Plumbing Issues In Grow Area! I Have A Snake Thingy, A Bottle Of Draino, & No Experience

[MMJ Intern]

The water started coming up through the floor last night when the washer started to empty. The floor drains are 2 ft from my grow and thankfully the plastic plant drainers protected my ladies. After cleaning up, the floor drains emptied but refilled and overflowed when I had someone flush the unused toilet. This morning, the drains were dry even after a shower & washing last nights dishes. I ran the washer 20 mins ago and it overflowed again. I checked around the internet and an plumber said to snake the ceiling vent pipe to unclog the blockage to a question similar to mine (washer water coming up through floor) but I don't even know what or where that is. Can anyone help me out here. I have a 20 ft snake (auger?), some drano, and hope someone can point me in the right direction.

 

Thanks

[Wild Bill]

Unless you know a plumber you can trust completely I would try this;

 

Easy Rooter

[mediready]

vent blockage? ...nah. sounds like you have a blockage in your main waste line underground. maybe random gunk/blockage but this sounds like tree roots growing into your waste line. if you have a simple hand-powered auger it probably wont help. if roots is your problem you could pay roto-rooter to do it OR you could rent an electric drain snake with a good cutting blade and DIY. you should have a plumbing clean-out in your basement where your waste exits the house- thats where the snake goes in. beyond that it depends if you have city waste or a septic tank. best case is you have a short front yard and a manhole to look into to see the snake go through. good luck friend.

[Dlo]

The drain to the sewer is backed up, you need a big snake like in the link above. Snake the main drain in the basement floor. IMO, Im not a plumber.

[Timmahh]

what is your location? are you on a public drainage system? or a septic field?

 

certainly sounds like a partial clog. not enough to overflow with small amounts (dishes, shower as it is a slow flow) but enough to overflow with a larger amount of water at one time. ie washer, bath tub full of water, ect....

you need to get the main drain to the sewer system un clogged If that is the issue. if your on a septic system, their could be a simple solution (have the septic tank emptied) or it could be a BIG problem, drainage field is bad.

 

If you need a MMJ friendly person (not a licensed plumber, but been dealing with it for 30 yrs) to access the issue, offer advice, or need to hire out to rectify the situation, let me know.

[MMJ Intern]

Thanks all. I'm gonna do it myself and head over to Home Depot tomorrow and rent a rooter. $45 for 4 hrs sounds much better then $125 for a stranger to stomp around in my garden.

[MMJ Intern]

Hi Timmahh,

 

I just noticed your post after my last one. I'm in Lansing with city plumbing. I'm going to try the DIY method tomorrow & let you know how it goes.

 

what is your location? are you on a public drainage system? or a septic field?

 

certainly sounds like a partial clog. not enough to overflow with small amounts (dishes, shower as it is a slow flow) but enough to overflow with a larger amount of water at one time. ie washer, bath tub full of water, ect....

you need to get the main drain to the sewer system un clogged If that is the issue. if your on a septic system, their could be a simple solution (have the septic tank emptied) or it could be a BIG problem, drainage field is bad.

 

If you need a MMJ friendly person (not a licensed plumber, but been dealing with it for 30 yrs) to access the issue, offer advice, or need to hire out to rectify the situation, let me know.

[mike44]

Be careful using the rooter, they can get a little dangerous if you don't know how to use them, and be careful not to break the cable off in your main line or get it stuck. Backhoes are expensive. good Luck

[Timmahh]

agree. so with city plumbing, that leaves it likely to a clogged main drain, perhaps a secondary drain from on spot on the system. It is quite possible as the guy you initially spoke with, that the venting pipeing (exiting your roof) may also be partially blocked. if you dont have a open/clear flow of air into the drainage system, it will/can cause issues. just think of how a pop bottle empties when full, and you flip it upside down. it chugs out. that is due to the lack of ambient air pressure above the level of fluids.

 

i would suggest you 1st get a 100ft hand snake, or perhaps the only slightly larger drill attatchable snakes. the larger power snakes can be brutal to operate, if your unsure of them, as well as brutal on your drainage pipes. usually, considering you have drainage, just not full on, its just a partial block that can be removed with a hand ran snake. just depends on where its at, near/within the household drainage, or near the main public drainage line. unless its roots growing thru the main line out to the public system. thats a bit tougher to deal with. i would guess its just a simple partial plug.

[mike44]

I would agree with Timmah, rent a 100 foot flat tape, they are like 3/16" X 3/4" spring steel with a pointed tip, comes on a coil and you just unroll it as you feed it into the line. If it is roots, once you get a hole through you can treat with copper sulfate and kill the roots. Roots are always worse in the spring and in the fall. The roof vent will usualy be 3 or 4 inch cast iron, open ended coming out you roof. Maybe pvc if a newer house. You can run the tape down it if you determine it might be plugged. It will normally be located over or near the bathroom.

[Poppa Puff]

vent blockage? ...nah. sounds like you have a blockage in your main waste line underground. maybe random gunk/blockage but this sounds like tree roots growing into your waste line. if you have a simple hand-powered auger it probably wont help. if roots is your problem you could pay roto-rooter to do it OR you could rent an electric drain snake with a good cutting blade and DIY. you should have a plumbing clean-out in your basement where your waste exits the house- thats where the snake goes in. beyond that it depends if you have city waste or a septic tank. best case is you have a short front yard and a manhole to look into to see the snake go through. good luck friend.

I've had this problem AND it was stink pipes blocked due to dead birds. It's a cheep try and then go for the rotor rooter. Much cheaper fix and not so messy. Just a thought..... Pops

[asignman]

I had the same problem years ago and used to be a roto rooter guy. Because it is coming out of the floor I tend to agree that it is a blockage where the drains exit the house. If there are trees close to those lines you may be in for a chore. It would cost about as much and be a whole lot easier to by some stuff called "Rooto Professional Strength Drain Cleaner, than to go with the snaking ideas. Buy a gallon of the stuff at about 40 bucks and if that doesn't clear the problem call a pro. I once used the stuff to clear a 2ft. diameter street drain that was flooding a store parking lot that I managed. It just happened to be a Hardware Store.

[Mememe]

Put an empty 2 liter bottle upside down on the vent stack. Take a shop-vac and put it on blow. Seal vac around drain with a wet hand towel. The 2 liter and a big wad of gunk will come flying out the vent. If it doesn't work, put shop vac on suck and then switch to blow a couple times.

[MMJ Intern]

Put an empty 2 liter bottle upside down on the vent stack. Take a shop-vac and put it on blow. Seal vac around drain with a wet hand towel. The 2 liter and a big wad of gunk will come flying out the vent. If it doesn't work, put shop vac on suck and then switch to blow a couple times.

 

Isn't the vent stack on the roof? sounds a bit dangerous.

 

Thanks for the great ideas everyone

[Timmahh]

yes vent stack would be setting 18 inches above the peak of the roof, as noted, usually by the bathroom, but can by by the kitchen too. depending on roof pitch, it can be dangerous. falling off a roof is no joke, and navigating a roof is not a job for an amature imo.

[MMJ Intern]

Update: Went to get the auger today from home depot. It weights 250 lbs so I have a someone coming to help tomorrow. I poured the drano down the drain and followed the directions. Now my house reeks like sewage and the smell engulfed the main floor. not even my 6 in filtered inline fan made a dent in the smell and its 5 ft from the drain. I'm seriously going to leave my house if I cant get this resolved within the hour.

 

Does anyone thing the shop vac idea would help?

[MMJ Intern]

i would give one of these a try in your floor drain.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100569152&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100569152&ci_src=14110944&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D26X-_-100569152&locStoreNum=2728

 

Thank you Q-tipper! I made it to home depot just before they closed. I bought the drain cleaning bladder & an extra 50 ft of garden hose! Wish me luck

[MMJ Intern]

good luck... make sure you keep your foot on it when you turn the water off! from experience.... if it don't clear the clog it will pressurize the pipe behind it and when the bladder shrinks when you turn it off, it will blow out of the hole and a geyser will immediately follow.

 

Thanks Q-tipper

 

Just to double check: keep my foot on the hose, turn off water, wait a minute then pull the hose out.

[MMJ Intern]

Thanks Q-tipper

 

Just to double check: keep my foot on the hose, turn off water, wait a minute then pull the hose out.

 

Q-tipper I sent you a pm about this drain bladder. How do I know when to shut off the water?

[MMJ Intern]

Q-tipper I sent you a pm about this drain bladder. How do I know when to shut off the water?

 

Lol.I just noticed your post. Thanks

[Morhawk]

Thanks Q-tipper

 

Just to double check: keep my foot on the hose, turn off water, wait a minute then pull the hose out.

 

Yes! Either way, have some towels and a shop vac ready! Just in case..... From experience also, except mine was the pipe from the kitchen sink......with a garbage disposal attached.....

[MMJ Intern]

Thank you Q-Tipper!

 

The drain is clear!! And thank you to everyone who chimed in with their DIY advice.

 

You all ROCK

 

I've never been happier to do a sink full of dishes and laundry

[spelltwister]

HELP! I also need a plumber (

 

I rented the http://homedepotrents.com/diyTools/rooter_100.asp?cm_sp=tool_rental-_-left_nav-_-easy_rooter from home depot on friday and thought I unclogged the drain only to have it come up again saturday. After it went back down on saturday, we added 5 bottles of liquid plumber (across saturday and sunday). It still came up hours later.

 

Then I rented the same tool again Sunday and fed all 100 feet down 3 times to ensure that any blockage was removed and I came home today to find it again flooded.

 

I very much wanted to avoid calling a plumber, but I feel like I have no choice now. If anyone is in the EastPointe area or knows someone who is, please, please pass along the info.

 

Thanks so much!