Basement drain is overflowing?

Question

Alright, this is the deal. My basement drain over flows whenever I take a shower, run the dishwasher, basically do anything that involves water draining. I was taking a look and shop vacing the drain tonight when my wife went to the bathroom and water started coming up. Thank god it was number 1. I live in the city, so i have a sewer, no sub pump. is there any way I can fix this myself, or do i have to call a plumber?

Answer 1

You probably have roots clogging your main drain line. If you go to a tool rental store or a Home depot you can rent a snake. Then find the clean out for your main line going to the sewer. Remove the plug and following the instructions you were given at the rental store run the snake through the main line to the sewer. Be careful using the machine, they can sometimes whip around and damage something including you. If you don't want to do this yourself, pull out the yellow pages and look under sewer service or plumbers and get the best price. They can vary quite a bit. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I would call a plumber your main line is clogged hopefully your line is not broken

Answer 3

By "basement drain" do you mean a 1&1/2 or 2" drain that goes to a "slop" sink or other fixture drain (like a floor drain with a grate over it) in the basement or are you referring to the house "trap" which would probably have an internal diameter of 4".  You could be getting leakage from a smaller drain when the blockage is further down the line, possibly in the house trap or beyond up to the street.  While you might attempt the smaller drain yourself if you are not familiar with the operation of a "snake" and further if you are not particularly "handy" I suggest you call in the "professional"  A powered snake that gets stuck in operation can wip out of the drain with unplesant if not dangerous results.  Also if it were to stick in the drain it could place a harmful pressure on the wrists and arm. A snake that is too small (going into a floor drain)for the size of the pipe (if the blockage is in a 4" drain) can back up and tangle inside of the pipe. A snake can also hit a blockage and glance off and go up a vent pipe.  

Every drain should have a "trap" between it and further down the line.  This is a "U" shaped portion.  Blockages are often there. (or at "T"s or "Y"s)  Sometimes it is possible to take a stick and push it through.  In my neighborhood, the "house" drains are all made of cast iron.  The "caps" on the house trap here would never be threaded on as they would rust solid.  Instead they are also cast iron with a lead ring around them.  They are forced on (hammered)and off(knocked side to side).  Although often reused they are intended for one time use.  Leaking at this point would suggest you need new ones.  Because the house trap is in the ground (often in a pit) you will only see the two caps.  A line projected from them would "point" toward the outer basement wall.  

If you remove the one closest to the wall first and the blockage is in fact a backup from the street you could get a major eruption of sewage into your basement.  If you remove the one furtherest from the street and the blockage is in the trap but the leakage is further up the line (the pipe is full) you will get a smaller eruption.  If the blockage is further down the line and still the leakage is further up the line you could still get sewage. (hence the pit)  Only if you have leakage at the caps and or one is off (or you suffer the sewage) can you try to push any blockage through with a stick.

In any event.  It is rarely a clean operation.  For this task, I like to have some bleach to put in any overflow and a wet dry vac available for needed cleanup.  In my neighborhood, there are advertisements to clean out any drain for under $50.  Cleaning out to the street would rarely be over $200.

A sub (or sump) pump is for ground water not sewage.(but you might have a sewage ejector pump in your system if your drains are not below the floor.)

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There are check "valves" in an ejection pump system (or in a sump pump system) to keep the water from returning back down once it is pumped up.  There are also "over flow" holes on drains in sinks and bathtubs.  The bathtub over flow is at the same location as the trip lever which you would have to remove to snake out a bathtub drain.  Try a snake with a bigger diameter so you can push on it or a different end on the snake.  Or carefully try running it briefly in reverse, (see cautions above)

Answer 4

go to your local u-haul rent small main drain cleaner, it will cost you about forty bucks for 4 hrs, it has long steel tubing about 100ft of it , it breaks in sections this should help and cheaper then a plumber,its a small machine, also you should have a clean out, it is near where your water meter is and where your waste water runs to(the big pipe that runs up the wall) and you might be able to put something in it to unclog it it should have a s***w off cap if you can unscrew it you should start there, thats where the clog always is before it starts to back up in your floor drain.

Answer 5

There is obviously an obstruction of some kind.  You can try using a snake to clear the drain yourself, but if you want a thorough job, you'll need to call a pro...roto-rooter or a general plumber.