Hello, My problem is that my washer drain overflows during drain down of washer water. It appears to be a 1 1/2" line and is shared with dishwasher and kitchen sink. There is a crawl space under laundry room and trap is located below floor in crawl space area. My drainage system feeds into a septic system although My toilets flush fine and there is no back-up apparent in tubs. I can hear a gurgle sound in kitchen sink during washer drain-down. Do you have any ideas?

John

Hi john,
You have a partial stoppage in the washer/kitchen drain. To clear this line you must snake the line through the kitchen sink roof vent. If you do the job yourself put out enough cable to reach the base of the vent and about 25' more. Good luck, Tom

Tom,

Thank you for your speedy response. I will rent snake and run through kitchen sink roof vent.
I appreciate your time and consideration.

John

Tom,

Thank you very much for your advice on my plugged washer drain problem. I purchased a 3/8" X 50' snake from my local hardware store for $15.00 and inserted in through my roof vent. I ran all 50' of snake several times and broke the pluggage free. I will add drain cleaner to system as a preventative measure but was very happy with the inexpensive fix following your professional advice. I'm sure hiring a plumber would have far exceeded my investment in the sewer rodder and my time, and I can now clean it myself in the future if need be.

You're a modern day hero for the regular folks of do-it-yourselfers.

Thanks again,

John

Hi:

I have the same issue. But my sink is not vented to the roof. It's only vent is the sink itself and the stand pipe in the basement. There is a vent in the roof, but they never hooked it up and my house is from 1955. I have a floor drain backing up and the straight pipe started overflowing.

AM :confused: :mad:

First of all are you sure your sink is unvented and not just revented in your attic? Every fixture that has a trap MUST be vented. A unvented fixture can allow sewer gas to escape through the trap. Sewer is dangerous to your families health and the methane content makes it explosive.
Try clearing the line through the floor drain or the washer standpipe and if your sink is not vented get it corrected at once. Good luck, Tom