backed up sewer drain

[fishhuntwork]

I have a basement drain that always over flows when the wife does laundry. I have had it snaked a few times, then its good for about a month. Is there anything I could do to prevent this? Do you think its a good idea to have a plumber come out and out a snake and camera through the drain to see what the obstruction is. If so can anyone recommend a plumber in the west metro?

[Jim Almquist]

Do you have some type of material catching the lint before it goes down the drain?

I use those short nylons with a stainless steel hose clamp and let it sit in a plastic colander. The nylons are cheap at Wally World and help keep a lot of junk from going down the drain.

Are they pulling anything back when they run the snake through ? We just had ours done because it was slow but I know what the problem was before he even started- Hair from the wife and the kid!!!!

[Archerysniper]

I can recommend Giese's plumbing from New germany,I worked with Eric and went through trade school with him.

[Redlantern]

I think having a camera sent down into your sewer is an excellent idea. Not cheap, though. I also wonder about how much lint is geting down into your drains if you don't have a screen on your laundry discharge. Get a screen and then do a few loads of laundry. You'll be surprised how much it collects. Hopefully your not ona septic system. Lint really wreaks havoc on them.

[Powerstroke]

HIghview plumbing in hopkins. We work with them all the time.

I work for the city plumbing dept. Sound slike you have something further downstream.

Are you getting a large snake that goes outside the foundation or are you just using a homeowner version that reaches a few feet?

COUld be tree roots, could be a partial blockage, could be a problem with the pipe.

[WallEYES]

Another thing to look at is how close your floor drain is to the point of washing machine discharge if to close you might want to consider a screw in backwater valve inside the floor drain

I also agree with Highview plumbing...known Dan for years...he will treat you right.

[eric29]

I had this problem a few years ago and called a plumber. There was a screw in plug on the side of my drain basket, which made water only go down to the bottom. He took that plug out and allowed extra water out that hole and never had a problem with since.

[Archerysniper]

I had this problem a few years ago and called a plumber. There was a screw in plug on the side of my drain basket, which made water only go down to the bottom. He took that plug out and allowed extra water out that hole and never had a problem with since.

That is called a clean out and was a quick fix form him,however that is not right now with the plug removed you will get sewer gas through the drain because it's bypassing the trap which would keep out the gas.

[eric29]

I was also given a new cap for the floor drain which tightens down to keep that out.

[Redlantern]

I must be missing something here because that makes no sense to me. Take one plug out, replace it with another and now it works?

[eric29]

I was just trying to offer a cheap alternative to hiring a plumber. This is what my plumber did and thought it would be ok, but maybe its not. It been 6 years and no problems.

The plug that was taken out was inside the drain, he then put a cap on top of the drain (at floor level) to stop gas.

[Dave]

So, now you have no floor drain there, right?

[Archerysniper]

Unless he might have removed a backwater valve from the drain,those will cause them too drain slow sometimes

[eric29]

Technically its still a floor drain but it wont let water down off the floor. My washer hose is built into the floor then into the drain so really no need to have an open drain. When washing the floor or something where i need to get rid the the water i just unscrew the cap to open it.

[BorderView]

My vote is for lint AND tree roots.

For the lint, get your washer discharge covered with a screen, of your choosing, to catch the lint. If you aren't doing this you will be amazed at the amount. Not as much as your dryer catches, but a significant amount.

For the tree roots, buy a bag of cheap rock salt. Send two cups down your basement toilet every day for a month, twice a year.

If it is tree roots, know that if the city comes through with cameras, looking at your system. You will be replacing your waste line.

[fishuhalik]

i work for a plumbing co in the west metro & have a brand spankin new camera. if you want i can do it for free for ya when i'm not working. just cover my gas to get out there & we'll call it even. send me a pm with your phone # & we can figure out a time that works.

[krinkle]

Get a good drain cleaner out to clean it. Make sure they run the line with some type of cutter on the end of the rod. Just running a cable with a spring on the end most likely open it temporarily at best. I would not think it is the main line heading out of the home unless it starts backing up when you are using other fixtures in the house like showers or toilets. I see this type of back up all the time with older cast iron drain lines under the floor. Keep in mind the camera wont clean the line for you. It will tell you what you all ready know. The line is clogging up and needs to be cleaned.

fishuhalik. You must work for one very generous plumbing company to allow you to do that with their equipment. One thing I loved about having employees was providing them with trucks, tools and equipment and then having to compete for work against them. I did not tolerate this and would fire a guy on the spot for moon lighting with my gear.

[fishuhalik]

krinkle, it's my camera, i purchased it. being that it cost me $17k i can do w/e i want with it as long as i'm off the clock and i dont charge the customer & pocket the $.