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    hillbilyswife's Avatar
    hillbilyswife Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
    		  
    #1

    Oct 27, 2005, 06:15 PM
    Basement gets flooded when it rains
    I have lived in this house for three years and the first year we had no problem with the basement flooded after it rains whether it was an hour or a week. The person who lived in this house before us always put his grease in the sink and the second year we had about 6 inches in the basement after it rained the drains would not work. We had a plumber come in and use a professional snake and it took out the grease build up in the pipes but ever since then our basement gets flooded. We just finished with three days of constant rain and got about 6 inches of water in our basement. We have put a sump pump in one drain that does drain very slowly but the other two drains don't work at all. This house was built in the 1950's I believe. Can you help me in finding a reason why the two drains don't work and the one drains slowling even after using a professional snake? Thank you.
    labman's Avatar
    labman Posts: 10,580, Reputation: 551
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    #2

    Oct 27, 2005, 06:50 PM
    Where do these drains go, a septic tank, city sewer, french drain? Are they sanitary drains or floor drains?
    theBigkill's Avatar
    theBigkill Posts: 43, Reputation: 1
    Junior Member
    		  
    #3

    Oct 28, 2005, 03:34 AM
    Half the time the drains in older homes were just a hole in the slab and weren't piped anywhere, is this the case?
    hillbilyswife's Avatar
    hillbilyswife Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
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    #4

    Oct 28, 2005, 02:10 PM
    They are basement floor drains that my kitchen sink and washer run into.
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
    		  
    #5

    Oct 28, 2005, 03:08 PM
    "can you help me in finding a reason why the two drains don't work and the one drains slowling even after using a professional snake? They are basement floor drains that my kitchen sink and washer run into?

    And with those words you just made our job easier. Your floor drains are part of your septic system and it sounds like the individual floor drain branches are clogged . Just snaking from a vent ain't going to get it. Each floor drain must be snaked from the drain itself and then flushed out. If this were a blockage downstream from where the floor drain branches connect the drains would back up every time the washer discharged so this isn't just one blockage it's three. Good luck. Tom
    hillbilyswife's Avatar
    hillbilyswife Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
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    #6

    Oct 28, 2005, 03:31 PM
    Our septic is on a different system though. We have a different drain that our shower and toilet run into and it hasn't run over.
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
    		  
    #7

    Oct 28, 2005, 03:42 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by hillbilyswife
    our septic is on a different system though. we have a different drain that our shower and toilet run into and it hasn't run over.
    I'm sorry. Did I not make myself clear? My fault, I'll try again. A branch can be as short as 5 feet, each floor drain has one. If the branch's blocked nothing else will be affected except the fixture the branch services. So it really makes no difference what's connected to what system. Every fixture will drain just fine except the floor drains. Cheers, Tom

    You said, "my toilet and shower drain into my septic drain the floor drains go into a leech bed. what do you think it is now?"

    Since you've already told me the washer, kitchen sink and floor drains all discharge into a filter bed then if there were a problem with the filter bed it would affect both the washer and the kitchen sink. I still think it sounds like each floor drain branch. Three separate blockages in three separate branches. Regards, Tom
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