Plumbing woes: laundry cleanout plugged again

OK - I ended up getting it snaked out by a plumber. He used a 75 ft electric drain snake with a spring tip. In the past I've seen a different plumber use a claw tip. He showed me that the snake was reaching the main sewer line cleanout. Said that it was still going to be slow since there was a ton of grease that the snake wasn't completely clearing out. Recommended hydro jetting but for an extra $300-400 where he would have to bring the equipment the next day. I was charged $150 and I called it a day.

It's kind of slow now, but right now I'm not ready to pay for it to be hydro jetted unless I'm back to it being clogged. At the very least we can use the kitchen sink. Not sure about the washing machine, but I poured 2 gallons quickly from a bucket into the cleanout and it didn't overflow.

I'm thinking of getting a 75' sewer tape for any future issues, although understand they can be dangerous. At the very least I'm going to use a regular enzyme treatment in my drains.
 
Any opinions on what to do with the slow line? I'm wary of using any kind of caustic cleaner since it's pretty long and I'm not sure it's going to do anything. Aren't most drain cleaners designed for small blockages where it needs to be fairly concentrated to work. And if it did I wouldn't be happy if the grease just collapses and blocks it up again.

I got a bottle of Zep Drain Defense enzyme treatment. I'm trying to pour it in every night so it sits overnight before anything flows through again. I know that most bacteria/enzyme treatments are slow, but that might be ideal since I don't want everything to just fall apart. I'm going to be doing it for a while until it starts flowing better.

Also - is it supposed to keep water in the line? I think it's a 2" line going laterally to the main sewer line for at least 50'.
 
"Also - is it supposed to keep water in the line? I think it's a 2" line going laterally to the main sewer line for at least 50'."



I hope it's larger than 2 inches. That is way too small for a sewer drain line.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
"Also - is it supposed to keep water in the line? I think it's a 2" line going laterally to the main sewer line for at least 50'."



I hope it's larger than 2 inches. That is way too small for a sewer drain line.

Plumber said it was probably 2 inches. However, this wasn't connected to any toilets. Only drains from the kitchen sink and the laundry room sink and washer. House was built in the 40s.

Everything else in the house is on a 4" sewer line.
 
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by PimTac
"Also - is it supposed to keep water in the line? I think it's a 2" line going laterally to the main sewer line for at least 50'."



I hope it's larger than 2 inches. That is way too small for a sewer drain line.

Plumber said it was probably 2 inches. However, this wasn't connected to any toilets. Only drains from the kitchen sink and the laundry room sink and washer. House was built in the 40s.

Everything else in the house is on a 4" sewer line.




This sounds different from the norm, that being that all drains eventually tie into a 4 inch pipe headed out to the sewer. That usually happens at the main vent stack.
 
Interesting thread! I also have a 2-inch laundry line running laterally into the 4-inch main. (House built in 1961).
Recently, this branch line also became a slow drain, unresolved by running a Household snake repeatedly.
Puzzled, I dug it up this week. I found that the laundry branch line runs downhill, then UPHILL to reach the main line. That laundry line is a combination of soil pipe, ABS, and PVC.
Connections are bad with root encroachment.

Previous owner messed it up in the 1970's....

I was happy to find this since it explained the recurring slow drain symptoms and gurgling. I think I can fix it at low cost
(total of 10 feet to be replaced).
We have lived here 35 years and our drains have not needed much maintenance, but the roots finally got my attention!

I agree with OP on hesitation to use caustic chemicals.
I was snaking the kitchen / shower drain ( different line, but also 2-inch cast iron). Indeed, the debris fell as the snake proceeded and temporarily blocked and backed-up the small trickle of water I was running.
I was able to push the auger through and clear it in 3 minor backups.
I was glad I did not have chemicals in there. It would have spit back on me and also created a super-clog farther down the line.
Anyway, pushing past 2 nineties the half-inch auger cable was hard to push, but beneficially whipped around and helped clean the walls of the pipe.
For this, I rented a power auger (77 pounds, 1/3 hp motor) with various blade / cutter attachments - so glad since it needed full scraping, not just a small hole punched in the debris.
 
Lotsa people,myself included with private septic systems,run a 2" line to a drywell. Washer lint and grease will clog a cesspool and turn it into a tank. How deep is the drain line buried?
 
Here in Tennessee, they don't bury them deeply.
In my crawl space / slab house, it is only about 6-inches down to the top of the Sewer pipe in the back yard.
Surprised, since the frost line is 9-inches to 12-inches in this area.
 
typically unless clogged, drains are empty, can't freeze
grin2.gif
 
Drain pipe is one area where imo plastic is better. I redid our CI main pipe when it showed signs of degradation. I have no doubt that white with ssnd could really be soap residues and CI pipe crumbling from the inside.

No hub couplings and pvc is an option, but you need to understand if it's really the issue.

Is the drain vented? Is the vent correct?

Have you tested from further up the main line to see if there's sluggishness in the main?
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Drain pipe is one area where imo plastic is better. I redid our CI main pipe when it showed signs of degradation. I have no doubt that white with ssnd could really be soap residues and CI pipe crumbling from the inside.

No hub couplings and pvc is an option, but you need to understand if it's really the issue.

Is the drain vented? Is the vent correct?

Have you tested from further up the main line to see if there's sluggishness in the main?

We had a problem with the main sewer line and were going to get it repaired. The plumber used a camera and originally believe that the pipe had shifted and they would attempt to patch it. But after he dug it up he found it was fine but concluded that it was the cast iron check valve that was the problem. So they replaced it with a new plastic modular check valve. He said if it had a problem it would be easy to replace myself.

I don't know if it's vented. This drain is going through a a concrete slab laundry floor. And it might have shifted over the years. Not 100% sure what it's made of, although I suspect cast iron.
 
You should have a vent pipe going up through the roof. Usually there is more than one depending on the plumbing layout. It looks like a piece of pipe sticking out of the roof. On some older homes the vent pipe might be running up the side of the house and then fitted to face downwards like a candy cane. That's not common though.

I've never heard of a check valve in a sewer line. That must be a California thing?
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by PimTac
You should have a vent pipe going up through the roof. Usually there is more than one depending on the plumbing layout. It looks like a piece of pipe sticking out of the roof. On some older homes the vent pipe might be running up the side of the house and then fitted to face downwards like a candy cane. That's not common though.

I've never heard of a check valve in a sewer line. That must be a California thing?

We've got several of those little tubes on our roof although I'm not sure what each one is for.

The plumber explained to me that this was standard where there was a toilet at a level just barely above the sewer line. He said that without it there was the chance that with back flow, sewage could shoot right back into the sink and toilet. Maybe about a one foot height difference.

He showed it to me as he installed it. I don't think it was a standard backwater valve, but he pulled it out pretty easily and showed that it just dropped in and self sealed.
 
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by PimTac
You should have a vent pipe going up through the roof. Usually there is more than one depending on the plumbing layout. It looks like a piece of pipe sticking out of the roof. On some older homes the vent pipe might be running up the side of the house and then fitted to face downwards like a candy cane. That's not common though.

I've never heard of a check valve in a sewer line. That must be a California thing?

We've got several of those little tubes on our roof although I'm not sure what each one is for.

The plumber explained to me that this was standard where there was a toilet at a level just barely above the sewer line. He said that without it there was the chance that with back flow, sewage could shoot right back into the sink and toilet. Maybe about a one foot height difference.

He showed it to me as he installed it. I don't think it was a standard backwater valve, but he pulled it out pretty easily and showed that it just dropped in and self sealed.




That's interesting. Something new I've learned.

The vents are set per the local codes. Each bathroom should have one. Otherwise the sewer gas could migrate into the house. Usually there is another one at the kitchen. The code may specify a vent at either location or per length of drain.

I wonder if this was an addition in the past to accommodate the laundry and it was cheaper to run a separate line versus tying it in to the main drain? I've seen that. We have to remember that laundry machines were not around much prior to the fifties. Thinking about this reminded me of a neighbor back in my childhood days who had a wringer washer put on her back porch. They plumbed that drain separate from the house but in her case the sewer was close by so it was a small job. She used that wringer washer until the late sixties when she got her fingers caught in the wringer. At that point her daughter bought her a dryer.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by PimTac
You should have a vent pipe going up through the roof. Usually there is more than one depending on the plumbing layout. It looks like a piece of pipe sticking out of the roof. On some older homes the vent pipe might be running up the side of the house and then fitted to face downwards like a candy cane. That's not common though.

I've never heard of a check valve in a sewer line. That must be a California thing?

We've got several of those little tubes on our roof although I'm not sure what each one is for.

The plumber explained to me that this was standard where there was a toilet at a level just barely above the sewer line. He said that without it there was the chance that with back flow, sewage could shoot right back into the sink and toilet. Maybe about a one foot height difference.

He showed it to me as he installed it. I don't think it was a standard backwater valve, but he pulled it out pretty easily and showed that it just dropped in and self sealed.




That's interesting. Something new I've learned.

The vents are set per the local codes. Each bathroom should have one. Otherwise the sewer gas could migrate into the house. Usually there is another one at the kitchen. The code may specify a vent at either location or per length of drain.

I wonder if this was an addition in the past to accommodate the laundry and it was cheaper to run a separate line versus tying it in to the main drain? I've seen that. We have to remember that laundry machines were not around much prior to the fifties. Thinking about this reminded me of a neighbor back in my childhood days who had a wringer washer put on her back porch. They plumbed that drain separate from the house but in her case the sewer was close by so it was a small job. She used that wringer washer until the late sixties when she got her fingers caught in the wringer. At that point her daughter bought her a dryer.

Not sure. I just looked in front and saw maybe three of those little tubes. There may be more in the back that I didn't notice.

This is for a specific city, but they're incorporating the standard California Plumbing Code. I live on a hill, so I guess the upstream manhole cover is well above the level of my lowest fixture.

Quote
https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/Benicia/html/Benicia15/Benicia1512.html
710.1 Sewage backwater. Where a fixture is installed on a floor level that is lower than the next upstream manhole cover of the public or private sewer, serving such drainage piping, such fixtures shall be protected from backflow of sewage by installing an approved type of backwater valve or mushroom type device or other fixtures approved by the Building Official. Fixtures on floor levels above such level elevation shall not be discharged through the backwater valve. Cleanouts for drains that pass through a backwater valve shall be clearly identified with a permanent label stating, "Backwater Valve Downstream."

i went out and had a look at the check valve. The plumber showed me the old cast iron check valve before he replaced it the next day. Said it was intermittently stuck shut because of a lot TP (been warning my kid about it) and it wasn't moving smoothly. I think the replacement part was relatively cheap (a few hundred dollars), but the labor wasn't. The valve is a RectorSeal Clean Check Extendable Backwater Valve 6" PVC. It's got a screw on lid and the valve unit is held in place with a thumb screw. I'm not sure where to get just a replacement flapper, but the plumber said I could easily replace it myself if it was ever stuck.

https://www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-96926-6-Inch-Extendable-Backwater/dp/B008A3UKNQ

[Linked Image from images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com]


As for the separate line - I have no idea. As far as I can tell, the kitchen has always been in the same place. I think the laundry room has always been there, although it might have been a cast iron sink before it was modified for a standard washer/dryer setup. The drain from the kitchen sink is exposed and feeds right into the same drain as the washer. The cleanout hole is on the floor and closed off with an expansion plug with a wing nut. The cleanout hole is copper, but I can only see a few inches in.
 
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