Flooded Bathroom

On September 28th we walked into the ground floor bathroom. Water had begun backing up. We thought, “Oh no! This was one of those times during the year that the bathroom backed up.” We poured soda down the drain hoping that would cure the situation. On Wednesday a couple visited from Singapore. To our embarrassment, the man went to use the downstairs bathroom and a noxious smell greeted him as he opened the door. The water had backed up all the way to the door (about 2 inches) ready to overflow into the kitchen. He had to use our upstairs bathroom. While Linda talked to them, Richard bailed out the bathroom, cleaned and dried the floor. However, our visitor had washed his hands after using the bathroom and this caused the floor to flood again! Richard again went in to bail out the bathroom floor, clean and dry it.
Friday we called the landlord because we had used caustic soda to clean the drain and it did not help. We heard that the city had a service to clear drains. We asked our landlord to call the city to get help. About a half hour later the doorbell rang. The landlord came with a large bottle which he said the workers at his school used to clean the school’s drains. As he was pouring the liquid down the drain, there was rumbling in the pipes, a small explosion, and a column of steam spouted about 10 feet into the air. As the steam first came out the landlord jumped back and looked stunned. Then he tried to escape the bathroom as a putrid smell filled the room. We opened the back door and windows and brought a fan to clear the air. It took awhile. Then the landlord insisted on returning to the bathroom to pour more of the acid down the pipes. This time he was ready as he poured the liquid, but the column of steam was only about a foot high. Praise God this miracle acid drain cleaner worked & the drain pipes continue to be clear!