I have problem that has completely stumped my dad and I. My washer is backing up every time it goes to drain out for both the wash and rinse cycles. Also, my dishwasher is not draining out at all either. The washer has been doing this for a while, but the dishwasher just recently started doing this. I have have tried drain-o and liquid plummer professional strength liquid and crystals and we have snaked out he line for the washer a couple of different times.

HELP! :confused:

Does the dishwasher drain hose connect to a sink? If so, does that sink drain properly?

If yes, then here is my initial thought: you may have a partial blockage somewhere down the line, or perhaps a misaligned pipe somewhere - bottom line is, the drain flow is being "choked" at some point. Or perhaps each of the two appliances you mentioned have their own individual partial clogs in their respective drains.

Here's how it works: the drain line is only partially blocked, so gravity-powered wastewater seeps through slowly; but it gets through before enough of it has arrived at the blockage to cause major problems. The washer pump and (to a lesser extent) the dishwasher pump, on the other hand, have two major factors: a) they're pumping a LOT of water into the line, and b) they're pumping it VERY FAST. As a result of so much water trying to get through the narrow opening in the blockage so quickly, the water builds up at the blockage very quickly, sort of like a holiday weekend traffic jam (except that I would never want to spend my holiday weekend in the place where that water is headed ;)). This will (obviously) result in a backup.

Before we go any further, please provide some more details: WHERE is each appliance backing out of (standpipe, floordrain, nearby fixture, etc.)? Does the water back out of the same opening for both appliances, or does each back up at its own location? Are they close to each other - i.e. would it be reasonable to assume that they're both draining very close to each other, into the same line? And by the way, what happens "after the storm" - i.e. once it does back up, does it just sit there, or does it eventually drain very slowly?

Cheers,
Moishe

The sink drains fine. The washer is backing up out of where the drainage hose from the back of the appliance "hooks" into the pipe in the wall between the hot and cold lines for the washer. It just overflows into the floor unless I catch it and start and stop the cycle over and over. As far as the dishwasher the water doesn't drain out it just sits in the bottom of the d/w. The d/w is of course in the kitchen (back of house, inside wall) the w/d is in the garage on the front outside wall.

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Originally Posted by deandras

The sink drains fine. The washer is backing up out of where the drainage hose from the back of the appliance "hooks" into the pipe in the wall between the hot and cold lines for the washer. It just overflows into the floor unless I catch it and start and stop the cycle over and over. As far as the dishwasher the water doesn't drain out it just sits in the bottom of the d/w. The d/w is of course in the kitchen (back of house, inside wall) the w/d is in the garage on the front outside wall.

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That would make it two problems. A clogged up washer drain and a pump in the DW that's not working. Post the DW complaint over in the Appliance page where we have a top notch repair guy, (Applguy). Tell him the brand name of the DW and a model # if you can.
As for the washer you're going to have to snake from the washer vent on the roof. Put out enough cable to reach the base and about 20 foot more to get out in the main. Good luck, Tom