Fun with Sewer Lines
January 29, 2009 | By Kelley Koehler | Filed Under Tucson Homes Explained
Up bright and early this morning for a home inspection, termite inspection, and a sewer line inspection, complete with fancy take-home video. It’s an older Central Tucson home, built in the early 1920s, in the West University neighborhood.
Around here, it is fairly common that a lot has a house and guest house, and potentially the lot has also been split off into two adjacent parcels. Like so:
This can lead to some fun situations. Like, say, when a massive tree on neighboring property has crushed a sewer line on the next door property, and the sewer line runs under the adjacent property. With no easement. And around here, the homeowner is responsible for their sewer line out to the connection to the main.
Makes it a little difficult to repair…
Central Tucson is always full of surprises. So much of the work was done so long ago, when permits were "optional" and planning non-existent.
So we can deal with that. Once you know the problem, you can usually figure it out. The point is to know what to look for, what conditions should be setting off red flags.
In this case, an old lot split and utilities in the former alley way. And a massive tree right on the fence line.
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Hmm… Is the neighboring house connected to the same sewer line? If so there is also an additional document that Pima County Wastewater requires stating to the effect that if sewer were to back up into a dwelling connected that the parties are solely responsible and they wash their hands of the incident. It would be nice to know if that house shared the same sewer line which may be difficult to see in your camera inspection.
Sounds like you need to get a fresh easement recorded… if the owner will approve it that is…
This is now why the City of Tucson likes to approve lot splits.
Glad to see that you’re doing your homework.