SolvingProblems
New Member
I would love some advice on next steps on this one. So the lady and I just moved into 1 story ranch house a couple weeks ago. The mud room is also the laundry room, first floor. There is a washer and dryer, and a utility sink where the washing machine drains to. The tub is a 24x24x32in tub, and has a 1 inch drain pipe going to a p-trap, where it connects to a 1 1/2 inch drain pipe that runs along the wall behind about 10 feet to the outside of the house. when we first moved in, I noticed that the long elbow that connects the outside drain pipe with the pipe that is in the ground and connects to the sewer was broken, so I replaced it with another 90 long elbow.
The situation played out as such:
When the elbow I replaced is off (and the tub is literally just draining into the yard, fair from ideal) the tub drains very quickly, with never more than a couple inches standing in the tub.
When I put the elbow back on, the tub fills up quickly, and overflows.
So great I thought, there is a blockage in the drain pipe that leads to the main sewer line leading out of the house. So I get a 15 foot snake and run it through the drain pipe outside, and dont find any blockage. Try running the sink again with the elbow on, and of course it fills up.
So I get a handy blow bag, and take the elbow off, and put it into the drain leading to the sewer, hoping this would clear whatever blockage there might be over a half hour. I put it in, turn it on full blast, and go to the covered sewer drain access in the front yard. Water is moving through it like crazy! Given, this is pressurized and not gravity fed at this point, but confirmed to me there does not seem to be a blockage in the outside drain pipe that goes to the sewer line. so I am hoping maybe it was minor, and whatever small blockage that was causing the slow drain was blown out of the pipe.
No such luck. I connect the 90 degree elbow connecting the outside drain pipe to the pipe in the ground, and sure enough the utility tub fills up when I run both faucets full blast.
So right now, I am a little stuck with next steps. Do I pay a plumber or rent a long power snake? That seems dubious, as water is flowing freely through the drain pipe in the ground to where it connects with the house's outside sewer line.
So to summarize - the tub drains through the pipes in the house quickly (about 10-12 feet total of pipe) as evidenced by when I remove the 90 degree elbow connector - it flows out quick and leaves no more than a couple inches in the utility tub with both hot and cold running full blast, and I checked the ptrap and line, and its all clear as can be, and when I run the blow bag/pressurized water through the outside sewer drain, I am seeing a lot of water running through it when I look down in the sewer junction access in the front of the house. That seems to indicate there is now blockage in that part. But when I put the elbow connector back on connecting the two systems, slow tub drain that overfills with a standard washing load cycle (so I cant do any wash laundry at the house currently!) When I put the connector back on and look at the outside sewer access, I do see water flowing, but very slowly, more of a trickle.
It looks like before we moved in, at some point all this worked and drained as it was supposed to. I assume they were doing laundry just fine.
After the 90 degree elbow just outside that goes into the ground, it looks like there is another 90 degree bend in the underground drain pipe about a 18 inches deep, where it runs under the gravel driveway I assume to meet up with the outflow sewer line for the house as evidenced by seeing the large flow of water from the blow bag. I would assume gravity should be taking this down the gentle slope of the property from the side of the house where the drain pipe comes up, to where it empties into the main outflow for the house sewer line.
What do you think? Obviously, water is not flowing through this system as designed or how it is supposed to. I am getting a little desperate for answers, as we cant do laundry in the new house yet.
The situation played out as such:
When the elbow I replaced is off (and the tub is literally just draining into the yard, fair from ideal) the tub drains very quickly, with never more than a couple inches standing in the tub.
When I put the elbow back on, the tub fills up quickly, and overflows.
So great I thought, there is a blockage in the drain pipe that leads to the main sewer line leading out of the house. So I get a 15 foot snake and run it through the drain pipe outside, and dont find any blockage. Try running the sink again with the elbow on, and of course it fills up.
So I get a handy blow bag, and take the elbow off, and put it into the drain leading to the sewer, hoping this would clear whatever blockage there might be over a half hour. I put it in, turn it on full blast, and go to the covered sewer drain access in the front yard. Water is moving through it like crazy! Given, this is pressurized and not gravity fed at this point, but confirmed to me there does not seem to be a blockage in the outside drain pipe that goes to the sewer line. so I am hoping maybe it was minor, and whatever small blockage that was causing the slow drain was blown out of the pipe.
No such luck. I connect the 90 degree elbow connecting the outside drain pipe to the pipe in the ground, and sure enough the utility tub fills up when I run both faucets full blast.
So right now, I am a little stuck with next steps. Do I pay a plumber or rent a long power snake? That seems dubious, as water is flowing freely through the drain pipe in the ground to where it connects with the house's outside sewer line.
So to summarize - the tub drains through the pipes in the house quickly (about 10-12 feet total of pipe) as evidenced by when I remove the 90 degree elbow connector - it flows out quick and leaves no more than a couple inches in the utility tub with both hot and cold running full blast, and I checked the ptrap and line, and its all clear as can be, and when I run the blow bag/pressurized water through the outside sewer drain, I am seeing a lot of water running through it when I look down in the sewer junction access in the front of the house. That seems to indicate there is now blockage in that part. But when I put the elbow connector back on connecting the two systems, slow tub drain that overfills with a standard washing load cycle (so I cant do any wash laundry at the house currently!) When I put the connector back on and look at the outside sewer access, I do see water flowing, but very slowly, more of a trickle.
It looks like before we moved in, at some point all this worked and drained as it was supposed to. I assume they were doing laundry just fine.
After the 90 degree elbow just outside that goes into the ground, it looks like there is another 90 degree bend in the underground drain pipe about a 18 inches deep, where it runs under the gravel driveway I assume to meet up with the outflow sewer line for the house as evidenced by seeing the large flow of water from the blow bag. I would assume gravity should be taking this down the gentle slope of the property from the side of the house where the drain pipe comes up, to where it empties into the main outflow for the house sewer line.
What do you think? Obviously, water is not flowing through this system as designed or how it is supposed to. I am getting a little desperate for answers, as we cant do laundry in the new house yet.
I can definitely provide some photos in short order too. Can you provide a link to what the vent looks like?
