[Gatesjr]

All...

I purchased my two family flat about three years ago and at that time had no plumbing issues. About six months back I bought a new clothes washer and all of the sudden the drain couldn't handle the water coming from the washer. Since the connection was basically a direct connection (flex drain line to pvc to cast iron drain) I bought the home depot special wash basin and had the washer drain into that and ran a flex line directly into the floor drain and everything worked just fine and even when my tenant was doing wash with me the basin would fill but I never had overflow (which would get the whole floor wet).

Oh, I forgot to add I had roto rooter out before I bought the basin to tell me that they couldn't find anything ($250 later). Anyhow, today after a full day of working in the house painting I ran down stairs to put my load in the dryer and the floor is flooded. I let everything drain down and about an hour later I ran the sink to see how quickly it would fill up the line, about ten minutes later it finally starts to bubble up and it's a gray murky color and of course it's pretty nasty smelling.

Being that tomorrow is a holiday and I don't want to pay roto rooter again (plus their holiday pay), can I just rent a snake from a home depot (I live in St. Louis, MO), will this rootx work? Thanks for any assistance in advance.

Greg

[KISS]

Was it raining or had it been raining?

Can you see the level in the floor drain?

Are there trees near the sewer line?

What happens if you add water, say from a hose or bucket into the floor drain?

Do you think it's the volume of water or the rate that the water is discharged that's causing the problem?

Yes, you can rent a snake?

Can we assume that the hose from the washer is about the level of the washer and that there is an air gap before it goes into the PVC?

[Gatesjr]

See answers within

Was it raining or had it been raining?

Can you see the level in the floor drain? - Level of the water? Yes

Are there trees near the sewer line? The closest tree is about 10' away.

What happens if you add water, say from a hose or bucket into the floor drain? If I add water directly to the drain (say a five gallon bucket, slowly) it will take a given amount and then everything else will spill over

Do you think it's the volume of water or the rate that the water is discharged that's causing the problem? I've cured the rate issue by using the slop sink/basin, so I can only assume it's volume.

Yes, you can rent a snake? I was asking if it's worth trying myself rather than roto rooter.

Can we assume that the hose from the washer is about the level of the washer and that there is an air gap before it goes into the PVC? Yes, that is accurate.

[KISS]

You didn't answer this one: Was it raining or had it been raining?

Based on your answers and it hasn't been raining, tree roots seem like a very good possibility. The integrity of the sewer line and the roots can be confirmed by having the sewer line videoed. It generally takes a long and powerful snake to remove the roots and in all likelyness the problem will return. The snake has to be able to reach the middle of the street from the cleanout. There have been threads here for what to add periodically to keep the roots from returning.

If it had been raining, then sewer overflow is a possibility. This generally is the fault of the sewer system where it has too many cracks in it.

[speedball1]

Perhaps this will help with the roots.
RootX or Robics Foaming Root Killer that contain Dichlobrnic are two products you could try.
A less expensive way would be to call around to garden supply stores and ask for fine grain Copper Sulphate. Put a 1/2 pound in your toilet and flush it down. Repeat in 6 months. Good luck, Tom

[Gatesjr]

You didn't answer this one: Was it raining or had it been raining?

Based on your answers and it hasn't been raining, tree roots seem like a very good possibility. The integrity of the sewer line and the roots can be confirmed by having the sewer line videoed. It generally takes a long and powerfull snake to remove the roots and in all likelyness the problem will return. The snake has to be able to reach the middle of the street from the cleanout. There have been threads here for what to add periodically to keep the roots from returning.

If it had been raining, then sewer overflow is a possibility. This generally is the fault of the sewer system where it has too many cracks in it.

UPDATE - I used a 15' snake today at the basement floor drain. For some reason I couldn't get the snake any more than 18" into the floor drain max. The plumbing for the toilets and showers had a clean out about 3' away so I tried to get the cap off with no luck either. Here is what I don't get... I was also given a compression bulb device (the rubber bulb fills with water and uses hight pressure watter to shoot out any blockage) and no matter how much water was flowing through I couldn't find any areas where the water was backing up (since the floor drain was closed I checked the toilets on the first floor), but if I just ran the water directly into the floor drain it backed up again with in a minute or so...

My questions:

1- I assume even in an old home the floor drain has a P-trap, why can't I get the snake in there any further than a foot? Is there something I'm missing??

2- Any ideas why high pressure water goes through with no back up (that is noticeable) yet running water directly into the drain with no pressure backs up?

[ballengerb1]

Some floor drains have a plug that can be removed to bypass the trap. Remove the drain cover and look for a square plug, remove it and rod from there. New washers, especially Maytag pump so fast that they can over power some 2" drains that aren't 100% clear. When your compression collar swells inside the drain it makes a seal that your backup can't get past/into the house. Don't throw that thing out bit it is not what your need at this point. Try to rent a small electric rodder with a cutter head that will fit your drain size, probably 2".