Comments on: Floor Drain Basics

By: Reuben Saltzman

Reuben Saltzman — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:32:51 +0000

Karen – I would suggest doing exactly what you’re thinking. Hire someone to run a camera down the main building drain to figure out what the problem is. That won’t cover all the P-traps, but from what you’re telling me, it sounds like you have a problem with your main building drain.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 17 May 2012 07:21:52 +0000

I have a sewer clean-out with the cap in place in my family room, in a remodeled basement that smells like mildew. We purchased the house (built in 1976) and moved into it in January, it had been vacant for about 18 months. At that time the sewer backed up and we had someone out to clear the lines and haven’t had trouble since. It seems strange to me that what appears to be a sealed and closed up pipe could be a source of the mildew smell. I’ve smelled the nearby outlets thinking the smell could be coming from inside the wall, the carpet and the whole general vicinity, but it really seems to just be coming from the clean-out pipe. There is no moisture anywhere that I can detect and though we are in Washington state we live on the dry eastern side so there is no dampness to speak off. The laundry room on the other side of the wall where the small amount of flooding <1inch actually occurred smells fine. Any suggestions?

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:18:58 +0000

Hi, I am n deep trouble. We bought the home we live in 9 years ago, built in 1973, we live in rural St. Louis MO. After the first week we moved in our basement flooded, we had a plumber go o top of the house and ran a snake from the stake vented out from the roof all the way down and out to the street, the problem went away after that for a couple of years and then came back with a vengance. It flooded so bad in our basement that we had to have more than half of the floors and walls replaced, it was snaked again and I thought the problem was solved. Well that was 9 months ago and it happened again, this time we caugt it before it travled out beyond the furnance room.
We have had the raw sewage smell when you run the sinks, and earth dirt coming out of the bathtub in the basement. I have family that is coming in town and the only place I can put them is in the basement but before they get here I want to have this problem taken care of once and for all.
What would you suggest? I am thinking of a video scope of all drains but will that go into the P traps and show if there is any damage?
Thank you for reading my long story.
Karen

By: Val

Val — Sat, 05 May 2012 22:15:05 +0000

Thanks Ruben, you were right and I did get the line cleaned out and it is all good now.

Thanks

Val

By: Reuben Saltzman

Reuben Saltzman — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:18:38 +0000

Hi Allison,

I’m stumped. Having a lot of rain shouldn’t affect your floor drain; if it does, you probably have a hole in the drain line that runs under the house, as well as a partially blocked drain line.

By: Allison

Allison — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:11:46 +0000

Hi Reuben,
Last night the floor drain in our laundry room backed up with this black crud. It doesn’t smell like sewage, more like chlorine. When it backed up we were running a medium load of laundry. I’ve run several loads since and it hasn’t happened again. We have had a lot of rain this week, but we’ve had more in the past and never had an issue. My question is actually two fold. First is the obvious, how can I prevent it from happening again? The second is how do I get that awful chemical smell out of the clothes that got wet? I’ve soaked them over night, and washed them several times, and nothing is working. I really don’t want to have to throw them away, one pile that got wet was my husbands dress shirts. Thank you for you help!

By: Reuben Saltzman

Reuben Saltzman — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:54:05 +0000

Val – The drain line is partially clogged. You need to have it cleaned out.

- Reuben

By: Val

Val — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:03:11 +0000

Hi Reuben

Water from my kitchen sink is coming up the floor drain. The kitchen is directly above the furnace room where the floor drain is. When I just run water down the kitchen sink for a long time there is no problem with the drain. When I fill the sink then unplug it the larger volume of water causes the problem and floods the furnace room floor.
Any idea what the problem might be??

By: drainage experts Sonoma

drainage experts Sonoma — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:53:16 +0000

Your post can help many home owners in influencing them to know the proper way of maintaining their floor drains. This can in turn prevent further accumulation of debris that can affect the plumbing and drainage system. Thanks for sharing!

By: Reuben Saltzman

Reuben Saltzman — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:53:19 +0000

Hi Meghan – lots of floor drains are just plain stinky. Cleaning it with bleach might help with the odor. As far as the anti-freeze, go for it. Just use RV anti-freeze. Anti-freeze won’t evaporate.