Hello,

I am new to all this and just wondering if my situation with my basement floor drain is normal. I have a floor drain 12"x12" and 1 foot deep. Inside the drain there are 4 pipes. One running from the kitchen, one from the bathroom, one from another bathroom, and the last is the pipe out of the house. The 4 pipes are always submerged 3/4ths in water. Lately there has been a lot of smell from the drain and when I opened it today the water was completely brown.

I ran the water through the house for 20 minutes, the level stayed the same height, brown water turned to clear. I opened the main cleanout which is also in my basement near the water meter and the drain smells really foul and has a glugging sound every few seconds. I sent a long flexible piece of metal down and it feels like the cleanout has about 3-4 inches of "sediment" at the elbow.

Is this normal or am I starting to have a problem that will require attention?

Thank you,
Newbie

Hi Newbie and Welcome to The Plumbing Page. At AskMeHelpDesk.com.

he drain smells really foul and has a glugging sound every few seconds. This tells me that you have a blocked vent. The sound you hear id the drain line attempting to vent through a trap. Can you tell me which line makes this sound as it drains. This is important unless you want to snake every vent you have.

The 4 pipes are always submerged 3/4ths in water.There might be a blockage in the pipe going out of the house.(sewer pipe). I'd rent a sewer machine and determine which vent's clogged and snake it from the roof. ( How you can tell is to drain each pipe and listen for the sound. Once you hear it that will be your blocked vent. Put out enough snake to reach the bas and 15 feet more. Now open up the clean out and snake the sewer line. Good luck, Tom