It has been four months since raw sewage backed up into the basements of two heartland homeowners. Now, they could be forced to take their mess to court.

"Anything anyone flushes into the toilet came in my house," Dave Pietryga said of the damage to his basement.

Pietryga and one of his neighbors both had their finished basements ruined when sewer blockage forced a backup through their drains.

"Nothing you ever want to smell," said Christy Pietryga, Dave's wife. "We had to get the kids out right away."

The Pietrygas say the reason the sewer backed up was a concrete blockage, possibly from street paving. They say they have already spent $1,200 to clean up their basement, and they are not spending a dollar more to fix it. That, they say, should be left to the City of Papillion or the Sanitary Improvement District.

"It's been four months and nobody's doing anything. We're just sitting here with a gutted basement with no place for the kids to play," Christy Pietryga said.

The neighbor who also had damage to his basement had partial coverage under his insurance to cover the costs of repair. The Pietrygas did not because they were not expecting a sewage problem in newer neighborhood.

"I'm not going to put $30,000 of my own money back into it," Dave Pietryga said. "I already paid it once, and I'm not going to do it again so I'm hoping somebody takes care of it."

Papillion says it is not the city's responsibility to cover the costs, but instead the Sanitary Improvement District's.

The attorney for the SID says a government entity has six months to approve or deny a claim. Right now the decision is in the hands of the SID's insurance carrier, but the attorney hopes the Pietrygas and their neighbors will get an answer soon.

If all or part of the claim is denied, the homeowners could then sue for repairs.