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Lately I've been dealing with A LOT of drain issues in our 1950's slab ranch. Last month I had to have the sewer main water jetted. The Magnolia tree in the front yard keeps growing roots into the line, that tree's days are numbered. Then the bathtub drain plugged up, no biggy, remove drain plate, snake wife's hairballs out, rinse, repeat 8 months from now. After that the kitchen sink drain blocked up. I poured some boiling water down it and it seems to work much better now. I think I need to add an air admittance valve to it.
Friday was the biggest kick in the nutsack to date. I got new tables for the computer room and started moving furniture out to move them in. When I moved the bookcase it fell over. The leg had completely rotted off about 6" up from water saturation. The only thing holding it up was the wall and the filing cabinet next to it.
My computer desk has a fair amount of water staining, and the filing cabinet left a nice rust mark on the carpeting.
I knew what was causing it. I measure from the wall to the water damage, 60". Went into the utility room and measured 60" to where the washing machine drain is. I moved all the crap out of the way and upon further inspection I found disintegrating wood panelling, water logged drywall, a thoroughly rotten sill plate, and heaved floor tiling. The washing machine drain was overflowing the whole time and I never noticed! I ran a load of clothes to view the carnage with my own eyes. The drain pipe is your typical 1 1/2" poorly vented cast iron drain that is installed in every old home since 7yrs before mud. The previous owner thought it was a good idea to 'caulk' a 1 1/4" copper pipe into said drain, and couple a 1 1/2" PVC stand pipe to it. When the washer goes into it's drain/spin cycle it pumps water out at a rate of about 32gpm (like a fire hose almost). The stand pipe fills up, but does not overflow, and the water geysered out of a compromised portion of the caulking which in turn floods the floor up against the wall where you wouldn't see it unless you were looking for it.
After that the water would subside. Sooooo.... I pulled the washer out, tore out the panelling, drywall, and flooring, and pulled the P.O.S. caulked copper pipe out of the drain. I wet dry vac'd it out, and gave it the garden hose test. If you place the hose at the very bottom of the drain it drains fine. As you raise the hose out of the drain the water follows the hose up the pipe.
The garden hose test told me 3 things:
**A quick side note, my Dad lives across town in an absolutely identical slab ranch with an identical plumbing layout. He had a similar problem with his washing machine drain about a month ago. His drain was clogged and cracked at the 90* trap elbow, and the plumber couldn't get a snake through it. They ended up jackhammering the floor up and sleeving a new trap onto the old drain pipe. It sucked, and it was pricey, but it works now. His washing machine doesn't seem to discharge nearly as fast as mine does though, so the 1 1/2" pipe can handle the flow..
Anyway, I had to come up with a solution even if it was temporary one. I spent hours combing forums and plumbing websites and noted that this is a very common issue in old homes with undersized poorly vented drain pipes. On one forum in particular there was a plumber who spelled things out in plain english. He said a properly vented 2" pipe can handle a new washing machines 32gpm discharge flow no problem. A poorly vented 1 1/2" drain doesn't cut it anymore. If you have 1 1/2" drains you have very few options. You can spend thousands busting the slab open to install bigger drains and better venting, or you can install a utility tub as a flow buffer between the washer and the drain. I don't have thousands laying around to bust the slab open right now so I opted for the utility tub fix...
I bought a typical run of the mill $26 big box store tub. It holds 20 gallons of water, and fit nicely next to the washing machine...
It solved the problem, sorta... I hooked it up, ran the washer on a spin cycle, and the tub overflowed the drain again. Not as quickly as the crappy stand pipe, but flooded none the less. I'm not one to give up easily. I grabbed the drain plug that came with the tub kit, and punched a 5/8" hole in it with a gasket punch to further restrict the flow.
I installed the freshly made 'restricter plug', ran the spin cycle again, no more overflowing drain. It takes the tub about 5-7 minutes to drain, but it doesn't overwhelm the old pipes.
I know it's a temporary fix, but it gets the job done. I still have to clean the pipe out. I ran a 1/4" snake in about 6' and got nothing. I'm gonna buy a Drain King water bladder drain blaster and try that. I've read about them, and spoke to a few friends who've used them. They all say they work great, and don't hurt anything.
I know some Bangshifters do plumbing and construction work. The wife and I discussed how to permanently fix the drain problems. I've see some companies tunnel under the slab and replace the pipes, others will bust open the slab to repair them. Either way it's expensive as hell and makes a huge mess. Not to mention the yard, wall and floor replacement you have to deal with after it's all said and done. I figured if I'm gonna have the drains redone I might as well get the water lines replaced while the house is torn apart. I was looking at PEX line and manifold systems. PEX would get the water lines out of the slab and above ground which makes servicing the water system MUCH easier.
So, How would you tackle this? Any bright ideas, and suggestions are welcome.
Friday was the biggest kick in the nutsack to date. I got new tables for the computer room and started moving furniture out to move them in. When I moved the bookcase it fell over. The leg had completely rotted off about 6" up from water saturation. The only thing holding it up was the wall and the filing cabinet next to it.
My computer desk has a fair amount of water staining, and the filing cabinet left a nice rust mark on the carpeting.
I knew what was causing it. I measure from the wall to the water damage, 60". Went into the utility room and measured 60" to where the washing machine drain is. I moved all the crap out of the way and upon further inspection I found disintegrating wood panelling, water logged drywall, a thoroughly rotten sill plate, and heaved floor tiling. The washing machine drain was overflowing the whole time and I never noticed! I ran a load of clothes to view the carnage with my own eyes. The drain pipe is your typical 1 1/2" poorly vented cast iron drain that is installed in every old home since 7yrs before mud. The previous owner thought it was a good idea to 'caulk' a 1 1/4" copper pipe into said drain, and couple a 1 1/2" PVC stand pipe to it. When the washer goes into it's drain/spin cycle it pumps water out at a rate of about 32gpm (like a fire hose almost). The stand pipe fills up, but does not overflow, and the water geysered out of a compromised portion of the caulking which in turn floods the floor up against the wall where you wouldn't see it unless you were looking for it.
After that the water would subside. Sooooo.... I pulled the washer out, tore out the panelling, drywall, and flooring, and pulled the P.O.S. caulked copper pipe out of the drain. I wet dry vac'd it out, and gave it the garden hose test. If you place the hose at the very bottom of the drain it drains fine. As you raise the hose out of the drain the water follows the hose up the pipe.
The garden hose test told me 3 things:
- The drain works, but there's an obvious venting issue.
- There's definitely a lint blockage somewhere in the line.
- 1 1/2" drain pipe is NOT made to handle 32gpm water flow, EVER!
**A quick side note, my Dad lives across town in an absolutely identical slab ranch with an identical plumbing layout. He had a similar problem with his washing machine drain about a month ago. His drain was clogged and cracked at the 90* trap elbow, and the plumber couldn't get a snake through it. They ended up jackhammering the floor up and sleeving a new trap onto the old drain pipe. It sucked, and it was pricey, but it works now. His washing machine doesn't seem to discharge nearly as fast as mine does though, so the 1 1/2" pipe can handle the flow..
Anyway, I had to come up with a solution even if it was temporary one. I spent hours combing forums and plumbing websites and noted that this is a very common issue in old homes with undersized poorly vented drain pipes. On one forum in particular there was a plumber who spelled things out in plain english. He said a properly vented 2" pipe can handle a new washing machines 32gpm discharge flow no problem. A poorly vented 1 1/2" drain doesn't cut it anymore. If you have 1 1/2" drains you have very few options. You can spend thousands busting the slab open to install bigger drains and better venting, or you can install a utility tub as a flow buffer between the washer and the drain. I don't have thousands laying around to bust the slab open right now so I opted for the utility tub fix...
I bought a typical run of the mill $26 big box store tub. It holds 20 gallons of water, and fit nicely next to the washing machine...
It solved the problem, sorta... I hooked it up, ran the washer on a spin cycle, and the tub overflowed the drain again. Not as quickly as the crappy stand pipe, but flooded none the less. I'm not one to give up easily. I grabbed the drain plug that came with the tub kit, and punched a 5/8" hole in it with a gasket punch to further restrict the flow.
I installed the freshly made 'restricter plug', ran the spin cycle again, no more overflowing drain. It takes the tub about 5-7 minutes to drain, but it doesn't overwhelm the old pipes.
I know it's a temporary fix, but it gets the job done. I still have to clean the pipe out. I ran a 1/4" snake in about 6' and got nothing. I'm gonna buy a Drain King water bladder drain blaster and try that. I've read about them, and spoke to a few friends who've used them. They all say they work great, and don't hurt anything.
I know some Bangshifters do plumbing and construction work. The wife and I discussed how to permanently fix the drain problems. I've see some companies tunnel under the slab and replace the pipes, others will bust open the slab to repair them. Either way it's expensive as hell and makes a huge mess. Not to mention the yard, wall and floor replacement you have to deal with after it's all said and done. I figured if I'm gonna have the drains redone I might as well get the water lines replaced while the house is torn apart. I was looking at PEX line and manifold systems. PEX would get the water lines out of the slab and above ground which makes servicing the water system MUCH easier.
So, How would you tackle this? Any bright ideas, and suggestions are welcome.
Just for good measure, chainsaw.
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