped into my head as I was reading your post.
I guess I understood the barfy and poopy parts, too, but I’m trying to block the mental images they conjure up.
Do your neighbours have similar problems, too? If so, you can use the phrase “class action lawsuit” when talking to the builder again. Don’t say I haven’t learned anything from living in the US for seven years …
we bought a house. In southern VA near the coast houses don’t have basements, they have crawlspaces. During the initial inspection it was pointed out that the
floor joists (2x10s) were “sistered”. Well that sounded kind of cute but it really just meant that a number of them were doubled up because the first ones
had started to rot! I forget exactly why but we bought the house anyway and
after 6 months, I noticed that the dry exhaust wasnt’ showing up outside. That explains the rotting. When we decided to sell, we were soooo relieved that it only took 3 months to find a sucker^Wbuyer.
All of this is a result of capitalist greed and mass-market culture. I’m sure that in the old days there were ummm… crappy buildings too but I’d like to believe that if you’re building something for your neighbor and you see them every week then you are less likely to make something that’s a piece of junk.
Gosh, I’m soooo sorry to hear what an ordeal you’re going through. Naturally there are a few defects with a new house, but this is so unacceptable! I hope things get resolved quickly and correctly for you.