[Stubits]

We recently purchased a home that has a newly installed basement bathroom, built immediately below our kitchen. We have recently discovered that when we drain a full sink of water in the bathroom, it "erupts" out of the basement sink. As soon as we begin to drain the water from the kitchen sink, a very loud gurgling noise can be heard coming from the basement sink drain, and some seconds later, water literally erupts out of the drain, forceful enough to shoot water over the side of the vanity, up to the mirror, etc.

Any thoughts as to what the problem might be? The kitchen sink drains rather quickly, and is an oversized, and overly deep sink, the basement toilet functions fine, as does the tub and clothes washing machine. Only the kitchen sink seems to cause this problem.

Resolving this is rather important as my mother-in-law will be living in the basement and is set to arrive sooner rather than later.

Any help would be VERY much appreciate.

Thanks!

[ballengerb1]

Is there a tub or shower in the basement bath? You appear to have a blockage in a drain line common to the kitchen, but after the new bath. You can remove the bath trap and rod into the horizontal pipe that goes into the wall. You'll hit a 90 elbow about 8" in so use a small snake like 1/4".

[Stubits]

Ballenger:

Thanks so much. Yes, there is a tub in the basement bathroom as well.

I will definitely try snaking it, but, given that the basement sink drains well, the basement tub drains well, etc. does it still seem to be a problem with a blockage? Could it be a problem with how the bathroom was vented? We are not convinced the bathroom was installed by the most talented of plumbers. :)

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[ballengerb1]

Usually when this happens the water comes flying out of the lowest drain hole which is the tub or shower. However we do not know how your drains were installed. You bath sink has a 1 1/4 drain while the sink above has a larger drain. Your clog may be just at the point that a small bath drain which does not pass much water will not overwhelm the drain. Plus, when you drain your sink in the kitchen you have several gallons all coming at once. Fill both bath and kitchen sinks and drain at the same time to see if the bath really drains as well as you believe. Do you see any of the main drain lines or the evnt stack or is everything enclosed?

[Stubits]

Ballenger:

Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it. I will try draining both sinks at once. I see your point though about how small the bathroom sink is compared with the kitchen sink.

Actually, there is a decent hole in the wall of the basement bathroom, there was a pinhole leak in the "new" cold water line that we just had repaired. As I indicated earlier, the work wasn't done terribly well. So, what should I look for? I I can see a PVC pipe running from the kitchen, it comes down to the bathroom and is met with a T joint, to the left is the drain from the basement sink, it slopes to the right, however, in the direction of the toilet. I don't think I see the vent stack, although perhaps it is elsewhere.

Does this give you a better image of the setup?

Again, many, many thanks!

[ballengerb1]

The vent should be a verticule 4" pipe, probably PVC in the wall directly behind one of the toilets. It reaches up through the roof. In a wet vent the other drains join this stack with wye connectors byt again the quality of your installation is unknown so for now lets try the rodding at the basement sink trap horizontal line.

[Stubits]

Ballenger:

Not sure if you'll see this, but I sure hope you do.

So I finally got around to snaking the drain. I hit a couple of tough spots, but nothing too bad, really. When I pulled the snake out, it looked like either rust or dirt (we have a lot of rust colored clay here). I am sincerely hoping it is dirt and not rust. The dirt would make sense as I know that during the renovation they had to dig out a deep trench to run a drain to the bathroom and laundry room. What do you think? Likely a rusty pipe, cracked pipe or just a dirt clogged drain? Everything drains really well.

So, the snaking resulted in a lessening, although not abatement of the problem. When draining a sink full of water in the kitchen, the gurgling in the basement is much diminished and it takes longer for the water to come up into the bathroom sink. When it does come up, it is much less forceful than before.

So, should I try snaking the drain again? I used a 1/4" snake attachment for my power drill. Do I need a larger sized snake? Do I need to get a professional?

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

[speedball1]

Ballenger:Not sure if you'll see this, but I sure hope you do.

While Bob's having his second cuppa coffee let me chime in.

We have recently discovered that when we drain a full sink of water in the bathroom, it "erupts" out of the basement sink. As soon as we begin to drain the water from the kitchen sink, a very loud gurgling noise can be heard coming from the basement sink drain, and some seconds later, water literally erupts out of the drain, forceful enough to shoot water over the side of the vanity, up to the mirror, etc. Given that the basement sink drains well, the basement tub drains well, etc. does it still seem to be a problem with a blockage? Could it be a problem with how the bathroom was vented?

There's no doubt that you have a "partial blockage" downstream from the basement sink. A partial blockage will allow small discharges to pass, such as the downstairs tub or lavatory, but when it gets a larger discharge with the force increased by the drop from updtairs it hits the clog and bounces back sending a bubble of air and a gush of water ahead of it. This is what comes out of your sink.

Resolving this is rather important as my mother-in-law will be living in the basement and is set to arrive sooner rather than later.

There are several ways to resolve this. 1) you can rent a sewer machine, (see image) and snake from the kitchen roof vent **or** 2) you can snake from the basement sink vent. In both cases put out enough cable to reach the base and 16 feet more. Good luck, Tom

[Stubits]

Guys-

Thanks so much for all the help. Snaking the drain has definitely helped! I used a 25 foot long, 1/4" power auger attached to my drill. I definitely hit a couple of blockages, although nothing seemingly huge.

When I pulled the snake out, it looked like either rust or dirt (we have a lot of rust colored clay here). I am sincerely hoping it is dirt and not rust. The dirt would make sense as I know that during the renovation they had to dig out a deep trench to run a drain to the bathroom and laundry room. What do you think? Likely a rusty pipe, cracked pipe or just a dirt clogged drain? Everything drains really well.

So, the snaking resulted in a lessening, although not abatement of the problem. When draining a sink full of water in the kitchen, the gurgling in the basement is much diminished and it takes longer for the water to come up into the bathroom sink. When it does come up, it is much less forceful than before.

So, should I try snaking the drain again? I used a 1/4" snake attachment for my power drill. Do I need a larger sized snake? Do I need to get a professional?

Thanks!

[speedball1]

[QUOTE]So, should I try snaking the drain again? I used a 1/4" snake attachment for my power drill. Do I need a larger sized snake? QUOTE]
I think you need to rent a sewer snake like the one I have pictured. You still have a blockage out there you haven't hit as yet. Use a spade tip,(see image) to break up the clog and run the snake out as far as you can.

Do I need to get a professional?

That's up to you, but I think you're doing a pretty good job by yourself. Good luck, Tom

[Stubits]

Speedball:

Thanks for the advice and for the vote of confidence. I'll make arrangements to rent one of those sewer snakes ASAP. Couple of questions, if you don't mind.

1) Do they come in different sizes? If so, which one do I want?

2) Can I run this through the same path as I have with the smaller auger? I just removed the sink trap and went in through there.

3) How much damage can I do with all this? Do I need to be careful? If so, how? Is there a lot of risk here? Can I do harm to the pipes?

4) Based on what's already coming out, looks like reddish clay (not uncommon here) but perhaps rust, does it look like I am in big trouble?

Thanks!

[speedball1]

Good morning Stubby,

1) Do they come in different sizes? If so, which one do I want?
2) Can I run this through the same path as I have with the smaller auger? I just removed the sink trap and went in through there.

If you snake from the roof then a Ridgid K-60 Sewer machine should be used.
Going in through the trap tail's not advisable. This method will clear the horizontal drain line in the wall but you want to get past that into the main.

3) How much damage can I do with all this? Do I need to be careful? If so, how? Is there a lot of risk here? Can I do harm to the pipes?

No damage will be done to the system if you snake from a roof vent.

4) Based on what's already coming out, looks like reddish clay (not uncommon here) but perhaps rust, does it look like I am in big trouble?

This will depend on what you run into farther on down the line.
Dirt in the line can indicate a break in the pipe. When you snake from the roof be sure to put out enough cable to reach the base of the stack and 16 to 20 feet more. Let me know what you find. Good luck, n Tom