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darren72

Rats and my decision to replace or repair a catch basin

darren72
10 years ago

I live in a 100+ year old house in Chicago. We've recently discovered that we have some rats in our backyard that seem to have dug some tunnels into our catch basin.

We hadn't previously paid much attention to the catch basin (in fact, we thought it wasn't in use anymore). It is fed by three downspouts and by kitchen/laundry waste water. Turns out that the basin is full of rocks and dirt, making it a good home to the rats. There are a lot of cracks/holes in the sides.

It seems that my choices are to remove the catch basin entirely. A reputable local plumbing company quoted me about $4200 to replace the catch basin and reroute the downspouts and kitchen/laundry water pipes directly to the city sewage. He would also clean out the main sewage line since it is likely full of dirt too. This would be best long-term solution.

But I only plan to stay in the house 5-7 years. Another option is to just clean out the catch basin and reseal the inside. The plumber said that he could do this for $2200, but that there are other companies that specialize in this and could probably do it for less. This solution would save money in the short run, but may not be best solution.

Any thoughts from people who have experience with this?

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