[jbeer32]

I have a problem and need advice. I was doing laundry this afternoon when I heard running water. I went to where my washer was and there was water overflowing from the drain tub onto the floor. I lifted the washer lid to stop the water draining into the tub. There was nothing in the tub that could have blocked the drainage. It has been 3 hours and the tub has as much water in it now than it did initially. I tried to use a plunger to free anything up to no avail. The kicker is I did laundry a couple of days ago and had no problems. Also, beneath the drain tub is a drain on the floor. This drain accumulated the overflow from the tub but it also is not draining. Because there are two drains near each other that are not draining, I can't imagine that one or both are plugged with something because that would be too much of a coincidence. My toilet and all other drains in the house seem to be draining just fine, just these two spontaneously stopped working. Any advice from anyone on what could be going on and possible solutions to fix my problem would be well appreciated. Thanks.
Jeremy:confused:

[ballengerb1]

Your toilets and sinks are appearing to drain fine because they are exiting in your basement. The clog in the drain is downstream/after the washing machine, probably near where the drain exits the house. The clog could be as far out as the city main, in any case you need to rod your main drain with a 3" cutter. You can rent these or hire a plumber, your choice.

[doug238]

OK, from what I read there are 2 drains at extremely different levels that are not draining but connected to the same system. Is the reason you are draining the washing machine into a laundry tub because it goes into a sump pump? If so, check to see if sump pump is plugged in or maybe has an air lock. Possibly it has an aav [air admittance valve] on the vent.

[jbeer32]

ok, from what i read there are 2 drains at extremely different levels that are not draining but connected to the same system. is the reason you are draining the washing machine into a laundry tub because it goes into a sump pump? if so, check to see if sump pump is plugged in or maybe has an air lock. possibly it has an aav [air admittance valve] on the vent.

The tub that I am draining my washing machine into is a regular drain tub that I have seen everyone that I know use to drain their washing machine water. I do have a sub pump in my basement about 10 feet away from these drains though. If it was plugged, how would I check it? Thanks.

[ballengerb1]

Hey Doug, you thought they were at extremely different levels, I read it that they are about 24" apart, a laundry tub and a floor drain below it. My guess is that the plug is downstream of the floor drain but the pipe between the tub and floor drain is partially blocked too. Sound good to you? My advice is to rod out the drain onder the floor as it \heads to the main drain leaving the house. This pipe could be plugged anywhere along its run to the city sewer riser were many pluggs happen. Use a 3" cutter that you can rent or hire a pro.

[doug238]

[[[[Hey Doug, you thought they were at extremely different levels, I read it that they are about 24" apart, a laundry tub and a floor drain below it. My guess is that the plug is downstream of the floor drain but the pipe between the tub and floor drain is partially blocked too. Sound good to you? My advice is to rod out the drain onder the floor as it \heads to the main drain leaving the house. This pipe could be plugged anywhere along its run to the city sewer riser were many pluggs happen. Use a 3" cutter that you can rent or hire a pro.]]]]]
Ballenger, when we are talking about a clog in a laundry tub and a clog in a floor drain 24" lower that is 2 different levels and it is an extreme. If there was only one problem then the water in the laundry tub would come out by way of the floor drain because of the 2 different levels. It sounds like the pump is not working and is airlocked. I say not working because the floor drain is clogged, and airlocked because the water in the laundry tub is not coming out of the floor drain.
jbeer32, check to see if the sump pump is plugged in. if it has 2 cords then the one plugged into the wall is the float switch and the one plugged in piggyback to the one in the wall is the pump. If so, unplug them and plug in only the pump wire to see if the pump is working. Leave plugged in until sump basin is cleared. It should take about 5 to 10 seconds. Do not leave plugged in because it will not automatically turn off and burn up the pump. Make sure the receptacle is active also.

[jbeer32]

[[[[Hey Doug, you thought they were at extremely different levels, I read it that they are about 24" apart, a laundry tub and a floor drain below it. My guess is that the plug is downstream of the floor drain but the pipe between the tub and floor drain is partially blocked too. Sound good to you? My advice is to rod out the drain onder the floor as it \heads to the main drain leaving the house. This pipe could be plugged anywhere along its run to the city sewer riser were many pluggs happen. Use a 3" cutter that you can rent or hire a pro.]]]]]
ballenger, when we are talking about a clog in a laundry tub and a clog in a floor drain 24" lower that is 2 different levels and it is an extreme. if there was only one problem then the water in the laundry tub would come out by way of the floor drain because of the 2 different levels. it sounds like the pump is not working and is airlocked. i say not working because the floor drain is clogged, and airlocked because the water in the laundry tub is not coming out of the floor drain.
jbeer32, check to see if the sump pump is plugged in. if it has 2 cords then the one plugged into the wall is the float switch and the one plugged in piggyback to the one in the wall is the pump. if so, unplug them and plug in only the pump wire to see if the pump is working. leave plugged in until sump basin is cleared. it should take about 5 to 10 seconds. do not leave plugged in because it will not automatically turn off and burn up the pump. make sure the receptacle is active also.

Doug238,
I have tested the sub pump, snaked both drains, and my laundry drain tub still will not drain. The drain below it on the floor drains since it had been snaked. When my tub overflowed the first time, it was the first time since I moved into that house where I had water on the floor so it may have been plugged for some time. I have to believe that it is some kind of pressure issue or air in the line since I shut all the water off to install my kitchen faucet because it is too coincidental to me that it was draining 100% fine right before I shut off my water to install my faucet and then not draining after turning it back on. Any more advice?

[doug238]

OK, let's rehearse this. At first the washing machine was dumping into the laundry tub and worked fine. And then the laundry tub was not draining and over flowed onto the floor and you discovered the floor drain was not working. And then you discovered the sump pump was not plugged in so you plugged it in. and then you snaked out both drains in the basement that were clogged so now you expect the floor drain to work and you expect the laundry tub to work. [The drain below it on the floor drains since it had been snaked.] this sentence does not make sense to me. Is the floor drain now cleared? I am guessing it is and the only problem is the laundry tub.
It appears that both drains are now cleared and the pump is now working because the floor drain is not backing up. This leaves us with the laundry tub drain from the strainer to the trap and then to the wall. Have you checked this by taking the trap off and looking inside it and running water through the laundry tub while the trap is off? If you run some water into the laundry tub ever so slowly as to avoid an air lock, does it still drain or not drain?

[jbeer32]

ok, let's rehearse this. at first the washing machine was dumping into the laundry tub and worked fine. and then the laundry tub was not draining and over flowed onto the floor and you discovered the floor drain was not working. and then you discovered the sump pump was not plugged in so you plugged it in. and then you snaked out both drains in the basement that were clogged so now you expect the floor drain to work and you expect the laundry tub to work. [The drain below it on the floor drains since it had been snaked.] this sentence does not make sense to me. is the floor drain now cleared? i am guessing it is and the only problem is the laundry tub.
it appears that both drains are now cleared and the pump is now working because the floor drain is not backing up. this leaves us with the laundry tub drain from the strainer to the trap and then to the wall. have you checked this by taking the trap off and looking inside it and running water through the laundry tub while the trap is off? if you run some water into the laundry tub ever so slowly as to avoid an air lock, does it still drain or not drain?

doug238
Thanks a lot for responding and trying to help me out and sorry for any confusion. Here goes again. My laundry tub was working fine at one point. Then my kitchen faucet, on the floor above me, rusted through and I had to replace it. My house is so 'rigged' that there were not any shut off valves for the kitchen faucet, so I had to turn off the water to the entire house to install it. After installing it and turning the water back on to my house, everything seemed to be draining fine. Then I did a load of laundry and found my laundry tub overflowing onto the floor in the middle of the rinse cycle which it had never done before (I did a load of laundry 2 days prior to this installation and it was draining just fine). This is when I also noted that the drain on the floor directly beneath my laundry tub was also not draining. This may have been plugged forever for all I know because it was the first time that I have ever seen water on my basement floor since I moved in here (I have only lived here 6 months). The sub pump is working and has always been plugged in. I snaked the laundry tub drain all the way to the 'main' line 3.5 feet away (which revealed nothing). Then I snaked the drain on the floor beneath the laundry tub and it now is draining. (Since I am a complete novice, I do not know what you mean when you say the 'trap' and the 'strainer.') No matter how fast or slow I run the water into my laundry tub, it is still, I would say, 99% 'blocked.' The laundry tub will drain after about 5 days which makes it essentially useless and completely 'blocked' for all practical purposes. I am by no means a plumber, nor do I know what I am talking about but I have to believe that it has something to do with shutting off the water to the house and a pressure/air lock issue because everything was working absolutely fine prior to shutting off the water to the entire house and the laundry drain has been thoroughly inspected and snaked and nothing is physically blocking the drain. I hope this makes the overall picture clear. If something is still questionable, please ask. If not, any suggestions now? Thanks a lot. Jeremy

[doug238]

OK, number one, turning the incoming water off will not affect the outgoing sewer. Number 2, there is a p shaped pipe under the laundry tub called a trap, the cross thing in the bottom of the laundry tub where the water goes out is the strainer. Does the laundry tub drain if that pipe is not connected to the wall? If yes, then since you cleared the floor drain and previously the laundry tub was backing up into the floor drain, then the clog must be a bit further than you snaked for the laundry tub drain, yet before it connects to the pipe connecting the floor drain. It appears you must further snake the piping for the laundry tub taking precaution that the snake turns down the drain and not up the vent.