The line from my laundry discharge is draining slowly.

When my washer discharges, the volume it puts out overwhelms it briefly and I get ~1gal overflow. As soon as the pump stops, the line clears. We've had the washer for about 5 years and this is a recent problem so something has changed in the line.

Around last May, I had a plumbing co come out and they snaked the line - didn't seem like they really got anything, but it seems like the problem was 'fixed' for a while. Now that it's started again, I borrowed my neighbor's power auger and snaked the line about 30' or so which didn't do any good.

Any ideas, tips, tricks to try? Or should I just have the plumbers come out again?

I just had the same problem. We got a new washer yesterday that seems to have a much higher drain rate than the one it replaced. The house was built in the 50's and I doubt the drain pipe has been cleaned anytime recently, if ever. I used an auger and pulled up a few clothing fibers but it still overflowed. I ended up unscrewing the hot water inlet hose from the back of the washer (my wife's idea) and shoving it down the drain pipe as far as I could. Then I kept blasting hot water down the drain pipe and regulating it so it didn't overflow. I repeated it a few times until it didn't overflow any more while running at full blast. I think I drained my water heater though. I haven't run a washing cycle yet but I should know later today whether it worked.

You might have a different problem - plumbing that is sized too small for the flow rate your new washer will pump out.

Mine is similar in that I can't recreate it with the water lines, however, it's a newer problem for me and not one that started when we got the washer.

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

---

Could also be a venting issue. Perhaps a bird built a nest or something is clogging the air intake to push the water down.

---

Good guess, I thought that might be it too. That's kinda how it's acting.

However, I ran my hand auger all the way up until I could see it sticking out at the roof... didn't seem to change anything.

I've had this issue in the past, prior to a laundry room remodel. In the remodel we found that the previous plumber had not used a proper long radius drain 'y' and instead used a more conventional tee. Water was essentially hitting the tee, becoming very turbulent, and backing up. It wouldn't happen all the time or every time, but was especially noticeable on larger loads with greater volumes of water.

Vernada said:

---

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

---

Could also be a venting issue. Perhaps a bird built a nest or something is clogging the air intake to push the water down.

---

Good guess, I thought that might be it too. That's kinda how it's acting.

However, I ran my hand auger all the way up until I could see it sticking out at the roof... didn't seem to change anything.

---

Well crud.

FTA 2010 said:

---

I've had this issue in the past, prior to a laundry room remodel. In the remodel we found that the previous plumber had not used a proper long radius drain 'y' and instead used a more conventional tee. Water was essentially hitting the tee, becoming very turbulent, and backing up. It wouldn't happen all the time or every time, but was especially noticeable on larger loads with greater volumes of water.

---

I've wondered about things like this - but the fact that it took 3-4 years for us to notice makes me think it's a clog or roots or... ??.

I'm not ruling out something like it, just seems like it would have made itself apparent a whole lot sooner.

Any other slow drains that you notice? It may be on the house main line. May be that it's only noticeable in the laundry due to the sudden volume of water (no other appliance does this). Might be worth having a plumber do a main cleanout (to street and into house) for $150 or so. Even better if there was a cleanout near the laundry that could be on the same drain lateral. Just guessing on how to troubleshoot without being really invasive.

Also, if house was built after 1980 you should have pvc throughout the house and to sewer. Typically, roots are more of an issue with older cast iron pipes. I would tend to put that further down the list of possibilities if you aren't having drain issues anywhere else in the house.

We had a similar issue where the last toilet on the house before the line to city was constantly slow draining/clogging when flushing solids, none of the other drains in house had the issue.

Main line outside was backed up, and he pushed his camera down (didn't even get out the auger blade) and at 10 feet it cleared. His best guess was a feminine product got flushed somewhere, and got stuck between the house and the street. The other plumbing fixtures had enough room to back up within the mainline and slowly seep by the minor blockage, but the one closest didn't.

My lesson learned - check the cleanout. If blocked up, stick something down there first (hand snake, garden house, etc) before trying inside.

Pre-1980 and there are certainly some cast-iron pipes.

I have not noticed any other slow drains, but, as you say, the washer is pretty unique in the volume/rate of water that hits all at once.

So, it sounds like getting the plumbers back out might be a good idea.

mosdefn14 said:

---

We had a similar issue where the last toilet on the house before the line to city was constantly slow draining/clogging when flushing solids, none of the other drains in house had the issue.

Main line outside was backed up, and he pushed his camera down (didn't even get out the auger blade) and at 10 feet it cleared. His best guess was a feminine product got flushed somewhere, and got stuck between the house and the street. The other plumbing fixtures had enough room to back up within the mainline and slowly seep by the minor blockage, but the one closest didn't.

My lesson learned - check the cleanout. If blocked up, stick something down there first (hand snake, garden house, etc) before trying inside.

---

The only cleanout I can find is a cast-iron one that is actually right under the laundry line - it's perpendicular to the ground which seems strange (it's in part of the concrete foundation.

However, being that it's all cast iron and doesn't look like it's ever been removed, I've been hesitant to try to fight it off! I'm worried that IF I managed to get off, I'd never get it back on!

Do you not have a cleanout outside the house? I'm in a 1979 model and we have a cast iron Wye sticking up from the flowerbed right outside of the bathroom I'm mentioning.

mosdefn14 said:

---

Do you not have a cleanout outside the house? I'm in a 1979 model and we have a cast iron Wye sticking up from the flowerbed right outside of the bathroom I'm mentioning.

---

the one I'm talking about is outside the house - but it's not on a WYE. It's the only one I've found so far... if there's another one, they sure did make it hard to find!

Not saying a compromise to the drain lines is your "for sure" issue, but there's certainly a chance you have a break or separation somewhere and it showing up as an issue with the washing machine drain line. Here's a quick read that will describe under slab issues to your drain lines.

If you get it isolated via hydrostatic pressure of by running a camera to look for the point of failure here's a quick primer to one of two options:

• Top down approach thru the floors
• Tunneling under the slab to allow access for plumbers to make a repair

Hope it helps, hopefully its a quick and easy fix.

Appears that it was something WAY down the line.

The plumbers snaked 50' from the laundry clean-out with no luck.

Went to the outside clean-out - the strange cast-iron right under my laundry room was the only one they could find. After spending about 30 minutes working the old cast iron cap off and replacing it with a PVC one, they were able to snake 100' from there and cleared whatever was in the way.

Vernada said:

---

Appears that it was something WAY down the line.

The plumbers snaked 50' from the laundry clean-out with no luck.

Went to the outside clean-out - the strange cast-iron right under my laundry room was the only one they could find. After spending about 30 minutes working the old cast iron cap off and replacing it with a PVC one, they were able to snake 100' from there and cleared whatever was in the way.

---

Did they scope too? We had the same issue and it ended up being a belly in the pipe that was causing the issue.

Quote:

---

You might have a different problem - plumbing that is sized too small for the flow rate your new washer will pump out.

---

Bump for the problem above.

20 years of use with the old front end loader replaced because it started leaking. Flushed the drain line out with a bladder flusher just as a matter of good practice before installation. New washer overflows within 2 seconds of discharge. Research indicates that old houses ('59 build) and new washers is a well known problem which I was not aware of at all.

Is there an easy fix or a suggestion for a dedicated DIYer?

And can anybody tell me what problem the designers were trying to solve when they put a high discharge rate pump on a washer that uses less water? Makes no sense to this aging engineer...