[Dfranz]

My wife and I recently (less than three months) bought a one story slab\cinder block foundation house. At least I describe it that way since the utility room is on a lower level than the rest of the house. It was owned by a single gentleman for I think roughly 20 years before us.

A little more than a week ago my wife was doing laundry into the utility room where the floor drain is located. She called me in from the Garage when she noticed the wash tub, floor drain and toilet all backing up. Well is least she said the toilet was making funny noises. I did a little research and debated whether I wanted to tackle the job myself and decided against it. I called a professional who came and snaked out the main line. With in a few minutes of them starting everything drains in a flash. They worked at it for quite a while and told me they had a lot of trouble getting through at the "rise" I believe. The guy explained that a pipe may have shifted and that he could only put a thirty day guarantee on it. Well my wife called me yesterday saying the same thing was happening. I called the plumber and arrived home from work right when he was pulling up. It was a different guy and I was going to show him where the outside clean out was. I noticed that water was not bubbling out like it was last time. I realized right then it was probably not the same issue. He opened it up and told me it seemed fine there. We ran water down it from a hose and ran everything else in the house except the utility sink which was backed up and we could not get it to backup at the main line.

So here in lies the problem. I have a blockage somewhere before my floor drain and the main line from the house. They would not cover it since it is a different problem and I can buy that, however I can't afford their prices to have them do this job. So I either find someone cheaper if I can afford that or attempt it myself. I have done some research and somewhat understand what I am up against. I do have a few questions though.

What size snake should I use on a floor drain? The guy who came to look at it said "do not use a 1/4 inch, use a 3/8." Well I have a 1/4, but from what I've read, bigger pipe +smaller snake = kink -> stuck snake.

Secondly my bathroom lies between this floor drain and the main line. I've heard some talk about going in through the roof vent to bypass an issues getting past the floor drain trap (there is no cleanout in that room). Would that work in this case? Obviously I have limited understanding of whets under my floors and in my walls, but I would imagine that I would be bypassing the blockage at the point.

Thirdly what should I expect the trap to look like on my floor drain? I read about a P trap, not sure if that's what I'm dealing with. I probably need to pull the cover and find out what I can for myself. I just haven't had a chance to yet.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I consider myself fairly handy, but have a fear of things that go into my walls and under my floors so I generally stray away from those types of jobs. I'm looking for some guidance as to what course of action I should take

[speedball1]

Greetings Mr. Franz,
1)

What size snake should I use on a floor drain? The guy who came to look at it said "do not use a 1/4 inch, use a 3/8." Well I have a 1/4, but from what I've read, bigger pipe +smaller snake = kink -> stuck snake.

A 1/4" cable would have a better chance of getting past the trap in the floor drain. However, If the floor drain had a clean out plug I would us a Ridgid K-30 sewer machine with a 3/8ths cable.
2)

Secondly my bathroom lies between this floor drain and the main line. I've heard some talk about going in through the roof vent to bypass an issues getting past the floor drain trap (there is no cleanout in that room). Would that work in this case? Obviously I have limited understanding of whets under my floors and in my walls, but I would imagine that I would be bypassing the blockage at the point.

And the laundry, or the kitchen roof vent, is where I would take a sewer machune up and snake from the roof. Put out enough cable to reach the base and 25 feet more to get out in the main. You can rent a sewer machine from your local Rental Center.
3)

Thirdly what should I expect the trap to look like on my floor drain? I read about a P trap, not sure if that's what I'm dealing with. I probably need to pull the cover and find out what I can for myself. I just haven't had a chance to yet.

See the image below.
Good luck and if you need more help click on back, Tom

[Dfranz]

Tom,

The picture is extremely helpful as well as the rest of the answer. Most of the inofrmation I have research has been your answers to others in need, so thank you again. As far as a 14'' cable goes though, is this something I can rent or buy inexpensively? Now forgive me I only researched that briefly and Google resulted in a couple of expensive machine. Lowe's or Home Depot websites pulled up nothing. Maybe I should just go in and ask and they'll know. Is a cable different than a snake or just a different way of putting it? I would assume since we're only talking length on that its something different. Thanks in advance. In the mean time I'll do a little more research.

Tom,

The more I look I bet you meant 1/4" and I just wasn't following you. Let me know, Thanks

[speedball1]

The more I look I bet you meant 1/4" and I just wasn't following you. Let me know,

I did mean 1/4 inch. I went back and corrected it. Sorry! Cable is the same as snake and you can rent a sewer machine,(see image) at your local Rent a Tool place. Use the sewer machine to snake from the roof and a hand snake,(see imige) for the small stuff. Good luck, Tom

[Milo Dolezal]

Dfranz: You can rent the snake at Home Depot for about $30.00 for 4 hours.