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I’ve got a problem that’s been puzzling me for the last few weeks and I’m in real need of the fix. I’ve got a single story ranch with a basement. The main drain/stack goes straight through the center of the house and through the basement floor. Two bathroom toilets drain to the stack on the first floor. A basement bath is like 6 feet away from the drain line on the right side and is connected underneath the concrete floor.
A laundry tub sits 3 feet behind this main drain and is also connected underneath the floor. The vent line for the tub goes up through the floor and disaperes. There is a floor drain that is located 5 feet on the left side of the main drain. This was all installed before I lived here which would of been 14 years ago and everything has always functioned great.
Now the problem. About a month ago I noticed some dirty water around the floor drain, removed the cover and it was black gunk with traces of toilet paper, smelled like sewage for sure. So I fished it all out with a ladle and poured a couple buckets of water down the drain. Looked inside and everything was clear. About a week goes by and the same exact thing again. Now I try to simulate it by flushing the basement toilet and just looking inside the drain. I see the water level rise about an inch and then go back down. No problems everything clear.
Now today, the washing machine is running and the toilet upstairs is used. I happen to go downstairs and notice the wet around the floor drain again. This time there’s TP and smelly. I dumped a couple of buckets through again to flush it through. Tried running water in the laundry sink at the same time flushing an upstairs toilet and saw nothing happen. So I’m having a hard time simulating whatever is causing this to happen. What in the world could be causing this. I have yet to climb up on the roof to check for a clogged vent.
I’m very curious as to how the floor drain is attached to the main drain. Is it just a run of pipe off of a Y? I’m pretty sure the floor drain is trapped cause the water level never rises when I dump water down it. Why would sewage be routed to the floor drain? Or why is sewage backing up to the drain? I have no idea what's going on.
And one other thing before I forget. When I see this dirty water on the floor around the drain and then take the cover off the drain, the level is not to the top of the drain, the level is sitting where it should be. So whatever is causing this it's like it's a burst and then settles back down.
A laundry tub sits 3 feet behind this main drain and is also connected underneath the floor. The vent line for the tub goes up through the floor and disaperes. There is a floor drain that is located 5 feet on the left side of the main drain. This was all installed before I lived here which would of been 14 years ago and everything has always functioned great.
Now the problem. About a month ago I noticed some dirty water around the floor drain, removed the cover and it was black gunk with traces of toilet paper, smelled like sewage for sure. So I fished it all out with a ladle and poured a couple buckets of water down the drain. Looked inside and everything was clear. About a week goes by and the same exact thing again. Now I try to simulate it by flushing the basement toilet and just looking inside the drain. I see the water level rise about an inch and then go back down. No problems everything clear.
Now today, the washing machine is running and the toilet upstairs is used. I happen to go downstairs and notice the wet around the floor drain again. This time there’s TP and smelly. I dumped a couple of buckets through again to flush it through. Tried running water in the laundry sink at the same time flushing an upstairs toilet and saw nothing happen. So I’m having a hard time simulating whatever is causing this to happen. What in the world could be causing this. I have yet to climb up on the roof to check for a clogged vent.
I’m very curious as to how the floor drain is attached to the main drain. Is it just a run of pipe off of a Y? I’m pretty sure the floor drain is trapped cause the water level never rises when I dump water down it. Why would sewage be routed to the floor drain? Or why is sewage backing up to the drain? I have no idea what's going on.
And one other thing before I forget. When I see this dirty water on the floor around the drain and then take the cover off the drain, the level is not to the top of the drain, the level is sitting where it should be. So whatever is causing this it's like it's a burst and then settles back down.
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