Property manager Grant McCulloch decided to call in the pros to get to the root of a storm drain problem at the Osoyoos condominium complex he looks after last week.
And that鈥檚 exactly what the problem was, a 36-foot, willow root weighing in at a whooping 500 pounds which had almost completely filled a PVC pipe eight inches in diameter.
鈥淭here was a block in there alright, so I called the plumber and the three of us got poking around, I thought maybe it was a dead animal of some sort or maybe a build up of sand but we didn鈥檛 expect that,鈥� said McCulloch. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know how deep it was going and how far in it was so we just kept pulling, two feet, five feet and it just keeps coming and coming until it came out.
鈥淎fter that, just sat on our asses and said 鈥榡eez, who wants a beer?鈥欌��
Since his posting on Facebook he says his phone has been ringing off the wall.
鈥淎 friend of mine who lives in a condo on the 40th floor in Toronto called and said she seen it on the television on the elevator,鈥� said McCulloch. 鈥淚 guess this is my 15 minutes of fame. Next news cycle something else will come up and I鈥檒l be ancient history.鈥�
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He believes the biggest draw is the appearance of the root which looks more like a critter out of a science fiction movie.
鈥淧eople are like, 鈥榳hat is that?鈥� I said to my wife this is how things get on the National Enquirer: 鈥楶rehistoric sea monster found in a drain鈥� no, no, no it鈥檚 a willow root,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淏ut really I鈥檝e got to give a big thanks to Action Plumbing, and those two young strapping fellas who just kept pulling and pulling and got it out without digging which would have cost thousands of dollars.鈥�
Those workers were Action Plumbing owner Dave Wilchynski鈥檚 son and apprentice TJ and journeyman Ben Taytelbaum.
鈥淲e actually had to physically get in the manhole, one of the guys was in there with a crowbar and he was pulling as hard as he could and two guys on top pulling with all their might,鈥� said Dave who got a call from his son after they had extracted the creature telling him to get there as fast as he could. 鈥淚t took them probably three hours, pulling that inch by inch they definitely earned their pay that day and I鈥檝e nicknamed it the root of all evil.
In 35 years I鈥檝e never seen anything quite so huge, you should have seen it, even the pictures can鈥檛 do it justice.鈥�
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