Floor drain backup. I think?
OK guys - I've got a doosey. Lets be clear here... my husband doesn't know that I'm writing this. :p But before I go spending $5000 I want another opinion.
Here goes: We live in a 2-story old home (think depression era). We have a washer and dryer in the basement, and added (we had a professional add) a washer and dryer to the upstairs about 10 years ago. During a recent remodel of the basement laundry room, my husband noticed that when the upstairs washer drains, the floor drain backs up. It's not enough to flood the floor, but it does get wet around about 1/2in. Ring around the drain.
Note: both washers empty into the same wall drain (sorry, I'm not too good with the plumbing lingo). Or plumber said that it was 2in. Emptying into 1 1/2 in which seems to be a problem because of how efficiently the new washers drain.
Our plumber told us the only option was to open the floor and re-do the drain system to the tune of $5000.
Our floor drain is pretty gunked up. Would cleaning it out help solve this issue? How do I do this? AND Is there another option? HHEELLPPP!!