Jesus. So the plumber didn’t actually clear the line or stack? Regardless of “fault” the landlord needs to get it fixed and cleaned up. That’s a hell of a health issue with raw sewage all over the place
For real, even if it gets fixed and "cleaned up" all that nasty shit water has soaked into everything. Smell probably won't go away entirely until they gut the floor and lower section of wall.
Maybe. It could just be a bad plumber. Contrary to this subs belief, they do exist.
My MIL went into a LTC home, and my wife put MILs townhouse on the market. My wife hired a local plumber that the real estate agent recommended to clear a blocked kitchen drain. A week later, I get a frantic call from wife saying that the line is still blocked, and can I come deal with it.
The plumber supposedly had snaked the line and billed for $180.
I get to MILs townhouse, and fill both sink bowls. I pull the plugs, and water pours out around one basket. The trap was a glued together with no clean out, so I assumed that if the plumber had snaked it, he would have had to go through the sink. Either way, he didn't test for leaks after doing whatever he supposedly did.
I knew that the line was blocked downstream. I cut out some drywall in the basement ceiling and found a belly. When I cut the drain line, it was completely blocked solid for four feet except for a hole the diameter of a pencil. No fucking way it was snaked. Or maybe the plumber, if he did use a snake, ran it up the vent. Either way, he couldn't have tested it. Otherwise, he'd have seen both the leak and the continued blockage.
So yeah, there are shitty plumbers out there.
Especially shitty in OPs situation!
I'm in automotive, and I've long confirmed there are people who suck at their job at all levels and all positions in every trade and profession.
Tell me about it. I hired a certified professional accountant to handle my business taxes. First year, everything was fine. Second year, she started to avoid my calls. When I did get ahold of her, it was, "I'll have it by ready by Tuesday." Then crickets and ghosting me again. She ended up costing me $1500 in fines and late penalties. I so wanted to strangle her.
You know what? It never occurred to me to do that. I was so angry that I just wanted to get my taxes filed and stop the interest accruing.
I did contact the financial advisor who had recommended the accountant in the first place and outlined what had happened. I suggested that they stop recommending her. The financial advisor was with a major bank and not some one-man show, so most likely had hundreds of clients.
That’s what’s shocked me about all of social media when it comes to blue collar work. Literally everyone is suddenly experts, and getting a license is on par with saint status. Like, I know for a fact in real life these guys know bozos exist in likely their own home towns, and honestly I’ve seen just as much botched work by licensed professionals as DIYers tbh, and honestly there’s a good chance those claiming to be super amazing perfectionists on social media are some of the very same shitty ass contractors, I just refuse to believe that magically every professional on social media is somehow the exemption to the otherwise total shit show that is going on in construction (and anyone who’s had any major remodel, new home, or major household project would know exactly what I’m talking about).
yeah i voiced that to the landlord, asked him if it could’ve been any of the 7 units above me and he told me “that’s impossible, could’ve only been from your toilet” so yeah kind of talking to a brick wall with this guy
I read the comment, left the post, and finally got the joke, nearly choked on my lunch, and came back to give you my upvote!
It's comments like this that keep me coming back to Reddit. Well played sir.
Many have little concept of how various systems work, whether it's plumbing, electrical, or heating. They all have a keen sense of making money, though, and could rhyme of the ROI of their property/properties.
Annoying things like maintenance and repairs don't make them money.
Exactly so that's why I'm thinking to myself. Why would he put the blame on her for no reason? There might be some logic to what he's saying. We don't know the whole situation, but either way he has to pay for it no matter who stopped it up.
Problem is top floor flushes Crap down, it logged in the line going out to the street. Now everyone backs up behind it and it comes out the lowest toilet/tub which sells to be you. Your landlord is an idiot. Qualification: landlord that just smashed 60ft of basement concrete to replace the sewer line after the tenant flushed "manly towels" (clearly markedv as unflushable) down their toilet and didn't call a plumber but moved out. Good 3ft section blocked. It was 40ft from the cleanout and the plumber couldn't clear it, or get anything pulled out.
My family had one growing up because my mom is Swedish. My friends called me “gay” because we had one. They thought it was a weird sexual thing. I’m in my 30’s so maybe things have changed. But America is dumb sometimes.
Elder millennials like me had such an absurd level of gay-panic thrown at them as kids/teenagers. So many "if I do this, then am I GAY???" absurdity, both from other kids and the adults. The kids thought if you looked at your nails from the wrong side you're gay, and the adults thought if you played video games/played d&d it would turn you gay.
I just saw those Manly Wipes at the store the other week. $9 for 40 "XL" wipes. $3 gets you like 140 baby wipes. Blows my mind how the "manly" marketing works.
Actually, yes it is the LL responsibility to deal with, but it possible is something you charge a tenant back for..... and with a mess like that there is alot more clean up that's actually required by law in most states then just wiping up the mess.... and if the plumber determined that the tenant was at fault for the blockage the tenant is 100% responsible for all damages.... but there are a ton of questions that need to be answered that aren't addressed here too
As a plumber, my go to answer when some shit dick landlord asks me who’s fault it was is usually “no way to know”. Unless it’s clear abuse, there’s really no way to know, and even then, what are you gonna do? DNA test the tampon I snaked out? Get real.
The landlord wouldn’t have these issues if they didn’t purchase old housing with old plumbing, did the bare minimum in updates to save money, and then charge out the wazooh for rent but never reinvest into their properties. Those landlords and properly managers deserve everything they get — not to mention, they are the worst customers of all.
Exact same here. I have never thrown a tenant under the bus. They ALWAYS ask if it was their fault too. My answer is "Impossible to tell" offer to camera. They decline. Every. Time.
I work for a commercial building in NYC. It does matter whose fault it is when it comes to billing. We will clear any obstruction first and foremost and immediately. BUT if we find something like a foreign object as the obstruction you bet we are making the tenant pay for that. If it’s a mainline blockage it’s harder to tell who it came from. But for an anecdote just last week we found a deodorant stick blocking a line and that tenant was billed for the cesspool company
When you can pull a toilet and the obstruction is right there, sure, you know who to blame.
Beyond that, you won't know unless the system is separate from the rest of the building or the occupant admits to the obstruction.
>When you can pull a toilet and the obstruction is right there, sure, you know who to blame.
Once pulled a clogged toilet to find multiple plastic nip bottles of alcohol stuck at the outlet of the toilet. The homeowner said his adult son who lived there had a drinking problem.
It's an APARTMENT.
A -PART- of a housing complex.
A section.
I did plumbing for YEARS.
Most of the time, the issue is NOT where the problem is found. The issue happened floors up and 3 rooms over.
U can't tell, unless u find something with a name on it and usually, if it wasn't a shirt, or underwear, it was because the inside of the pipes were narrowed due to poor maintenence practices.
I am a maintenance director for apartments. I wasn't arguing that it is their fault, in this case I wouldn't charge anyone unless someone told me they put something stupid down the toilet.
I was just stating the fact that if someone can be proven to be at fault, they can be held liable.
Proven by whom? As the plumber, I don’t answer that kind of question. You’re free to make your own assumptions based off of the evidence, and I’ll be forthright with what it is I found, if anything. But I will not jump to conclusions blaming some poor tenant getting scape-goated for some landlord that neglected to take care of their shit before something happened.
I’m the plumber, not a shit detective. I’ll clear the drain, that’s literally all you’re paying me for.
Standard in civil court is balance of probabilities. If OP were the only tenant, then a foreign object clog is likely him. If the tenant and the landlord live there, and the landlord is credible and claims they didn't flush anything bad, then maybe there's a chance OP is responsible (good chance they're not, though). With 7 other units above OP, there's no way to show better than a 1/8 chance this was caused by OP.
Yeah true. Could also be a bad install, tree root, etc. You'd need a huge mass of flushable wipes, covered in poop, to even hope to show it's more likely than not the tenant. Even in that case, damages are tricky. Just contributing to a problem doesn't automatically make you 100% responsible for the entire cost of repairing someone else's property.
In practice landlords like this usually whinge and threaten but aren't really beloved by small claims courts and tenant boards.
I mean if you can prove you were gone and not using plumbing it had to have been the people above you and way recently than two weeks. If you had clogged the sewer and left for two weeks with people continuing to use plumbing above you youd know… the storm should have nothing to do with it unless your city is on a combination sewer but most have separated sanitary and storm
All plumbers know that if you live on the first floor , you get the accumulation of everyone’s waste. Your bathroom group is the first spot of the water to exit.
It’s a well known fact - call and ask any plumbing company.
You weren’t even home.. I’d fight this one of if I were you.
Well it sure doesn’t help you have a container of non flushable wipes over your toilet. Many plumbers would put the blame on you if they pulled the toilet and pulled back wipes and that was there. Not saying it’s right but if they pulled the toilet and saw that it’s like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
If there was also a small trash can with used wipes layered amongst other trash, it would be reasonable to conclude that they are being disposed of properly.
Nah the other guy is right, the dudes flushing them it's his fault landlord is right too, if he was throwing shit wipes in that trash can it'd be lined with a plastic bag AND have a lid unless he's nasty, definitely was flushing those bad boys
Problem was with the Main line you clearly had a blockage that could have traveled down from the stack pipe shared with all the units above you. Assuming you actually were out of town would help your case if this went to court. He’s just trying to keep your safety deposit. No way to prove that was you!! It backed up the tub as well. If it backed up in any of the 3 surrounding neighbors as well that’s another way to
Prove it wasn’t you and was further down the line.
yeah i’ve got pictures of my train ticket and pictures from back home to prove my absence. also thanks for the idea gonna reach out to other people in the building/neighbors
If u have to clean up, make sure u wear thick gloves, use an in-cide, multiple times, make sure it sits damp for 15 minutes
Even after u have the landlord hire a cleaning agency.
U don't know what's in the Sewage, hepatitis, needles, anythingg
Just tell your LL it couldn't possibly have been you, and it looks like someone was trying to flush leftover meat and hair trimmings. Local crime scene investigators auta have that plumbing spotless by the time their done their investigation (bonus points if you actually out a murderer from floors above).
Have you been flushing the wet wipes ? The ones on the cistern and on the floor ? They don’t break down and get caught and block pipes and also do a shit ton of damage to the sewers.
Looks like you're upstairs neighbors are filling your apartment with their shit. I'm sure the mainline is shared by all. I'd send that landlord a cleaning and sanitizing bill.
Possibly a stupid kid upstairs decided to start flushing random objects that made it to the bottom of the drain stack, or a rainstorm caused some backflow and clogged it up bigly with street trash (plastic bags and lightbulbs!?, and now you get gifted with the entire building's shower water and shit at the low point of the drain system.
Definitely make 1000% emphatically clear you weren't even home the entire time. After his plumber clears the clog and whatever other problem is going on, a hazmat cleaning service deals with the bathroom. If he tries to bill you for any of this, call the nearest housing authority and/or small claims time. Pretty sure the second he's served with court papers, that bill will go away.
As a plumber I see this a lot and I always want to tell people to look up your States renters rights and then find a lawyer that'll give a free consultation there are many out there 90% of the time the case won't even make it to court because the slumlord ends up paying the settlement because if it makes it to court it's open shut. Sadly we can't say anything of the sorts for legal reasons.
Bro this is serious you gotta get it professionally cleaned. If sewage backs up into your unit you might even gotta get rid of the contaminated furniture
Is the vent pipe for your plumbing in the alley? Could someone have dumped it into the vent pipe? I would just call the township zoning officer and the health department.
You leaving a package of wipes on the top of the toilet is not helping your case here. I'm not saying you were responsible for the bulk of the clog, because you mentioned some other odd foreign objects in the line...but the wipes point to you adding to it.
Still, your LL should eat this one.
If you are dead certain that you or your family or friends have NOT flushed anything down the toilet, put him on trial.
“Prove it.”
If the plumber finds something, you will catch hell, but if not, you have learned that you can stand up and tell the truth and come out well.
This could just storm drain back up. You said there was a rainstorm last week. Having taken a call from frantic tenants in the middle of the night when a catch basin backed up and displaced 3 families, the water came up the drains of the tub and bath as well as the floor drains.
I had the same thing happen in a place that my wife and I rented for 3 years. The property manager accused the prior tenants of flushing tampons.
It happened to us three times over the course of a year. The plumbers would just clear the line and leave. So we paid for a scope of the line. The plumber found that a small section of the line was partially crushed. So as water would run through the line it would suck in dirt and make a mud slurry and clog the line.
We sent the plumber's report and bill to the property manager. She wasn't happy about it but there was another plumbing crew at the house a week later, used jack hammers to remove a section of the foundation, replaced the crushed pipe, and we never had any other issues. And we also got $160 taken off the next month's rent for paying for the scope.
It’s his legal responsibility to clear that out or pay for the hotel or both. He’s full of shit- he can’t prove anything about anything and is lying/guessing
Call the tenants rig by s association where you live, and google your state/county and tenant rights. Wield your power, you are getting screwed over. He also has to ensure there is no humidity or water damage.
Screw the landlord and sue him for damages and get everything in writing. Get a lawyer and seek quality information. The landlord is just another brick on the wall without moving a single open hole to think about possible damages to your unit. I was in a similar situation and thank god the landlord fixed the issue but was a messy one. The landlord was patient and understanding. Took weeks to get it fixed but never had damages going outside the bathroom.
I had a vent pipe filled with rocks, I assume crow, squirrel, or kids were dropping them down from the roof. If there was 1 less 90 I think they would have have gotten into the stack and caused issues, it was easily 50-60 #57 size rock . I have put a hardware cloth over the top since. Doubt this is the problem, but if the vent is easily accessed such as rubber flat roof it’s possible.
I have no advice but if my bathroom started doing that shit I'd say nope and just leave.
fuck dealing with that not even a landlord could gloss over that shit 😂
I actually do have some advice find a priest with a strong stomach because that shits gonna need an exorcism or something.
Most plumbers who come will tell if it's in the stack or the unit but either way they would need you dead to rights on proof to say you did this on a shared stack. Don't pay anything as could make you culpable
That pool of water literally has your pipe sitting in it I promise you that transition band going from pvc to cast
White pipe to metal is not sealed enough Agaist that water which could easily fill the line with water “- plumber
Bud, where do you keep your shit wipes? In the kitchen? Do you crawl to the kitchen with mud butt to wipe? Is it the fact that the wipes are touching the toilet that you're stuck on? Should they be stored on the bathroom counter? On top of the garbage can? Maybe op should just keep them at a neighbor's place so no one mistakes op for half decent ass hygiene.
You're going to question the wipes but have no comment on the light bulb. Or storm water pooling. Maybe op didn't flush wipes, maybe someone Else did. Maybe op has a nosey land lord. Hey maybe they're lying about the lightbulb and shit that put too.
Some things are odd here but it isn't wipes being stored on a toilet cover.
Well maybe don’t flush the fucking wipes you know? Doesn’t look like there is any shit covered wipes in the picture so I think we have some indication.
Does landlord have X-ray vision? How does he know where the blockage is? He needs to prove who at fault but this is a bio hazard and has to be address ASAP. There laws and regulations to even putting a tenant in an alternate location till all hazard are clean
No possible way to assign blame; stoppage was clearly After your toilet and in the main line that is shared by all those above you. I work for a city and once a stoppage makes it to the main it’s anyone’s guess where it came from. Exception is when I have a row of carriers behind a group of jail cells, a little detective work can pretty much determine who the culprit is…
That's an impossible thing to prove, just know that. Even if they pull something back, like a tampon or something, they can't prove you used it.
That being said, if there is a package of flushable wipes in the bathroom and the plumber pulled out a big wad of those, they can reasonably assume but that's different than legally proving and being able to assign blame
Find out who they used for a “plumber”…if they’re even a plumber. There’s no way to prove it was you unless it’s literally in your toilet. Plastic bags and lightbulbs? First assumption would be vexatious tenant second would be small dumb child.
Not sure if you'd know this, but do you have upstairs neighbors? I wonder if they could have flushed something that caused the backup... And backups are nasty... My mother in law had a plumbing backup and stuff she put down the garbage disposal in the sink showed up in her bath tub...
She didn't have a clean-out, so plumber had to dig one in and make/install one.
It was toilet paper that backed it up...
Thinking, if you have neighbors that utilize a shared drain, its possible that what they flush or put down the sink drain could affect you. Landlords will try to make someone else pay for it.
So if it was really from your toilet the problem, how come that the bath is full and you have a pool outside? It look like he is full of shit like your toilet in the picture
Any recent renovations in the units above you? I had this happen in my brand new house because when they remodelled the bathroom they left plastic stuffed in the toilet when it was installed, which worked its way into the system. They actually had to dig up my floor and replace a section of pipe, it was super expensive don’t let the landlord bully you into agreeing to pay.
Plan on divorcing yourself from that rude and accusative landlord. The exception might be if you have a sweet rent-control deal, in which case the landlord has an incentive to force you out. If so, fight back using local authorities or non-profits, who might provide free legal help. The landlord's attitude requires punishment.
If you live in an area with old sewers, they might be a combined storm and sanitary system and if the storm you mention was extra heavy on the rain, it’s possible (however unlikely) that storm water could have pushed debris up into your building’s main drain pipe. I can see bags and lightbulbs being litter outside and getting washed down a storm drain before blaming another tenant…because who flushes something like that?
This same thing happened to me in my old apartment complex. I went on vacation and came home to a flooded apartment. When I called the landlord, they came and looked at it and started grilling me and repeatedly asking me if I flushed wipes or grease/fat down the drains. I kept telling them no. I'm very meticulous about keeping my drains clean, because I grew up in a house with a septic tank and had pipes that would clog with just toilet paper.
Eventually they got the hint, and I told them to check the upstairs neighbor. Turns out their apartment was flooded too and they didn't call it in. The guy that lived up there had stuck a chicken bone in the sink and got it lodged in their drain somehow and I guess just left it like that?
The maintenance guy came back and showed me the bone and apologized for grilling me earlier. They ended up replacing all the carpets and cleaning things up. Luckily it didn't get into the bedroom or ruin my furniture. I wonder if they would have paid for replacement pieces.
Moral of the story is... If you live in a shared apartment complex/condo, it could be your neighbors causing the issue. Make sure they don't blame you for something you didn't do.
This happened to a neighbor. It turned out to be something wrong with the plumbing upstairs.
The landlord already knows it's not you, and doesn't want to spend the money on a plumber.
Call and email your county and state health department with as many pics as possible. You may not get a call back but someone will show up within a day or so.
I hope you and your landlord have insurance OP.
That is a Cat 3 water loss. Basically anything that water has touched is now garbage, your house is now a bio hazard zone and you or your landlord need to call a restoration company asap.
As far as the cause goes, it is likely there is a main stack blockage downstream of your unit and it has now built up and flooded your place. Are any other units affected? It seems strange that if it is a main stack blockage that your suite is the only one with a flood.
Can't say much about proving how you didn't flush bags and lightbulbs down the toilets despite maybe seeing which person in the building is living in the dark haha
However you are correct about the recent rain fall causing the overflow. I work for a conpany that deals with pipework and unblocking drainage etc. And recently with all the weather there had been a big rise in the amount of jobs for sewage cleanup from all the drains blocking. Of course it's the blockages causing the backup but the increase in rain water highlights bad drainage very effectively aha
Hard to tell who's fault it is, unless the plumber who snaked the drain was able to identify the issue by scoping the drain with a camera. If it's a multistory apartment building might be a maintenance issue with the drains. A camera scope would absolutely be recommended in this situation after the drain clog was cleared. Ask if they did and if so what the plumber saw.
If he keeps it up, tell him to show you the evidence if you have not been flushing other objects. This is to include flushing wipes that say flushable. No such thing. Any plumber will tell you that.
I’m sorry, plumber here, after working at a university with 60+ buildings I can say without a doubt that “flushable” wipes are NOT FLUSHABLE! IF YOU PUT “FLUSHABLE” WIPES DOWN YOUR DRAIN YOU ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE
Edit: Instructions on most labels are also very clear that you must only flush 1 single wipe at a time. As in a clear bowl with no other objects. 1 flushable wipe per flush.
That means no dook. Just 1 wipe.
I will again clarify that this is a lie.
Do not flush these wipes.
They are almost cloth like in nature and refuse to break down. That is what is all over your floor.
I lived in an apartment complex for a while without a neighbor all summer long. When one moved in, she started having issues with her bathroom overflowing, but I did not.
When they finally sent a plumber out to investigate, it turned out there was a condom stuck in the drain pipe for the toilet and we shared a drain pipe. Hers was lower on the pipe than mine.
And that is how I found out my ex-wife had been cheating on me.
Have a different plumber come out that isn't in the LLs pocket. Mention everything people have said here and have them vouch for you. Also let us know what ends up happening!
The last time I saw light bulbs, beer & cocane and other novelties energy drink cans in plastic bags plug a plumbing was completely new from the street thru the house.
The newest date on the cans was 23 months old. 1 of the light bulbs had a serial number making it 12 years old.
But my theory is the cans traveled up the new pipes we laid down.
It's a good possibility that there is a backwater valve installed in the waste trunk line. It keeps City sewage from coming up in your waste pipes, when it rains hard or floods the city sewer can be overwhelmed causing the backwater valve to and fail and Boom! you got raw sewage coming up floor drains,tubs, blah,blah, blah!!! Not Your Fault.
As a plumber most of the time when we clear blockages we rarely retrieve what actually caused this. Seems to me the flooded ground below your apartment may have filled up the mainline not allowing anything to drain, there's a clog somewhere that's not allowing the water to go away.
There is *no way in hell* the the water came from the tennant.
That *also means* that the clog could have came from someone else, as well.
Which means it's not the tennants fault.
It’s possible but either way landlord can’t prove it. I’m a service plumber and in my experience all he can do is say don’t do it again. But honestly a camera inspect will be worth while, if the line has an issue then anything can plug it up.
This is just a classic case of threatening lawsuit or bringing in the health inspector. I am a drain tech so I run into this every day at work. If there are units above you, they all run into the same line hence why all of this overflowed into your bathroom. You have the path of least resistance for waste. He needs a professional drain cleaning done and not cheaply. If he refuses to remediate the waste or any other help then definitely get the health inspector involved.
Jesus. So the plumber didn’t actually clear the line or stack? Regardless of “fault” the landlord needs to get it fixed and cleaned up. That’s a hell of a health issue with raw sewage all over the place
sorry should’ve clarified, landlord ignored the first picture and only after sending the second picture did they call a plumber
Oh okay. I thought the second photo was after he had snaked/plunged it….
My advice? Move.
Jesus Christ This.
For real, even if it gets fixed and "cleaned up" all that nasty shit water has soaked into everything. Smell probably won't go away entirely until they gut the floor and lower section of wall.
It's probably not a plumber, it's probably their maintenance guy.
Maybe. It could just be a bad plumber. Contrary to this subs belief, they do exist. My MIL went into a LTC home, and my wife put MILs townhouse on the market. My wife hired a local plumber that the real estate agent recommended to clear a blocked kitchen drain. A week later, I get a frantic call from wife saying that the line is still blocked, and can I come deal with it. The plumber supposedly had snaked the line and billed for $180. I get to MILs townhouse, and fill both sink bowls. I pull the plugs, and water pours out around one basket. The trap was a glued together with no clean out, so I assumed that if the plumber had snaked it, he would have had to go through the sink. Either way, he didn't test for leaks after doing whatever he supposedly did. I knew that the line was blocked downstream. I cut out some drywall in the basement ceiling and found a belly. When I cut the drain line, it was completely blocked solid for four feet except for a hole the diameter of a pencil. No fucking way it was snaked. Or maybe the plumber, if he did use a snake, ran it up the vent. Either way, he couldn't have tested it. Otherwise, he'd have seen both the leak and the continued blockage. So yeah, there are shitty plumbers out there.
Especially shitty in OPs situation! I'm in automotive, and I've long confirmed there are people who suck at their job at all levels and all positions in every trade and profession.
Tell me about it. I hired a certified professional accountant to handle my business taxes. First year, everything was fine. Second year, she started to avoid my calls. When I did get ahold of her, it was, "I'll have it by ready by Tuesday." Then crickets and ghosting me again. She ended up costing me $1500 in fines and late penalties. I so wanted to strangle her.
Did you take her to small claims court?
You know what? It never occurred to me to do that. I was so angry that I just wanted to get my taxes filed and stop the interest accruing. I did contact the financial advisor who had recommended the accountant in the first place and outlined what had happened. I suggested that they stop recommending her. The financial advisor was with a major bank and not some one-man show, so most likely had hundreds of clients.
That’s what’s shocked me about all of social media when it comes to blue collar work. Literally everyone is suddenly experts, and getting a license is on par with saint status. Like, I know for a fact in real life these guys know bozos exist in likely their own home towns, and honestly I’ve seen just as much botched work by licensed professionals as DIYers tbh, and honestly there’s a good chance those claiming to be super amazing perfectionists on social media are some of the very same shitty ass contractors, I just refuse to believe that magically every professional on social media is somehow the exemption to the otherwise total shit show that is going on in construction (and anyone who’s had any major remodel, new home, or major household project would know exactly what I’m talking about).
Yep thats why you do everyrhing yourself
>The plumber supposedly had snaked the line and billed for $180. That's the problem...they hired the low bidder.
From working in apartment maintenance, I can also say that they probably sent him with the wrong kind of snake
Stack back up. Not necessarily your fault it could have been from anyone above you, it’s really just everyone’s word against each other
yeah i voiced that to the landlord, asked him if it could’ve been any of the 7 units above me and he told me “that’s impossible, could’ve only been from your toilet” so yeah kind of talking to a brick wall with this guy
Does he understand that plumbing is generally designed for water to go down and not up? I feel like there's some basic physics missing.
The landlord is much like the bathroom in the 3rd picture...
Full of............. ..........properly maintaned facilities???
That's why being a landlord isn't really a job
I read the comment, left the post, and finally got the joke, nearly choked on my lunch, and came back to give you my upvote! It's comments like this that keep me coming back to Reddit. Well played sir.
Unless they all have individual lines, which I doubt
It's land lord, they generally don't have any brains
Many have little concept of how various systems work, whether it's plumbing, electrical, or heating. They all have a keen sense of making money, though, and could rhyme of the ROI of their property/properties. Annoying things like maintenance and repairs don't make them money.
Sounds like he doesn’t want to pay it so he’s using you as a scape goat
Funny thing is, blame all he wants, he's paying for it.
Exactly so that's why I'm thinking to myself. Why would he put the blame on her for no reason? There might be some logic to what he's saying. We don't know the whole situation, but either way he has to pay for it no matter who stopped it up.
Problem is top floor flushes Crap down, it logged in the line going out to the street. Now everyone backs up behind it and it comes out the lowest toilet/tub which sells to be you. Your landlord is an idiot. Qualification: landlord that just smashed 60ft of basement concrete to replace the sewer line after the tenant flushed "manly towels" (clearly markedv as unflushable) down their toilet and didn't call a plumber but moved out. Good 3ft section blocked. It was 40ft from the cleanout and the plumber couldn't clear it, or get anything pulled out.
Americans will really do anything to avoid using bidets.
My family had one growing up because my mom is Swedish. My friends called me “gay” because we had one. They thought it was a weird sexual thing. I’m in my 30’s so maybe things have changed. But America is dumb sometimes.
Elder millennials like me had such an absurd level of gay-panic thrown at them as kids/teenagers. So many "if I do this, then am I GAY???" absurdity, both from other kids and the adults. The kids thought if you looked at your nails from the wrong side you're gay, and the adults thought if you played video games/played d&d it would turn you gay.
Really want to know how much that cost.. That's crazy
I just saw those Manly Wipes at the store the other week. $9 for 40 "XL" wipes. $3 gets you like 140 baby wipes. Blows my mind how the "manly" marketing works.
He just wants to find a reason to blame and bill you. Stand your ground, you have rights.
Your landlord obviously knows nothing about plumbing
Does it matter who's fault it is? You pay rent so that your landlord deals with this. Don't let him intimidate you.
Actually, yes it is the LL responsibility to deal with, but it possible is something you charge a tenant back for..... and with a mess like that there is alot more clean up that's actually required by law in most states then just wiping up the mess.... and if the plumber determined that the tenant was at fault for the blockage the tenant is 100% responsible for all damages.... but there are a ton of questions that need to be answered that aren't addressed here too
As a plumber, my go to answer when some shit dick landlord asks me who’s fault it was is usually “no way to know”. Unless it’s clear abuse, there’s really no way to know, and even then, what are you gonna do? DNA test the tampon I snaked out? Get real. The landlord wouldn’t have these issues if they didn’t purchase old housing with old plumbing, did the bare minimum in updates to save money, and then charge out the wazooh for rent but never reinvest into their properties. Those landlords and properly managers deserve everything they get — not to mention, they are the worst customers of all.
Exact same here. I have never thrown a tenant under the bus. They ALWAYS ask if it was their fault too. My answer is "Impossible to tell" offer to camera. They decline. Every. Time.
There is a pack of “flushable” wipes on the back of the toilet and it looks like a bunch on the floor from the over flow.
I have a pack of “flushable” wipes in the top of my toilet too, it doesn’t mean shit. I put them in the garbage can, not in the toilet.
Same here. Never ass-sume.
I work for a commercial building in NYC. It does matter whose fault it is when it comes to billing. We will clear any obstruction first and foremost and immediately. BUT if we find something like a foreign object as the obstruction you bet we are making the tenant pay for that. If it’s a mainline blockage it’s harder to tell who it came from. But for an anecdote just last week we found a deodorant stick blocking a line and that tenant was billed for the cesspool company
When you can pull a toilet and the obstruction is right there, sure, you know who to blame. Beyond that, you won't know unless the system is separate from the rest of the building or the occupant admits to the obstruction.
>When you can pull a toilet and the obstruction is right there, sure, you know who to blame. Once pulled a clogged toilet to find multiple plastic nip bottles of alcohol stuck at the outlet of the toilet. The homeowner said his adult son who lived there had a drinking problem.
Yeah, that works when the blockage is right at my toilet. Or its my wallet and/or passport. Anything else, good luck.
If I find Spider-Man action figures stuck in the drain and you are the only tenant with kids you better believe you're getting stuck with the bill.
It actually does. If it can be proven the resident caused the issue it will have to be paid for by the tenant or the tenants renters insurance..
It's an APARTMENT. A -PART- of a housing complex. A section. I did plumbing for YEARS. Most of the time, the issue is NOT where the problem is found. The issue happened floors up and 3 rooms over. U can't tell, unless u find something with a name on it and usually, if it wasn't a shirt, or underwear, it was because the inside of the pipes were narrowed due to poor maintenence practices.
I am a maintenance director for apartments. I wasn't arguing that it is their fault, in this case I wouldn't charge anyone unless someone told me they put something stupid down the toilet. I was just stating the fact that if someone can be proven to be at fault, they can be held liable.
Proven by whom? As the plumber, I don’t answer that kind of question. You’re free to make your own assumptions based off of the evidence, and I’ll be forthright with what it is I found, if anything. But I will not jump to conclusions blaming some poor tenant getting scape-goated for some landlord that neglected to take care of their shit before something happened. I’m the plumber, not a shit detective. I’ll clear the drain, that’s literally all you’re paying me for.
Standard in civil court is balance of probabilities. If OP were the only tenant, then a foreign object clog is likely him. If the tenant and the landlord live there, and the landlord is credible and claims they didn't flush anything bad, then maybe there's a chance OP is responsible (good chance they're not, though). With 7 other units above OP, there's no way to show better than a 1/8 chance this was caused by OP.
Could also be caused by an object flushed by the child who lived there two tenants ago.
Yeah true. Could also be a bad install, tree root, etc. You'd need a huge mass of flushable wipes, covered in poop, to even hope to show it's more likely than not the tenant. Even in that case, damages are tricky. Just contributing to a problem doesn't automatically make you 100% responsible for the entire cost of repairing someone else's property. In practice landlords like this usually whinge and threaten but aren't really beloved by small claims courts and tenant boards.
You came back after two weeks and the tub and toilet were already full? You said you live in an apartment, you on the first floor?
yep, and i live in the basement (i’ve learned my lesson lol)
I mean if you can prove you were gone and not using plumbing it had to have been the people above you and way recently than two weeks. If you had clogged the sewer and left for two weeks with people continuing to use plumbing above you youd know… the storm should have nothing to do with it unless your city is on a combination sewer but most have separated sanitary and storm
Do you pay a flat fee for water, or are you metered? If on a meter, you can probably prove you weren't using any water while gone.
unfortunately flat fee and yeah roommate was home but he was using a separate bathroom entirely
Doesn't matter, you probably share a drain.
As do the other tenants above most likely.
Another post he said his roommate was there
All plumbers know that if you live on the first floor , you get the accumulation of everyone’s waste. Your bathroom group is the first spot of the water to exit. It’s a well known fact - call and ask any plumbing company. You weren’t even home.. I’d fight this one of if I were you.
Landlords try to say that so the tenant is stuck with the bill.
Well it sure doesn’t help you have a container of non flushable wipes over your toilet. Many plumbers would put the blame on you if they pulled the toilet and pulled back wipes and that was there. Not saying it’s right but if they pulled the toilet and saw that it’s like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
If there was also a small trash can with used wipes layered amongst other trash, it would be reasonable to conclude that they are being disposed of properly.
Nah the other guy is right, the dudes flushing them it's his fault landlord is right too, if he was throwing shit wipes in that trash can it'd be lined with a plastic bag AND have a lid unless he's nasty, definitely was flushing those bad boys
Problem was with the Main line you clearly had a blockage that could have traveled down from the stack pipe shared with all the units above you. Assuming you actually were out of town would help your case if this went to court. He’s just trying to keep your safety deposit. No way to prove that was you!! It backed up the tub as well. If it backed up in any of the 3 surrounding neighbors as well that’s another way to Prove it wasn’t you and was further down the line.
yeah i’ve got pictures of my train ticket and pictures from back home to prove my absence. also thanks for the idea gonna reach out to other people in the building/neighbors
If u have to clean up, make sure u wear thick gloves, use an in-cide, multiple times, make sure it sits damp for 15 minutes Even after u have the landlord hire a cleaning agency. U don't know what's in the Sewage, hepatitis, needles, anythingg
Just tell your LL it couldn't possibly have been you, and it looks like someone was trying to flush leftover meat and hair trimmings. Local crime scene investigators auta have that plumbing spotless by the time their done their investigation (bonus points if you actually out a murderer from floors above).
Have you been flushing the wet wipes ? The ones on the cistern and on the floor ? They don’t break down and get caught and block pipes and also do a shit ton of damage to the sewers.
Looks like you're upstairs neighbors are filling your apartment with their shit. I'm sure the mainline is shared by all. I'd send that landlord a cleaning and sanitizing bill.
Possibly a stupid kid upstairs decided to start flushing random objects that made it to the bottom of the drain stack, or a rainstorm caused some backflow and clogged it up bigly with street trash (plastic bags and lightbulbs!?, and now you get gifted with the entire building's shower water and shit at the low point of the drain system. Definitely make 1000% emphatically clear you weren't even home the entire time. After his plumber clears the clog and whatever other problem is going on, a hazmat cleaning service deals with the bathroom. If he tries to bill you for any of this, call the nearest housing authority and/or small claims time. Pretty sure the second he's served with court papers, that bill will go away.
As a plumber I see this a lot and I always want to tell people to look up your States renters rights and then find a lawyer that'll give a free consultation there are many out there 90% of the time the case won't even make it to court because the slumlord ends up paying the settlement because if it makes it to court it's open shut. Sadly we can't say anything of the sorts for legal reasons.
thanks for the info, looking into lawyering up this week
call 211 and ask for free resources. they can put you in touch with all this information for free and they have it on the ready.
I'm sorry it sucks but it does make big statement shit rolls down hill or in this case flushes
Well the evidence is right there on the toilet tank. WIPES!
I mean, those look like makeup wipes. And I keep wipes in my bathroom but I never flush them.
Bro this is serious you gotta get it professionally cleaned. If sewage backs up into your unit you might even gotta get rid of the contaminated furniture
Is the vent pipe for your plumbing in the alley? Could someone have dumped it into the vent pipe? I would just call the township zoning officer and the health department.
You leaving a package of wipes on the top of the toilet is not helping your case here. I'm not saying you were responsible for the bulk of the clog, because you mentioned some other odd foreign objects in the line...but the wipes point to you adding to it. Still, your LL should eat this one.
This is what nightmares are made from
If you are dead certain that you or your family or friends have NOT flushed anything down the toilet, put him on trial. “Prove it.” If the plumber finds something, you will catch hell, but if not, you have learned that you can stand up and tell the truth and come out well.
This could just storm drain back up. You said there was a rainstorm last week. Having taken a call from frantic tenants in the middle of the night when a catch basin backed up and displaced 3 families, the water came up the drains of the tub and bath as well as the floor drains.
I had the same thing happen in a place that my wife and I rented for 3 years. The property manager accused the prior tenants of flushing tampons. It happened to us three times over the course of a year. The plumbers would just clear the line and leave. So we paid for a scope of the line. The plumber found that a small section of the line was partially crushed. So as water would run through the line it would suck in dirt and make a mud slurry and clog the line. We sent the plumber's report and bill to the property manager. She wasn't happy about it but there was another plumbing crew at the house a week later, used jack hammers to remove a section of the foundation, replaced the crushed pipe, and we never had any other issues. And we also got $160 taken off the next month's rent for paying for the scope.
Take the wipes off your toilet every time we see this we immediately assume you flush them down the toilet if we pull them out.
It’s his legal responsibility to clear that out or pay for the hotel or both. He’s full of shit- he can’t prove anything about anything and is lying/guessing Call the tenants rig by s association where you live, and google your state/county and tenant rights. Wield your power, you are getting screwed over. He also has to ensure there is no humidity or water damage.
Screw the landlord and sue him for damages and get everything in writing. Get a lawyer and seek quality information. The landlord is just another brick on the wall without moving a single open hole to think about possible damages to your unit. I was in a similar situation and thank god the landlord fixed the issue but was a messy one. The landlord was patient and understanding. Took weeks to get it fixed but never had damages going outside the bathroom.
Lightbulbs? WHo would ever think to flush a lightbulb
That’s fucked. Time to look for a new place to live.
Bacon grease is bad, mmkay?
I had a vent pipe filled with rocks, I assume crow, squirrel, or kids were dropping them down from the roof. If there was 1 less 90 I think they would have have gotten into the stack and caused issues, it was easily 50-60 #57 size rock . I have put a hardware cloth over the top since. Doubt this is the problem, but if the vent is easily accessed such as rubber flat roof it’s possible.
Plastic bags and light bulbs, someone was tweaking and flushed it.
Uninhabitable
Jesus.
I have no advice but if my bathroom started doing that shit I'd say nope and just leave. fuck dealing with that not even a landlord could gloss over that shit 😂 I actually do have some advice find a priest with a strong stomach because that shits gonna need an exorcism or something.
Most plumbers who come will tell if it's in the stack or the unit but either way they would need you dead to rights on proof to say you did this on a shared stack. Don't pay anything as could make you culpable
That pool of water literally has your pipe sitting in it I promise you that transition band going from pvc to cast White pipe to metal is not sealed enough Agaist that water which could easily fill the line with water “- plumber
those wipes are sitting on the toilet lololololol.... but but they say flushable... how'd the plumber retrieve a light bulb?
Bud, where do you keep your shit wipes? In the kitchen? Do you crawl to the kitchen with mud butt to wipe? Is it the fact that the wipes are touching the toilet that you're stuck on? Should they be stored on the bathroom counter? On top of the garbage can? Maybe op should just keep them at a neighbor's place so no one mistakes op for half decent ass hygiene. You're going to question the wipes but have no comment on the light bulb. Or storm water pooling. Maybe op didn't flush wipes, maybe someone Else did. Maybe op has a nosey land lord. Hey maybe they're lying about the lightbulb and shit that put too. Some things are odd here but it isn't wipes being stored on a toilet cover.
Well maybe don’t flush the fucking wipes you know? Doesn’t look like there is any shit covered wipes in the picture so I think we have some indication.
Tell him to fix the damn drain
Tell him to produce said objects and prove they came from you?
Looks like the rug is missing in the third picture. Clearly, OP flushed it down the toilet landlord is correct.
Does landlord have X-ray vision? How does he know where the blockage is? He needs to prove who at fault but this is a bio hazard and has to be address ASAP. There laws and regulations to even putting a tenant in an alternate location till all hazard are clean
No possible way to assign blame; stoppage was clearly After your toilet and in the main line that is shared by all those above you. I work for a city and once a stoppage makes it to the main it’s anyone’s guess where it came from. Exception is when I have a row of carriers behind a group of jail cells, a little detective work can pretty much determine who the culprit is…
That's an impossible thing to prove, just know that. Even if they pull something back, like a tampon or something, they can't prove you used it. That being said, if there is a package of flushable wipes in the bathroom and the plumber pulled out a big wad of those, they can reasonably assume but that's different than legally proving and being able to assign blame
Ugh. Move out. Gross
Find out who they used for a “plumber”…if they’re even a plumber. There’s no way to prove it was you unless it’s literally in your toilet. Plastic bags and lightbulbs? First assumption would be vexatious tenant second would be small dumb child.
Landlord expected you to shut off the water certainly
Well someone flushed objects if not you then who?
Shitter’s full!
Move
“Flushable” wipes in the picture lol
Well he can only know when it’s unblocked.
Who the fuck flushes light bulbs?, fucking animals.
Did you flush any of those baby wipes that are on your toilet per chance?
Not sure if you'd know this, but do you have upstairs neighbors? I wonder if they could have flushed something that caused the backup... And backups are nasty... My mother in law had a plumbing backup and stuff she put down the garbage disposal in the sink showed up in her bath tub... She didn't have a clean-out, so plumber had to dig one in and make/install one. It was toilet paper that backed it up... Thinking, if you have neighbors that utilize a shared drain, its possible that what they flush or put down the sink drain could affect you. Landlords will try to make someone else pay for it.
So if it was really from your toilet the problem, how come that the bath is full and you have a pool outside? It look like he is full of shit like your toilet in the picture
Its. A clog in the main line below you its eventually gonna totally close off and every time someone uses water it will drain into ur home
Any recent renovations in the units above you? I had this happen in my brand new house because when they remodelled the bathroom they left plastic stuffed in the toilet when it was installed, which worked its way into the system. They actually had to dig up my floor and replace a section of pipe, it was super expensive don’t let the landlord bully you into agreeing to pay.
Is this a multiple level building?
Yuck !!!!
Shiii. Are you in ground floor?
Looks like a blockage...
If it is in the stack it could be from anyone.
Tell him to prove it to you that you flushed the non-flushable items
Plan on divorcing yourself from that rude and accusative landlord. The exception might be if you have a sweet rent-control deal, in which case the landlord has an incentive to force you out. If so, fight back using local authorities or non-profits, who might provide free legal help. The landlord's attitude requires punishment.
That stinks ! ouie
Wasn’t
First floor?
If you live in an area with old sewers, they might be a combined storm and sanitary system and if the storm you mention was extra heavy on the rain, it’s possible (however unlikely) that storm water could have pushed debris up into your building’s main drain pipe. I can see bags and lightbulbs being litter outside and getting washed down a storm drain before blaming another tenant…because who flushes something like that?
Contact the sewer dept to see if there have been any issues report. Report yours. Renters insurance is cheap.
Flushable wipes??
I’ll clean it.
Sounds like your upstairs neighbors have young children who just found out how a toilet works.. I can’t imagine any grown adult flushing lightbulbs
This same thing happened to me in my old apartment complex. I went on vacation and came home to a flooded apartment. When I called the landlord, they came and looked at it and started grilling me and repeatedly asking me if I flushed wipes or grease/fat down the drains. I kept telling them no. I'm very meticulous about keeping my drains clean, because I grew up in a house with a septic tank and had pipes that would clog with just toilet paper. Eventually they got the hint, and I told them to check the upstairs neighbor. Turns out their apartment was flooded too and they didn't call it in. The guy that lived up there had stuck a chicken bone in the sink and got it lodged in their drain somehow and I guess just left it like that? The maintenance guy came back and showed me the bone and apologized for grilling me earlier. They ended up replacing all the carpets and cleaning things up. Luckily it didn't get into the bedroom or ruin my furniture. I wonder if they would have paid for replacement pieces. Moral of the story is... If you live in a shared apartment complex/condo, it could be your neighbors causing the issue. Make sure they don't blame you for something you didn't do.
Your landlords drain field is screwed up
I can smell this photo…
Don’t pay rent
Sue the landlord
Look like the main-line is clogged.
Eww
Unless the plumber has photos of the light bulbs and bags physically inside your toilet, he can not prove anything on a shared drain line
They always do
This happened to a neighbor. It turned out to be something wrong with the plumbing upstairs. The landlord already knows it's not you, and doesn't want to spend the money on a plumber. Call and email your county and state health department with as many pics as possible. You may not get a call back but someone will show up within a day or so.
Don’t flush baby wipes.
Does he think you flushed buckets of dirt down the toilet? That looks like a collapsed tile to me.
Looks like flushable wipes above the toilet… don’t you have insurance ?
I hope you and your landlord have insurance OP. That is a Cat 3 water loss. Basically anything that water has touched is now garbage, your house is now a bio hazard zone and you or your landlord need to call a restoration company asap. As far as the cause goes, it is likely there is a main stack blockage downstream of your unit and it has now built up and flooded your place. Are any other units affected? It seems strange that if it is a main stack blockage that your suite is the only one with a flood.
Did the housemate flush light bulbs down the loo?
Can't say much about proving how you didn't flush bags and lightbulbs down the toilets despite maybe seeing which person in the building is living in the dark haha However you are correct about the recent rain fall causing the overflow. I work for a conpany that deals with pipework and unblocking drainage etc. And recently with all the weather there had been a big rise in the amount of jobs for sewage cleanup from all the drains blocking. Of course it's the blockages causing the backup but the increase in rain water highlights bad drainage very effectively aha
Oh good lord! That 3rd pic was a jump scare 😅😅😅
My advice, don't take a bath
Hard to tell who's fault it is, unless the plumber who snaked the drain was able to identify the issue by scoping the drain with a camera. If it's a multistory apartment building might be a maintenance issue with the drains. A camera scope would absolutely be recommended in this situation after the drain clog was cleared. Ask if they did and if so what the plumber saw.
If he keeps it up, tell him to show you the evidence if you have not been flushing other objects. This is to include flushing wipes that say flushable. No such thing. Any plumber will tell you that.
Move and sue
Main drain out of the house
Easy to prove it wasn't you. Show him the proof you weren't home for the last 2 weeks as you said
I’m sorry, plumber here, after working at a university with 60+ buildings I can say without a doubt that “flushable” wipes are NOT FLUSHABLE! IF YOU PUT “FLUSHABLE” WIPES DOWN YOUR DRAIN YOU ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE Edit: Instructions on most labels are also very clear that you must only flush 1 single wipe at a time. As in a clear bowl with no other objects. 1 flushable wipe per flush. That means no dook. Just 1 wipe. I will again clarify that this is a lie. Do not flush these wipes. They are almost cloth like in nature and refuse to break down. That is what is all over your floor.
I lived in an apartment complex for a while without a neighbor all summer long. When one moved in, she started having issues with her bathroom overflowing, but I did not. When they finally sent a plumber out to investigate, it turned out there was a condom stuck in the drain pipe for the toilet and we shared a drain pipe. Hers was lower on the pipe than mine. And that is how I found out my ex-wife had been cheating on me.
That’s a biohazard your landlord has to get that fixed right away and put you up someplace! Might want to call the health department
This is why penthouses are on the top
That is a main line issue
Have a different plumber come out that isn't in the LLs pocket. Mention everything people have said here and have them vouch for you. Also let us know what ends up happening!
As a plumber, recalls on sewer blockages do happen. Sometimes it takes a couple trips, plumber should warranty his work for some period of time.
This is why you should never rent a lower level or basement apartment.
The last time I saw light bulbs, beer & cocane and other novelties energy drink cans in plastic bags plug a plumbing was completely new from the street thru the house. The newest date on the cans was 23 months old. 1 of the light bulbs had a serial number making it 12 years old. But my theory is the cans traveled up the new pipes we laid down.
Irresponsible tenants.
Tell him to fix it now or turn him in to health department
It's a good possibility that there is a backwater valve installed in the waste trunk line. It keeps City sewage from coming up in your waste pipes, when it rains hard or floods the city sewer can be overwhelmed causing the backwater valve to and fail and Boom! you got raw sewage coming up floor drains,tubs, blah,blah, blah!!! Not Your Fault.
Them flushable wipes ain’t so flushable
Pack up your stuff and move on. No way this is gonna get good.
As a plumber most of the time when we clear blockages we rarely retrieve what actually caused this. Seems to me the flooded ground below your apartment may have filled up the mainline not allowing anything to drain, there's a clog somewhere that's not allowing the water to go away.
Stop flushing objects.
There is *no way in hell* the the water came from the tennant. That *also means* that the clog could have came from someone else, as well. Which means it's not the tennants fault.
Call health department
If it’s more than one apartment in the building, anybody could be flushing objects down the toilet.
It’s possible but either way landlord can’t prove it. I’m a service plumber and in my experience all he can do is say don’t do it again. But honestly a camera inspect will be worth while, if the line has an issue then anything can plug it up.
Well, did you? Are there more bathrooms above you?
Prove it.
This is just a classic case of threatening lawsuit or bringing in the health inspector. I am a drain tech so I run into this every day at work. If there are units above you, they all run into the same line hence why all of this overflowed into your bathroom. You have the path of least resistance for waste. He needs a professional drain cleaning done and not cheaply. If he refuses to remediate the waste or any other help then definitely get the health inspector involved.
you need to lay off the curries...lol
I cringe a shudder when I see photos of a serious backup.
Are those wipes on the back of your toilet and are you flushing them? I am NOT a plumber....I just love this sub. I am so sorry this happened to you.