Hi everyone,

I just bought a house and am having issues with the plumbing. Whenever I wash a load of laundry, the washer pushes water through the pipes and ends up coming up through the sink and even overflows at the washer!! Any ideas? It appears to be properly vented, but I'm not sure if I should add another vent closer to the where the washer is in the line?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

You have a partial blockage in the drain line. Remove trap underneath the sink and run snake down the drain line.

What makes you think it needs a vent? Washers are somewhat notorious for clogging smaller drain lines with lint etc. Have you checked the drain line?

I didn't know if it had something to do with the pressure in the lines... my sinks, toilets and showers don't seem to be having any problem draining. I figured it could be from sending through several gallons of water through the lines very fast created negative pressure from not being properly vented.

The drain line in the wall behind the washer?

You have partial blockage in drain line. Sink and washer almost certainly connected to same drain line. The sink drains rather slowly as compared to the amount of water that is pumped in to the drain by the washer. Especially true if washer is relatively new. Drain is not completely blocked, but the blockage restricts the amount of water that can get past the blockage therefore the water backs up in the sink.

The reason for removing the trap and snaking from the sink drain is that you can most likely remove the sink trap without doing any plumbing repairs. You most likely cannot remove the trap in the washer stand pipe. You can get a small drain snake to go through a trap but it is easier to remove it if you can. The washer and the sink drains come together before the blockage as is evidenced by the fact that the water backs up into the sink.

OK, that makes sense. I have 2 follow up comments/questions. I went into the crawlspace and there is a clean out directly underneath the drain in the wall from the washer. I opened it up and it looked completely clear. The sinks that the water backed up is the kitchen sink and a b-room sink that is farther down the line... I guess it would make since though that only those sinks backed up if the blockage is directly after those. The other traps are after these in the plumbing line.

I noticed that there wasn't a trap on the washer, unless somehow it is in the wall between the studs(I doubt). Would that possibly cause any of this?

I checked the drain line and it appears to be fine

I noted your comment about a washer trap. In many cases they are in the wall cavity, particularly with a slab house. Still think it's a clog somewhere.

Ok, so you have a cleanout in the crawl space directly under the washer. This is great news. All you need to do is send a snake (auger) down that cleanout. Put in enough cable to reach the main sewer pipe and you should be all set. Even though the pipe at the cleanout looks clear, there is a blockage downstream, mainly downstream of the sink that the washer is backing up into. If you auger far enough from the cleanout, you will most likely cure the problem. This is exactly why cleanouts are installed. Snake that sucker. Good luck and please let us know how things work out.

Whether I snaked from a sink or the clean out in the crawl space would depend on how much space you have in the crawl space to work.

I agree completely Harold. But if there is workable room in the crawlspace, I would certainly snake from there, because as Im sure you well know, when you pull that snake back, especially where there is a kitchen sink and bathroom sink involved, its going to get messy, and I would rather see the mess in the crawl, than under the sink. Not only that, but I would imagine the cleanout will be two inch, where the sink drain will be 1 1/2. I would go for the bigger pipe, so I could send a bigger bit down there.

Thanks guys! I have about 5 feet of space to work in in the crawlspace so I will definitely opt for the mess to happen down there. I will let you know how it works. I have to run to the store and pick up an auger.

Well it all depends on how nice the lady of the house is. If she has coffee and chocolate chip cookies out me and doesn't bug me while I work, I wipe the snake off as I pull it back. No cookies, well sorry but plumbing is a nasty business.