"The crawlspace doesn't make a good septic field..."

.

It's true. Those are the profound words spoken by my resident engineer, a.k.a. James. He was replacing the bathtub drain on Sunday, to fix a leak into the crawlspace. After a lot of work, a trip to Lowe's, and a lot more work, he got it done...only to discover that while the drain had been leaking, the problem was much bigger than a pesky tub leak.

*cue ominous music*

Yes, in the nature of homes owned by the Allens, the problem is not simple, small, or easily fixed. James discovered that the pipe leading from the washing machine and bathtub drains was connected to...the crawlspace. It wasn't hooked up to the main line going to the septic tank. It was just an open pipe, draining all of the water from the tub and the washing machine directly into the crawlspace. And it's been doing it since we bought the house. Ick.

It could be worse - it could've been the line from the toilet that was emptying under our house. Then again, if it HAD been the toilet, we would've smelled it right away and figured out the problem, rather than going for a year with a wet crawlspace.

So for now, we are camping out at my folks' house. I'm very thankful we have family living nearby so that this is an option. We've been trying to get the crawlspace to dry out so that James can fix the drain problems. It's not drying out very quickly, since it's so humid and wet outside.

My folks' house is much nicer, bigger, and newer than ours, but you know? It's not my home. I'm ready for our plumbing to be fixed so I can come home to my very own crooked-floored, drafty-windowed, tiny old house.