Drain problems

SiriusHog · 11-26-2006, 04:48 PM

I just noticed today when we were doing some laundry, when the washing machine was draining, water was backing up into both showers and toilets in the house... any ideas what might be causing this??

glennjanie · 11-26-2006, 05:52 PM

Welcome to the Forum, SiriusHog:
Your backing up indicates a partially cloged or blocked sewer line. If your sewer is anything besides PVC plastic there is a good chance some tree roots or bermuda grass roots have found a tiny leak and have grown into it. The showers and toilets are the lowest fixtures in the house, so they will show the back-up first.
You need to dig up the sewer "test tee" just outside the house and use a mechanical drain cleaner on it (roto-rooter). My house has vitreous clay tile sealed with cement for the sewer. Well, the cement always cracks and allows some leakage. Any where there is a leak, the roots will come in and they continue to grow until you have a full blockage. After I had cleaned mine 3 times I wized up and started flushing a cup of salt pelletts (water softener pellets) every week or two and haven't had a problem for 3 years now.
This time of year and yours being only partial blockage, you might try the salt deal first, say a cup every week for a while. The idea is you have to kill the roots then they have to rot off. A bag of pelletts at less than $5 shure beats a $75 service call form a plumber. Let us know how it turns out.
Glenn

SiriusHog · 11-26-2006, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glennjanie

Welcome to the Forum, SiriusHog:
Your backing up indicates a partially cloged or blocked sewer line. If your sewer is anything besides PVC plastic there is a good chance some tree roots or bermuda grass roots have found a tiny leak and have grown into it. The showers and toilets are the lowest fixtures in the house, so they will show the back-up first.
You need to dig up the sewer "test tee" just outside the house and use a mechanical drain cleaner on it (roto-rooter). My house has vitreous clay tile sealed with cement for the sewer. Well, the cement always cracks and allows some leakage. Any where there is a leak, the roots will come in and they continue to grow until you have a full blockage. After I had cleaned mine 3 times I wized up and started flushing a cup of salt pelletts (water softener pellets) every week or two and haven't had a problem for 3 years now.
This time of year and yours being only partial blockage, you might try the salt deal first, say a cup every week for a while. The idea is you have to kill the roots then they have to rot off. A bag of pelletts at less than $5 shure beats a $75 service call form a plumber. Let us know how it turns out.
Glenn

i think its safe to say that it is pretty much a full blockage, because the water that backed up finally drained out of one of the showers, but the other one it hasnt drained... and where might i find this "test tee" you are talking about?