I have a pump specifically for my laundry water. We are not on city utilities... so I have a septic and well. The drain for my sink water can't take the pumped out laundry water so I had to put the pump on the septic line. The ONLY thing on this line is my toilet. I'm sure this isn't the best idea, but it's the only solution I seem to have. The toilet bubbles REALLY bad when we do laundry. It didn't seem to do this when we first hooked it up like this a couple years ago. What can I do?

Is your washer vented? Rod the vent from the roof. Good luck

Yes, there is a vent on the line. I thought maybe it was clogged but it seems to be nice and open.

Your vent may seem noice and open but something is partially cloged or your sink could handle the washer drain. Sinks employ a 1 1/2" drain which is sufficient for a washer unless there is a clog. Bubbles in toilet are a sign the toilet is turning itself into a vent stack. Pumping the washer to the setptic tank caused air to push back up out of the tank, down the line and up the stack, at least when there is no clog. How did you test to see that it appears to be "nice and open."

We live in a ranch style home... so from the basement I was able to see straight upt he majority of the way. There is a little bit of an offset in the attice that I couldn't see to. Maybe that is clogged some with leaf debris or something.

We must be thinking of two different things, unless you can get your head inside a 4" pipe and look up you can't see up a vent stack. Plus most vent clogs are going to be belwo the clean out. Can you further explain?? The vent stack is usually a 4" white PVC or cast orin pipe going from below the floor of the basement up through and out of the roof.

As far as I can tell my toilet pipes directly out to my septic... nothing below the basement floor. Right before it leaves the house, there is a vent pipe that goes through the roof. I was referring to the 1 1/2" vent pipe.

Do the drain pipes go out through the wall or do they go down into the floor? 1 1/2" vent stack is very small for a home stack, so how do you look up and out through the roof from the basement? Still trying to figure out what you have here so be patient please

hauntinghelper, can you post a picture from the basement? I'm having a little problem understanding.

Yes, please post a picture if you can or describe things in more detail.
You said you put a pump on the septic line. Does that mean you put a pump on the sink drain line?

You said that the toilet bubbles when you do laundry. I assume that means when the pump is running. I also assume that the toilet functions properly and does not overflow since you did not mention that.

I have been watching Bob try to figure this one out. Here is what I think has happened. Mind you, this is just a guess.

Your washer drains into a laundry sink. When the drain got partially blocked and water backed up in the sink you installed a pump on the drain line to force the water out. That worked fine for a while. Now the drain line has gotten completely blocked. The pump is pumping the water up the vent pipe into the main vent stack. The laundry water flowing down the vent stack is pushing air out the toilet and causing it to bubble. The main drain is not blocked or the toilet would overflow.

If I have read and interpreted your post correctly, remove the pump and snake and clean the laundry tub drain. The pump should not really be necessary but you can keep it if you would like..

Just a guess.

Sorry guys for the delay. I have a lot on my plate right now and I will get some pictures up as soon as I can find time to play around down there.