HOPEWELL, Va. -- One Hopewell mom is stuck in a smelly situation that has forced her to spend hundreds of dollars to stay in a hotel just to use the shower and the toilet.
The mom said the problem started one day while she was washing dishes.
Her daughter yelled from the bathroom that something was bubbling up through the tub.
"When I opened the shower curtain, it was sewer water in the shower. When I tried to use the bathroom, I couldn't use it, like it wouldn't flush," the mother told the CBS 6 Problem Solvers.
She said she contacted her landlord who sent a plumbing company. However, she never expected the repair to take more than three weeks.
"And they took the toilet up. We were toilet-less for about two or three days so we had to constantly keep running to the neighbor's house or we had to run to the store to use the bathroom," she said. "Sometimes, when you try to flush the toilet, it just does this and it doesn't even work. Doesn't go down and then it comes up in there."
The mother said she is livid that they can't take showers.
She's also worried as repairs have left a hole in the bathroom floor.
"So if [my children] were to fall in this hole from these boards that are not even tied down, I mean, it's just unsafe," she said.
The landlord told Problem Solvers that so far, he has spent nearly $5,000 to fix the issue. However, the problem is more extensive than they thought and it is taking longer to fix.
He said if the family is unable to use the toilet and the shower, he will consider taking the hotel expenses she incurred off of her rent balance.
"I sent the pictures to him. It's just disgusting. It's literally nasty," she said.
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