Sewage Line

 An epic, historic event took place this past April when I replaced the old Orangeburg sewer pipe that served this house. The project itself was a 2 week binge of digging and purchasing, but that was merely the sweat work. What preceded the labor was a period of 4 months in which I immersed myself in plumbing codes in order to pass the plumbing contractor test. I'm not even a fan of plumbing but I could not convince the city to permit me to do the work myself since the work was entirely on the public right of way. As a homeowner I am allowed to dig into the plumbing as long as it's on my property, but once it involves the sewer line to the main city sewer in the middle of a paved street, then I need a right of way permit and that can only be issued to a licensed plumbing contractor. A general contractor would not even be allowed to do that work. It must be a specialized trade CR-37 commercial and residential plumber with a bond. And the only way to get that license is to pass the state plumbing test And purchase a surety bond and complete the licensing application with fees and background checks etc. But I was left with that option OR pay a local plumber despite being totally unimpressed with the discussions I had with them...and unimpressed with their attitude and their workmanship as well as having zero confidence in their ability to ever complete the job at any price. Basically, I had local plumbers who were not worth $100 giving me a quote for $13,000...with no guarantee the project would ever be complete and definitely not to my standards. So, I'd be paying $13,000 to argue with an incompetent plumber who has a license and then do most of the work myself since they would never agree to go the extra mile. That made no sense. But the prospect of passing the plumbing test and then buying a surety bond and applying for the license and then manually digging a 140 foot trench didn't appeal to me either. What to do??

The Author pictured in march 2020 fixing the non-existent sewer line from his house to the sewer main.

I decided to simply move forward with the plan to get the license...push as hard as I could push until some obstacle was insurmountable. I had time this past winter even though I wanted to spend the winter in Mexico but I postponed that trip for the purpose of finishing this sewer line project that had been haunting me for 3 years, since 2020, when I realized the old sewer line had broken in multiple spots and was crushed and was leeching into the alley.

The author has exposed the section of Orangeburg pipe under the asphalt in order to connect it to new ABS pipe in a section that had disintegrated.

The first step was to take the plumbing test because it only cost $54 and pass or fail it would give me valuable information about the test and if I passed with purely my own deductive skill and historical understanding of plumbing then GREAT, that would put me one step closer to the license, and if I failed miserably and had absolutely no idea what the questions referred to then I would surrender and hire an overpriced plumber. BUT, the third result would be that I failed with a very high level of confidence that I COULD pass the test with some study, then I would move in that direction.

Now, the CR37 dual plumbing license in AZ is based off several national code books. The year of publication is important and it changes periodically so reference the testing service for exactly which edition is allowed. The test is partially OPEN BOOK but you must have the exact book that is allowed.

1) IPC international plumbing Code (water supply, drainage)

2) IMC International Mechanical Code (grease ducts/chimneys/Boilers)

3) IFGC international Fuel and Gas Code (Gas appliances and gas pipe)

4) NFPA National Fire Prevention Association (Fire Sprinklers)

5) OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Those are the books that are allowed. But those do not address Septic systems and boiler intricacies. 

Well, my first attempt at the plumbing exam was simply off the top of my head. I had no code books so I did not use code books. I just tried to give my best guess to the multiple choice questions. I would try to eliminate 2 that seemed definitely wrong. And then give my best guess from the remaining 2 answers. There were 110 questions and the goal was to get 70 correct. The test is 4 hours long and within 1 hour I knew I was in trouble but I also knew that with the books and some time devoted to the books I would pass the test. This is because the questions were very specific but involved no incredibly esoteric understanding of plumbing. The problem was that the answers were extremely specific. The best example I can give without letting people cheat is the metal gauge of a water heater pan. I'm not saying that will be one of the questions, but it's a good example of a question that is not difficult to understand but if you don't have the code book then you better have a fantastic memory.

The code says something like this:

the tank or water heater shall be installed in a galvanized steel or aluminum pan having a material thickness of not less than 0.0236 inch (0.6010 mm) (No. 24 gage for steel or No. 26 gage for aluminum), 

And the questions might be something like this:

27: The gauge of a galvanized water heater pan shall be a thickness not less than

A) 0.0236 mm

B) 1-1/2"

C) 26 Gauge

D) 0.0236 Inches

Now, I know the depth of a pan has to be 1-1/2", but that's not the gauge. So, eliminate B. Then the metric part of answer A doesn't sync with me because we don't use metric system so I eliminate A. That leaves me with C and D. But without the book to tell me that 26 gauge actually applies to ALUMINUM pans rather than Galvanized, I am helpless. It's purely a guess. So I guess C because that has the word Gauge in it and the question is asking for thickness and maybe they are trying to trick me...right? WRONG! The answer is D.

Well, I guessed wrong 50 times and got a 50%. Failed. But the good news is that after taking the test and reflecting on my instinct, I had extremely high confidence that I would pass the test with the code books and with a month of intense studying. So began a 6 week binge of plumbing code study that was perhaps one of the weirdest and most isolated endeavors of my life. It was at the same time very responsible, and very insane. It was responsible because I was actually embarking on a revered path to be a licensed contractor, a licensed plumber, able to make half a million dollars a year cleaning out toilets. Yes. That's respected. But I was doing this (memorizing water heater pan metal thicknesses) in the middle of the winter and purely for the official blessing to replace my own sewer line. And I don't even like plumbing.

There is a methodology to starting from scratch with a major trade project. One can just leap into it and hope for the best, which is how I replaced all the knob and tube wiring in this house with modern grounded 12/2 from the breaker to the final fixture box. My plan with the wiring was to replaced what already existed with modern wire in the exact same path from the same breakers to the same fixture boxes. Well, that wasn't a great plan because it ends up putting 2 circuits for 90% of the house. 1 circuit is 4 outlets that don't even get used. everything else is on the other 2 circuits and that includes an outlet in the kitchen that is the first outlet in the circuit to the living room lights and outlets. That makes no sense because the other kitchen outlets and the kitchen light are on a different circuit. The problem was leaving all the ceiling drywall up and all the wall drywall up too. I had to follow the same path so I couldn't proceed with a more consolidated approach.

Fortunately, the sewer line project took 3 years to begin so I was able to ponder the approach. I was hopeful that I could come to an arrangement with a plumber so the bulk of the labor would not fall on my crippled and arthritic knees, but even if I did hire a plumber I wanted to contribute a winning strategy.

The wiring project was more pressing because I knew there were fire hazards so I just dove into that with the immediate goal of replacing wire, not agonizing over the details. I agonized over the sewer line project for years so I knew it was going to involve exposing and over digging the trench from point A) my Toilet soil stack to Point B) the main sewer line tap in the road. I knew that because the two points were fixed on earth there was not going to be a major change in the path or the grade. I also knew the grade or slope of the pipe was NOT the problem. The problem was that the Orangeburg pipe was 70 years old and had collapsed and was broken in many locations. The slope was good. So, just dig 16 to 24 inches and finesse the grade of the dirt, backfill with a little pipe bedding sand, groom the slope, lay the pipe and demonstrate that the water drained, and then bury the pipe. Those were the broad strokes and I was confident that with some patience and scrutiny I could complete the job.

Which brings me back to studying for the plumbing test. I was not permitted to dig up the alley because it is a public right of way. So I needed a permit and they would not issue the permit because I was not a licensed plumber. The licensed plumber was not worth $100 but was asking for $13,000 and gave me no confidence he could finish the job and he didn't even adequately answer the questions I asked. My conclusion was that he was indifferent because he had plenty of other jobs and he didn't see digging a trench as very complicated. Oh, it was expensive...but not worth discussing strategy. It was at once a job not worth writing a quote for, and also a job that cost almost as much as the whole house. This contradiction vexed me greatly. How could a plumber be so indifferent and dismissive and still ask for $13,000 verbally without a written quote that justified where the money came from. One quote said, "Sewer and water line repair: $13,000." Like this is a package you buy on Amazon? That made no sense. Where does the $13,000 come from. What are the items? What is labor? What are parts? What does the permit cost? Where did this number come from? Oh, it's such a low price that we don't bother itemizing the parts of the quote. What? This was baffling to me. Another important point was that after 3 years of contacting plumbers I had come to the conclusion that even if money was no object I might have to wait 6 months to finish the job...if it ever was finished. I started to sense that the plumbers were making plenty of money plunging toilets and replacing water heaters and they didn't actually want to dig a 150 foot long trench for a sewer line. They were being dismissive and elusive and overpriced because they did not want to get involved at any price. They preferred it if I would lose their number.

And this is why I tried to pass the plumbing test. And once I failed the plumbing test this is also why I saw a glimmer of hope that if I devoted a month or two to the study of plumbing and gas code then I might be able to pass the test. Yes. That's possible...and if I can't pass the test then the worst that happens is I fail the test and learn a bit about plumbing codes and plumbing tests in the process. I could live with that. It was a worthwhile investment because I had always wanted to learn the code book language and I knew with a month of study I could learn that part. So, I bought all the 2021 editions of the books even though the test specifically allows the 2018 editions. This would cause me problems later when I realized they would not allow me to use the 2021 edition even though the text is nearly identical. So I ended up buying both editions for nearly $1000 worth of textbooks. Then I searched for a reasonably priced study prep guide online and found one that appeared clearly formatted. So, shortly after 2023 began I started my journey into seriously pursuing a commercial and residential dual plumbing license in Arizona. The goal was to pass the test, pay for the bond, pay for the license application, get the license, pay for the building permit and the right of way permit, hire a backhoe, dig the trench, buy the sewer pipe and the pex for the water line...and do the work. It seemed ambitious but at the same time I was sitting around in my Guatemalan leather pants and wallowing in self-pity and unemployment so I can't really call myself an ambitious person. There are political events that have crushed my desire to contribute anything to humanity and this simple goal was selfish and out of curiosity and I had the time and the interest and I didn't see a huge investment. It's not like I was going to pass the bar exam to represent myself in traffic court. No. This was an achievable goal and the process itself would teach me a great deal so even if the destination was never reached I knew it would be useful.