The washer discharge pipe in our rental townhouse is about 7 feet from the floor. We've gone through two washing machines in 2 1/2 months because the washers can't pump the water up that high and something seems to burst in them. Last time the entire basement was flooded. Someone said we could get an ejector pump but they're pretty expensive. Is there a less expensive but effective way to take care of this?

Why is the pipe 7 feet high?

why is the pipe 7 feet high?

I have no idea, and the landlord doesn't know either. In fact, when he lived here he went to the laundromat so he can't even offer a suggestion of what we can do. The pipe is just sticking out of the wall at about 7 feet from the floor.

Your basement must be very deep under the ground and the main sewer drain is that high. The option I would consider is a mini sump that goes under a sink and put a laundry tub there and sump pump it up to the 7 feet and dump the washer in the laundry tub.

Now that I think about it, our basement is very deep. The windows are also about 7 feet from the floor. My husband was also thinking along the lines of having the washer dump into something and sump pumping it to the pipe, but we didn't think of a sink. We were just trying to find the most cost effective solution to present to the landlord. Thank you for your help!

If the house sewer exits the house above the floor line then that's the reason the stand pipe's so high. You may install a hplding tank and a pump oe simply replace the washer with a new Maytag. They have more powerful pumps that they claim will pump up over a 8 foot head. Good luck, Tom