ascheurer
New Member
Hi everyone - hoping someone has seen this kind of configuration before of a basement. Let me explain the photos first and then give a little background and my end game.
Photo 1 - pointing 'east'; from the background to foreground... showing lines from upstairs and half bathrooms going into the floor with a mystery clean-out (that I can't open) in that same area, to the right, a vent (which drains to the main), and a floor drain with the grate off (described below).
Photo 2 - pointing 'west'; from foreground to background, the floor drain, and four clean-out plugs.
Photo 3 - close up of the clean-outs. I have opened each, and here's what *I* know about them. Top right: Main line cleanout. Bottom right: Seemingly all waste water from the house flows through here; no visible traps and it is quite dirty. Bottom left: A straight pipe about 2 feet deep with a lot of waste settled at the bottom, no visible trap, but appears to have a inlet/outlet both to the east and west. I poured water down here, but do not know where it went. Top left: Another straight pipe, also not sure where this water goes; appears to have a inlet/outlet back to the bottom left pipe.
This house does not have a sump pump.
Foundation was built in the 1960s and the house was rebuilt on top last year. Since moving in in August, we had two clogs of our main line. The first time, primarily water backed up through the floor drain. It was snaked, but not all tree roots were taken care of further down the main. The second, a LOT of waste came up from the floor drain. They snaked from the main clean out in the basement (and cut all roots in the line), but there was still a lot of sludge/sewage in the the floor drain. I cleaned out as best as I could, ran a lot of water down that floor drain, but we're still struggling with an odor from the sewer. When they cleaned it out the second time, I heard the guys talking about the house having a backflow preventer (i.e. over and above a simple trap, I guess?) when they were looking at the four clean-out plugs.
What I really want to do is find the *source* of the floor drain. It appears to almost be a french drain set-up as the pipe runs east and west (to the main). No house plumbing goes through the floor drain, and as far as I can tell, there is no trap.
Any ideas for the configuration? Any suggestions for cleaning out the pipe and installing any proper odor preventing mechanisms? Thanks so much in advance for your help and expertise!
Andy
Photo 1 - pointing 'east'; from the background to foreground... showing lines from upstairs and half bathrooms going into the floor with a mystery clean-out (that I can't open) in that same area, to the right, a vent (which drains to the main), and a floor drain with the grate off (described below).
Photo 2 - pointing 'west'; from foreground to background, the floor drain, and four clean-out plugs.
Photo 3 - close up of the clean-outs. I have opened each, and here's what *I* know about them. Top right: Main line cleanout. Bottom right: Seemingly all waste water from the house flows through here; no visible traps and it is quite dirty. Bottom left: A straight pipe about 2 feet deep with a lot of waste settled at the bottom, no visible trap, but appears to have a inlet/outlet both to the east and west. I poured water down here, but do not know where it went. Top left: Another straight pipe, also not sure where this water goes; appears to have a inlet/outlet back to the bottom left pipe.
This house does not have a sump pump.
Foundation was built in the 1960s and the house was rebuilt on top last year. Since moving in in August, we had two clogs of our main line. The first time, primarily water backed up through the floor drain. It was snaked, but not all tree roots were taken care of further down the main. The second, a LOT of waste came up from the floor drain. They snaked from the main clean out in the basement (and cut all roots in the line), but there was still a lot of sludge/sewage in the the floor drain. I cleaned out as best as I could, ran a lot of water down that floor drain, but we're still struggling with an odor from the sewer. When they cleaned it out the second time, I heard the guys talking about the house having a backflow preventer (i.e. over and above a simple trap, I guess?) when they were looking at the four clean-out plugs.
What I really want to do is find the *source* of the floor drain. It appears to almost be a french drain set-up as the pipe runs east and west (to the main). No house plumbing goes through the floor drain, and as far as I can tell, there is no trap.
Any ideas for the configuration? Any suggestions for cleaning out the pipe and installing any proper odor preventing mechanisms? Thanks so much in advance for your help and expertise!
Andy
