Hi,

Our basement has a drain that goes directly to the septic tank. Our washing machine which is in the basement used to drain there, however, the basement flooded becaause of sewage backup and heavy rains early last year. When my landlord fixed it he capped off the basement drain and hooked the washer up to drain upward. At first I thought everything was fine. Well, now a few months later, for some reason our washer isn't draining properly. We checked to see if it was clogged and couldn't find anything. It also spins just fine. But the clothes are so wet when we remove them that it takes three full dry cycles to get them dry and it is still pushing damp... Could it be that our washer can't drain the way it is set up? It is not a newer washer, but it is also not ancient either.. I would say about 8 years old or so. It is not a high end model either. Our basement has normal 8 foot ceilings so I am just not sure if it is just that our washer is not powerful enough, something is wrong with the drainage, or something wrong with our washer... Can anyone give me some advice to find the source of the problem? Thanks!

Yopur old drain did not go directly to the septic tank, there must have been a trap somewhere or you'd smell sewage in every load of laundry. To test the machine just let it fill with the smallest fill and a few old wrags. Let it reach the spin/drain cycle but disonnect the drain line and hold it shoulder high above a pair of 5 gallon buckets. If the machine empties just fine then it's the drain line. I can help with this but it really belongs to the landlord, most do not want you experimenting or repairing their property.