Laundry drain overflowing

[Breakpoint]

Just moved in to my remodel house and the laundry drain is gushing out water after a few washes. First thought something was obstructing somewhere in the drain and pipe, I tried snaking from the vent pipe and straight from the laundry drain opening with no luck. My contractor and next door neighbor who is a plumber don't see anything wrong with the setup because the p-trap is new, but attaching to the existing old vent pipe. We even try putting a garden hose and gushing water into the laundry drain but no overflowing. I am not sure if it has to do with my new water-efficient washer (it suppose to use way less water than the old washer??) Past owner has not use the laudry room for a long time. My next door neighbor who is a plumber thinking is an obstruction somewhere in the pipe under the house. But my contractor does not think that is the problem since he has tried gushing water into the laundry drain and has no problem at all, it is backing up just when the washer was rinsing. The contractor think the venting is the issue because the washer is draining water at a very fast pace, but the code has been met with city inspection with the new p-trap installed. Since the drain hose from the washer is much smaller than tradition washer hose and it uses less water, I don't think that is the problem. I hope you all know what I am talking about. I know it sound strange. I attached a few pictures hoping someone can help me out. Thank you.

 

[Jadnashua]

Are you using a HE detergent? Might you be using too much?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Listen to your plumber. Vents are NEVER the cause of poor draining UNLESS there is an obstruction or pitch problem with the drain.

 

[Breakpoint]

Today I was trying to duplicate the overflowing problem with a garden hose and adjust the water flow (not too low or too high) just the same water flow of the washing machine, the water was gushing out from the drain. Is there a possibly there is not enough water pressure to push through the p-trap? Please advise.

 

[Gary Swart]

Drains are not pressurized, so that is not the problem. I can't tell by looking at the photos, but if the drain and standpipe are 1-1/2" that very well could be the problem, and even worse would be too much detergent in a drain that is too small. There may be something in the drain line that won't rinse out. I would not put too much faith on what a general contractor says. Now, before I get taken to task on that statement, I do realize some GC are knowledgeable about plumbing issues, but these are the same guys that put El Cheepo toilets in spec houses to keep profits up. You can fiddle faddle around with this problem and probably never get the drain cleared, or you can call a plumber who has the professional equipment and knowledge to clear the clog.

 

[Cubey]

I had a similar issue when I moved into my house last year. But I had it worse (perhaps). Mine was going from 1.5" pipe down into about about a 1" pipe made for lawn sprinkler systems! Needless to say, I had water everywhere when I tried to use my washer. Near as I can figure, they ran the washer drain to the old septic tank (which may have been filled in with dirt when the last owner had a well dug nearby the old tank and their machine broke through the lid) with sprinkler tubing.

I had to just pay a plumber to come install a new 2" line through the back wall (instead of the side wall due to the way the garage is built in relation to the house) and a line run to my main sewer line before it enters the septic tank. It set me back $400 but they had to bring in a backhoe to dig it up due to a tree very near by with roots in the way. So now I have a good standpipe and the old worthless one, and a vent pipe going up the back wall of the house just outside the back and garage doors. It's somewhat ugly but it sure beats paying $1000+ for them to dig a trench all the way around the garage and all the way back to the sewer line since I could afford $400 but not $1000+. It was way beyond what I wanted to try to attempt to do... digging a deep trench (with huge roots in the way) by hand, grading the pipe correctly, cutting into the main sewer line between the house and septic tank.. and actually putting it all together so that it didn't leak or back flow. I can fix a leaky pipe but this was beyond my skills.

If your drain is smaller than 2" as Gary mentioned, that may be the problem. Newer washers pump the water out faster than older machines did. You mentioned the previous owner hasn't used the laundry for a long time. That could explain why it used to work and doesn't know. Appliance dealers I have spoken to have confirmed that about newer washers. You may end up having to have a whole new drain put in.

Are you using a discharge hose bender? I don't know the right name for it. It's a plastic piece that the hose slides through near the end. It forces/keeps it bent into a "U" shape. If not, try getting one and using it. That is supposed to slow down the rate of flow as I understand it. Assuming your drain is in fact working properly, maybe that could be part of the problem.

If not, then it sounds like you need a new 2" drain installed if your existing is smaller than that. I see you mentioned snaking the air vent. I assume you've simply tried snaking the P-trap for the washer drain?

The problem is this: Either there's a clog or the pipe capacity is too small for the amount of water being discharged from the washer. A garden hose, I would assume, is much smaller than your H.E. washer's discharge hose. Turning a garden hose on full blast into the drain is probably putting 1/3 to 1/2 the rate of flow that your washer discharges so it's not a valid test really.

 

[Breakpoint]

Thank you all for yours inputs. I know I forgot to provide some important info. The P-trap is 2' and the vent pipe is 1.5'. I am not using much HE laundry detergent. I will can in a rooter-rotor to come and clean out some of the drains. I did snake it with a hand-held 25 footer, guessing the cut is too small and the length is too short if coming down from the vent pipe of the roof? Where would you guys think is appropriate to start the snake
(roof vent or open part of the drain that connects to the laundry drop?) because I don't want the rooter-rotor just come and snake the trap and leave with nothing accomplish. Any suggestion on how the procedure and step should be taken? Please advise.

 

[Cubey]

I would do it from the drain where the hose goes into. Odds are it's not the air vent if you already tried snaking it with a hand one.

 

[Breakpoint]

Thank all of you for your advises. I called in the plumber and he ran a 75 foot auger from the laundry vent and we tested a few times with the washer machine and it drained with no problem. I am hoping this will solve my nightmare. You guys are awesome!! Thank you..

 

[Steve Langler 101]

Your problem originates out in the septic drainfield or leachfield. If you go to this website www.biosafeone.com then click on treatment guide on the top this page explains that you have a problematic system caused by years of undigested waste accumulated in your plumbing, tank, field lines and especially the drainfield soi.. Whenever the drainfield starts to fail you get internal household manifestations of plumbing problems. Read my story I wrote on another blog:


Hi,

Unfortunately I have alot of experience with this type of situation. In reponse to your problem I will say that pumping will not fix the problem. The field has failed which is very expensive 10-30K or more depending on where you live. If you read what I wrote on another blog you can see the solution is definitely not terralifting and the problem is caused by years of sewage buildup from the lack of digestion. Read below:

Best Septic Product to use by Far! Best tip you will get regarding this believe me.
Read my story below that i posted on anothe blog I believe it answers your questions:
I used to think like you that all septic tank additves were the way you described but recently I had experienced a totally different thing happened to me. I live in a house that is 43 years old in Connecticut. I have 3 kids and a wife. I had alot of friends over the years come by and visit my house. I have lived there for the past 15 years. Before me there was a family of about 5 as well. For 15 years I relied on pumpouts and used yeast or Rid x (along with other product ) which is basically the same thing except Rid x is bad because they add fillers. Anyhow, one day I noticed odors and backup inside my house so I pumped the tank like I had done for many years once every 3 years, The pumper and local officials told me never to add anything into the tank. When the pumper came this time he pumped the tank but run off came back into my tank from my field. So I ignored it even thought the pumper told me that my drainfiled was saturated, clogged and ruined. I asked him why and he didnt know. I did some research and called a co. which looked more reputable then the other co's which I saw online www.biosafeone.com a field tech there advised me that I needed to shock my system with their patented products that no other products would work. I was very skeptical and decided to wait. 2 weeks later the problems got worse there was a flood on top of my drainfield and black biomat shot up out of the ground as the biosafeone tech said would happen. I was very afraid of getting code enforced by the local health dept. which they would have mandated a new drainfield with a contractor which would have cost me $35,000, I did get three quotes from contractors they each tried to low ball me but I knew better they told me $8K for a new field but my neighbor Jim told me that was baloney that a new septic system would be about $35K. Contractors always quote low and charge high! I tried to first save some money with some cheaper septic products but nothing worked. Then I called back biosafeone is a desapate attempt to fix my septic system. Biosafeone was not cheap but turned out to be worth every penny!

I called back BioSafeOne to order biosafeone products after all of biosafeone's references that were given to me came back very positive but I was still skeptical because nothing else had worked at this point.Yet all the references spoke highly of the biosafeone products. So I deceided to shock my system using 11 pails of their BIO-112 Heavy Sludge Digester along with their 3 Yr. BOSS product and 1 Biocube . Within 2 weeks all the flood had dried up within 3 days all backups and odors were gone. I was totally amazed in shock!! I could not believe how well the products reversed 43 years of sewage buildup! Just goes to show you the big lie is dont add anything to your septic and everything will be fine just pump it. I found out later that my pumper was directly related to the replacement guy. He was mad that I didnt hire him too. How ironic. My conclusion is that it is one VERY BIG LIE and MISCONSCEPTION TO NOT ADD ANYTHING TO YOUR SEPTIC TANK TO MAINTAIN. Another big lie iis to just rely on pumpouts nothing could be further from the truth. The local government, pumpers and replacement people all profit when the system fails so they tell you this to expect your system to fail in time. The Biosafeone tech explained to me that when their BOSS product is used from day one total and complete digestion occurs of all incoming waste therefore nothing accumulates in the tank or field or pipes so obviously there is nothing to pump out and even better no big replacement bill. I totally refute all other comments on this page if you havent tried these biosafeone.com products then you really have missed something! Thank you so much Biosafeone for saving me a fortune ! You guys are great!