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walterdino

washer drain overflows

WalterDino
11 years ago

We just moved into a new (to us) house, so I'll be making good use of this community over the next few years...

The house was built in 1962 but was then vacated and renovated in the last two years before we bought it. Since no one lived in the house following the renovations, I'm not sure if the plumbing issue we're having is something due to age and wear or if it was done improperly during the renovation.

The clothes washer and utility sink are in a separate utility room that is between the kitchen and exit to the sewer line. The kitchen sink drains properly, but the washer doesn't drain fast enough and floods the utility room. The utility sink fills up with water and takes an hour or two to drain during this process. I've attachd a photo of the setup - the PVC is either 2" or 2 1/4" everywhere.

I first thought the problem was the support straps that seem to have been hastily installed - the utility sink junction was hoisted higher than the drain line on either side of it, so I was thinking that the drain may have been filling up toward the kitchen sink instead of draining the proper direction. I tried today to even out the drain line so that it has a constant slope down from the kitchen sink toward the sewer, but this didn't seem to help anything.

The sink trap is free of clogs, but I haven't checked the washer trap shown in the attached picture because it is fixed and I'm not sure I want to handle any real plumbing repairs myself.

A few other notes - when the kitchen sink is on, there is an audible gurgling sound in the area of the washer drain pipe. When the utility sink is full of water and slowly draining, there is dripping in the pipe junction closest to the washer drain on the side of the sewer.

Does the washer drain look properly set up? What would be the next step in troubleshooting the problem? I'd appreciate any advice!

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