Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Signs You May Have a Broken, Damaged or Obstructed Sewer Line

Your main sewer line is the largest drain in your home. All other household drains lead into this line which runs underground from your house and connects to a city sewer line or a septic tank. Your home's sewer line might have been placed properly at the time your house was built, but over time, it can become subject to a wide variety of damage, including:
  • Breaking, cracking, collapsing due to shifting soil or frozen ground.

  • Clogs and blockages due to household waste, debris, grease and foreign objects.

  • Corrosion and leaky joints and seals due to age

  • Obstructions caused by tree root infiltration.
When your sewer line is blocked or damaged, not only are you at risk for messy flooding throughout your house, you are exposing yourself to leaking sewage...which can contain diseases and hazardous chemicals, as well as serve as a magnet for rats and insects. For the sake of your home and your health, damaged and obstructed sewer lines must be identified and repaired as quickly as possible.

Here are the major signs of a damaged or obstructed sewer line:
  • Slow-running or backed-up drains (sinks, tubs, toilets)

  • Frequent back-ups of basement drains or laundry tubs

  • Gurgling drain noises

  • Toilet bowl water levels rise and fall

  • Sewage odor inside, outside and around your house

  • Raw sewage on ground surface

  • Rats or rat holes in your yard

  • Sink holes or soggy wet areas on your property

  • Water stains around the floor drain in the basement

  • Cracking and structural damage along walls, floors and foundations
If you observe any of these indicators, call a sewer line company like Horizon Services as soon as possible. A sewer line technician inspect your sewer line by running a high-tech video camera through the line. It's kind of like a colonoscopy for your sewer line! This will enable him to determine if there is any damage of blockage and to pinpoint its location.

If the problem is just due to a simple blockage, your sewer line technician can cut through the clog with a rooter machine and clear the sewer line down to its inner walls.

If your sewer line technician identifies more serious damage to the main sewer line, it will need to be repaired or replaced. In the old days, that meant digging up your entire yard and destroying your landscape. Today, companies like Horizon Services employ a trenchless method of sewer line repair and replacement that is quick, inexpensive and requires no or little excavation. There are two major ways he can accomplish this.

  • Pipe Bursting: With this method, your sewer line technician makes small access holes where the damaged pipe starts and ends. Using your damaged sewer line as a guideline, he uses a hydraulic machine to pulls a long-lasting replacement pipe through the old sewer line path, breaking up the old damaged pipe as it moves into place.

  • Pipe Relining: Here your sewer line technican places a fiberglass liner into the damaged sewer pipe -- ie. a pipe within a pipe. This creates a durable, damage-resistant inner wall that restores all flow and function to the line.



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Poha BisiBeleBath

During our last trip to Mumbai, we made it to Shirdi too. On our return trip to Mumbai from Shirdi, we travelled by the day bus and reached my uncle's house at 10 p.m. We were all tired by the journey and just wanted to have some curd rice (That's the comfort meal especially after a tiresome journey) and hit the bed right away. Our bus was expected to reach by 8:30 p.m. Lalitha mami had made bisibele bath (BBB) and curd rice for dinner. As I said we were in no mood to relish BBB. On first look, the texture of BBB was different and with the taste of the first morsel, I asked what went in the BBB. It was made of poha. Poha has blended in well. I felt BBB with poha was light on stomach too. Here is my version of it with poha. I have followed the same method as I did with broken wheat before.








I washed and pressure cooked poha for 2 whistle. Just add enough water to moisten the poha. Take care to use the thick variety of poha.  Else it will get dissolved on cooking. I used the thick brown variety which is more nutritious too.






I used two cups of poha. Rest of the ingredients are same. The quantity was enough to serve 4. On my first attempt I didnot pressure cook the poha. I soaked it for 15 minutes and drained it. I mixed it along with the veggies and cooked. I felt the poha was dry and not soft and the pressure cooked method gives soft poha and it blends well. You can choose to MW also.



Monday, December 07, 2009

Spicy Chicken Curry

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Ingredients:

Chicken- 1/2 kg
Onion- 1
Tomato- 2
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - arc
Coriander leaves -little
Salt - To taste

 Masala powder: 

Chilli powder- 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder -1 /4 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Curd - 3 tsp

 Preparation  method:

1. Wash & clean the chicken & Marinate chicken  using masala powders & curd for 30 min.
2. Chop onion & tomato into pieces.
3. Add little water,Pressure cook chicken for 5 whistles.
4. Heat 2 tsp of oil in pan,add onions ,curry leaves & saute till golden brown.
5. Add tomatoes,saute till it will become soft.
6. Add garam masala & boiled chicken,mix well.
7. Add required water,cover with lid & reduce the flame.
8.  Allow it to cook for 4-5 min, Garnish with coriander .
9. Serve hot with Roti or Rice.

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