emergency plumbing help needed...
#1
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emergency plumbing help needed...
i am having a huge problem with my laundry room drain pipe..
i have a 65 gallon slop sink next to my washing machine so the drain hose from the washing machine is hung over the clamped into the sink to drain the water directly into the sink and down the drain.. i have not had a problem with it clogging at all since i bought the house. it worked perfect.. 3 days ago i went to the basement and put some laundry in the machine and came back upstairs to put the washed and already dried clothes away in my dresser.
so when i went back down stairs the basement laundry room was flooded.
i removed and disconnected the slop sink then i pulled out my snake ( the big electrical one for plumbing ) not mine
and firmly grabbed the end and shoved it down the drain as far as i could in an up and down motion ( get you mind out the gutter already ) untill i got in about as far as i could go which was about 7 feet and in that 7 feet there were 3 elbows that i snaked thru and after the third elbow it is a straigt ( but angled downward ) peice of pipe about 5 feet long then stops. the end of the pipe can be seen if i lift up the cover to the basement floor drain 7 feet from the washer.. so when i lifted up the drain cover on the floor i can see that it looks about 30 feet deep like a well and about 8 feet wide
its an access tunnel to the sewer system below and my laundry drain pipe runs thru the floor intpo a hole in the side of the sewer tunnel wall and just pours the water and drops it 30 feet down into the sewer
i was truely amazed to see i have access to a sewer tunnel from my basement even tho the drain hole is only about 6 '' wide. but anyway i can see that the total pipe size from the slop sink to the end of it in the sewer tunnel is about 12 feet in length and i can only get my snake in about 6-7 feet total before it feels like it hits a wall in the pipe..
the sink worlked so good and drained an entire sink full of water in about 5 minutes now it over fills and spills water over the sides of the sink all over my floor.. and it now takes about 5 hours to drain out a sinks worth of water....
i even tried several differents liquids and snake and i still cant get thru the clog..
i called roto rooter for an free estimate and they said about $250.
so if i can do this myself i will be more then happy to do it cause if we have to pay the $250 then i'll be talking to you'* from my 2nd floor of the garage...
i have a 65 gallon slop sink next to my washing machine so the drain hose from the washing machine is hung over the clamped into the sink to drain the water directly into the sink and down the drain.. i have not had a problem with it clogging at all since i bought the house. it worked perfect.. 3 days ago i went to the basement and put some laundry in the machine and came back upstairs to put the washed and already dried clothes away in my dresser.
so when i went back down stairs the basement laundry room was flooded.
i removed and disconnected the slop sink then i pulled out my snake ( the big electrical one for plumbing ) not mine
and firmly grabbed the end and shoved it down the drain as far as i could in an up and down motion ( get you mind out the gutter already ) untill i got in about as far as i could go which was about 7 feet and in that 7 feet there were 3 elbows that i snaked thru and after the third elbow it is a straigt ( but angled downward ) peice of pipe about 5 feet long then stops. the end of the pipe can be seen if i lift up the cover to the basement floor drain 7 feet from the washer.. so when i lifted up the drain cover on the floor i can see that it looks about 30 feet deep like a well and about 8 feet wide
its an access tunnel to the sewer system below and my laundry drain pipe runs thru the floor intpo a hole in the side of the sewer tunnel wall and just pours the water and drops it 30 feet down into the sewer
i was truely amazed to see i have access to a sewer tunnel from my basement even tho the drain hole is only about 6 '' wide. but anyway i can see that the total pipe size from the slop sink to the end of it in the sewer tunnel is about 12 feet in length and i can only get my snake in about 6-7 feet total before it feels like it hits a wall in the pipe..
the sink worlked so good and drained an entire sink full of water in about 5 minutes now it over fills and spills water over the sides of the sink all over my floor.. and it now takes about 5 hours to drain out a sinks worth of water....
i even tried several differents liquids and snake and i still cant get thru the clog..
i called roto rooter for an free estimate and they said about $250.
so if i can do this myself i will be more then happy to do it cause if we have to pay the $250 then i'll be talking to you'* from my 2nd floor of the garage...
#3
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Originally Posted by PontiacDad
Got any tree'* near by...say 50 feet away? could be a tree root?
And yeah a tree root can block the pipe over night and no cleaner will disolve it.
And yeah a tree root can block the pipe over night and no cleaner will disolve it.
i highly doubt a tree root got into my drain pipe unless it was physicaly put there but i am amazed to hear of something like that actually happening over night.. what does the root do just brake thru the pipe and grow inside of it clogging it that fast. thats why i love the discovery channel...
#4
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i would either rent a snake machine to clear it out or have a professional do it, DO NOT use roto rooter tho, they over charge and they dont use the right size of blade on the snake so you will just be clogged up again, we used them and within a year it was clogged again but then we called a local place and they said roto only uses a 4 inch blade in a 6 inch pipe and now we have yet to have a problem over the past two years so i would shop around to other businesses and see if they will give you an estimate.
#5
PopaDopaDo
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Are you sure its the drain pipe and not in the sink somewhere?
I know my sink like to clog up with lint just inside the drain so I made my own lint trap
No more problems
I know my sink like to clog up with lint just inside the drain so I made my own lint trap
No more problems
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Originally Posted by popatim
Are you sure its the drain pipe and not in the sink somewhere?
I know my sink like to clog up with lint just inside the drain so I made my own lint trap
No more problems
I know my sink like to clog up with lint just inside the drain so I made my own lint trap
No more problems
and what do you mean a blade at the end of the snake,? mine is just a spring with a hook at the end...
#7
PopaDopaDo
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Is there enough room for you to snake it from the 'sewer' end?
You say you got 7ft, how far is this seewer well from the sink?
BTW my sinks drain does not sit right over the drain, there are two elbows and about 1 foot span between the two.
Rotor rooters uses blades on their snakes to cut threw roots. I think I have what you have (drill attached) and have never not had it dig thru a clog. You might want to sharpen that tip a little and make sure you're rotating in the correct direction for the tip to dig thru. I know the first time I used mine I got it backwards
You say you got 7ft, how far is this seewer well from the sink?
BTW my sinks drain does not sit right over the drain, there are two elbows and about 1 foot span between the two.
Rotor rooters uses blades on their snakes to cut threw roots. I think I have what you have (drill attached) and have never not had it dig thru a clog. You might want to sharpen that tip a little and make sure you're rotating in the correct direction for the tip to dig thru. I know the first time I used mine I got it backwards
#8
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mine used to overflow when there was rags, etc. on the rim of the sink that fell in and covered the drain.. dont think its your problem, but it was an easy fix for me
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