[earl hall]

Good Morning all, Got a question for you.

I have a washing machine that empties in to a laundry tub.
the laundry tub then drains down in to main stack. on the floor about 3 feet away is a floor drain. When the wifey-poo does laundy and the machine empties, I get water coming back up from the floor drain for a min. or two. then it all drains back down the way it is supose to.

Now I have cleaned out all the drain pipes, and even called in mr. roter router to clean the pipes but it still backs up.


I was going to install asome type of back water flow preventer valve but, the threads on the floor drain are shot and I can not find one that can be caulked into place or mortered or whatever.
I am getting sick and tired of my wife yelling at me to fix this, Do you think it is time to call some one out and have the threads recut on the pipe and then install the valve or should i just put a cap over it and caulk it in place... Yeah that is not really the correct way to fix it but I can't fig. out what else to do.

Thanxs
Earl

 

[PipeGuy]

sounds like either the main drain remains obstructed, has a high spot in it that causes the back up until a syphon is estalished, has insufficient slope, or has somehow been undersized. a video inspection of the line is merited before you decide how to fix it.

 

[plumguy]

If you have been living with this system for a while and have'nt had any problems until recent then I would call "Mr. Roter Router" back and ask about their warranty. Did they check their work before they left??... i.e. run the washer thru a cycle! Depending on how it is piped they may have snaked the wrong line or not far enough past the wye that is being effected. Like Pipeguy mentioned a video inspection is always a good idea and sometimes even changing drain cleaning companies.

 

[Mike Finley]

Isn't this a sign of a venting problem?

 

[PipeGuy]

i've assumed that the problem is occuring at the lowest level of the house since there's a floor drain adjacent to the washer. the floor drain itself (through which the backup is occuring) should, if nothing else, act like a vent. he also states that the tub drains into the main stack which shouldn't have any venting problems. i'm guessing that the volume produced by the washing macine exceeds any other fixture in the house and that's why it's the only thing surcharging the main drain line. flushing three toilets simultanously might produce a similar situation but that's not likely to happen.

 

[plumguy]

i've assumed that the problem is occuring at the lowest level of the house since there's a floor drain adjacent to the washer. the floor drain itself (through which the backup is occuring) should, if nothing else, act like a vent. he also states that the tub drains into the main stack which shouldn't have any venting problems. i'm guessing that the volume produced by the washing macine exceeds any other fixture in the house and that's why it's the only thing surcharging the main drain line. flushing three toilets simultanously might produce a similar situation but that's not likely to happen.

I'm assuming that this is an older house because there is a floor drain which is very uncommon around here in residential. Also because the laundry connection is in the basement(around here it is a thing of the past).

Floor drains are not vents in any way. If the floor drain did'nt have a trap..I'm sure they would'nt be able to tolerate the dangerous sewer gases entering their living quarters. Chances are the floor drain probably is not vented and at best is somewhat stack vented by his description of the location.

The laundry tub(sink) probably has a 50% chance that it is vented. Years ago the laundry connection was installed at the base of the stack so the force(inertia) of the water being pumped would keep the main drain clear. But, that has been proven to be not true...so now they are being installed closer to the source of the laundry on the main and upper levels.


I ran into a similiar problem not long ago and they had the same set up. I told the customer to install a nylon stocking(knee high) over the washer's drain hose with an elastic to help prevent it from reoccuring even though roots were his problem. He called a couple of months later and was floored at the amount of lint that was being trapped. He compared it to the size of a loaf of bread. He also said that HD sells these lint traps...so his wife did'nt have to sacrfice her stockings.

Mike, yes it is probably a combo of things and venting is probably one of them. :Thumbs:

 

[Randy]

You probably have a turn in the plumbing near the floor drain and the washer is forcing so much water out it is backing up for a minute. Try reducin the amount of flow from the washer.