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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Plumbing Fun

Dec. 19, 2011 10:25 p.m. mikeatrpi New Reader

I just need to vent a bit! Earlier this evening my wife says "Honey the toilet in the downstairs bathroom is slow". I check it out - probably clogged I figure. I'll plunger it later.

Fast forward an hour - "Honey the basement is flooded!!" The washing machine pumped all of the water into the basement instead of into the drain. It looked like the drain hose was aiming at the wall instead of its usual "J" hook pattern. Cause or effect, I don't know.

None of the other drains or toilets in the house are slow. I fixed the washing machine drain and ran it - worked fine. Hmm.

I have a septic tank and the vent is on the roof. I guess tomorrow I'll open up the clean out and take a peek. Fun.
Dec. 20, 2011 5:26 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

Better, just clear the line from the toilet to the main drain.
Dec. 20, 2011 7:46 a.m. Woody SuperDork

A few weeks ago, my wife said that her sister's washing machine wasn't working. I volunteered to take a look (first mistake).

When I got there, I found a wet basement and a washing machine full of sewage. It turns out that she cleans the upstairs toilet with paper towels and then flushes them, which eventually clogged up the sewer pipe.
Dec. 20, 2011 8:29 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

Sewer clogs are great fun!
Dec. 20, 2011 10:24 a.m. iceracer SuperDork

Ah yes !
Dec. 20, 2011 12:02 p.m. Brotus7 Reader

I had a similar story in the beginning of October. Just bought the house in July. Sink started getting slow, we picked up some liquid plumber and poured it down the drain and it made a gurgling sound 20 minutes later. That night, we noticed a funk in the bathroom downstairs coming from the shower drain. Next morning, I shower, notice drain is slow, check out basement to find standing water. Turns out the septic line had a plug as it was going into the tank. Popped it out and all is well.

E36 M3ty work.
Dec. 20, 2011 12:17 p.m. Appleseed SuperDork

Gentlemen, I used to work construction. I have experienced a E36 M3 geyser
Dec. 20, 2011 12:33 p.m. Duke SuperDork

I've seen a job where new toilets were hooked up to the storm sewer instead of the sanitary. In a public building. That was exciting the first time there was serious rain.
Dec. 20, 2011 12:55 p.m. stuart in mn SuperDork

Woody wrote: It turns out that she cleans the upstairs toilet with paper towels and then flushes them, which eventually clogged up the sewer pipe.

It's generally not a good idea to flush anything other than TP. I design municipal wastewater plants for a living, and was talking to a plant operator a week or two ago - he said they've been having a lot of problems with these new Swiffer wipes that people are using for cleaning toilets. They're supposed to be biodegradable but they have a nylon mesh in them that gets wrapped up in the impellers of lift station pumps.
Dec. 20, 2011 1:34 p.m. Curmudgeon SuperDork

Several years ago, my brother had a live in GF who had two kids. Christmas Day we get up after partying on Christmas Eve to discover the sewer was backed up and there was sewage covering the shower stall floors. Needless to say, since no one could flush etc this was a problem of major proportions. Got a plumber out there on Christmas Day (you don't even want to know what that cost), they removed the cleanout cover and found...

a banana. One of the kids had eaten maybe 1/3 of it and then flushed the damn thing.
Dec. 20, 2011 1:45 p.m. failboat HalfDork

that stuff they advertise to help maintain your septic system, Rid-X.

Worth using every once in a while or snake oil?

The PO of our house had the tank pumped before we moved in exactly a year ago, and quite frankly I am starting to wonder how often I need to have that done. Our realtor said usually 2-3 years but I bet it depends on the size of the tank, and # of occupants in the house.
Dec. 20, 2011 1:54 p.m. patgizz SuperDork

use rid-x - it is a good idea. we used it once a month at my parents place and did not have to pump the tank for 12 years. i am a little lax here at my place but i do use it when i remember.
Dec. 20, 2011 4:43 p.m. mikeatrpi New Reader

Well the toilet seems to be flushing ok after a little "plugering" and I ran the washing machine a few times and babysat it - that's OK too. I'm beginning to think this was a scheme to make me do the laundry. The toilet clog is just an added coincidence.
Dec. 20, 2011 10:09 p.m. Gearheadotaku Dork

Supply plumbing is ok, drain plumbing sux... I'd rather play with electrical stuff, it doesn't leak.
Dec. 20, 2011 11:22 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

I did some construction for a while too. We got a call from a realtor we did rental work for. Seems one of her renters complained of water in the basement.

So, we go over and immediatly we can smell sewerage. A peek down in the basement shows it knee deep in crap. We left and told the realtor lady to call the city.. the sewerage line had collapsed in the street and everything in that block was pouring into the basement.
Dec. 21, 2011 6:36 a.m. tr8todd Reader

A good test for a slow flushing toilet to see if the drain is really the problem, is to dump a five gallon bucket of water into the toilet. If it takes all of the water quickly, then it's not the drain. Toilets wear out over time as minerals deposit into the little flush jets in the rim of the toilet, diminishing the flow of water during flushing. You can clean them out with a wire coat hanger and some CLR dumped into the overflow tube, but usually it's better to just replace the old toilet. If you saw pieces of toilet paper coming out of the wm drain, then I'd say you have an issue at the tank or the sewer pipe leading to the tank. Since you didn't mention anything like that, I'd stick with coincidence and cross your fingers.

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