Is there a plumber in the house?

[miss_thenorth]

Just great!! Of course (she says sarcastically) dh is not home this weekend.

I was doing a load of laundry, and the laundry tub filled up with water rom the machine. The machine drains into a tube that goes down the same pipe as the laundry tub. No big deal, I thought. I tried plunging the drainto unplug it,but the tube where teh washing machine drains to does not seal tightly, and I can;t get the tube out, nd so when i plunge, water comes up the tube. So, I figure, no problem, dh will be home tomorrow--i don't need to use the laundry tub and the laundry is clean. So, I go downstairs to do some work, and after an hour come back up and notice a puddle in MY KITCHEN--under the dishwasher. The dishwasher has not worked in over 6 months--problem? Water won't come out of it. So I know the water was not from my dishwasher. I opened it up and it is filled to the overflowing point with dirty water. It looked like my laundry tub drained into my dishwasher.

How does this happen? Does this mean a septic tank problem? Is there anything I can do?

Of course , this happens on Thanksgiving weekend, when dh is gone, and if I ned to get a septic pumper out here, it will have to be on Tuesday. So, again, if anyone knows, is there anything I can do? I'm afraid to flush the toilets now.

 

[Big Daddy]

Does your sink drain ok on both sides? Your dishwasher out line should go into the drain pipe under your sink. They may have the drain pipe for your washer going to the same drainpipe. Are your toilets draining

 

[miss_thenorth]

Toilets are flushing. (I was scared to do it, but) . Sink is draining on both sides. But it has been a few hours. It did rain all day yesterday if that means anything.

 

[FarmerChick]

backups here mean one thing

clog in front of the septic tank stopping that water flow


I always get "sucked out" for $125 when that happens. (well actually it was $145 about 4 mos. ago)


I am a firm believer in suck it out. Easiest and best fix and most reliable.




Now, when I get sucked out by my buddy (who owns the biz) he always has me drop 2 buckets of horse manure down the septic before he closes the lid. He said that is better than "Rid X" and all that junk.

Honestly I will never play with a backup. I won't and can't go there, just me..HA HA



If anything occurs, a suck out is worth the money!!!!

 

[miss_thenorth]

That's kinda what I'm thinking, but they are not open, and it's a long weekend here (Canadian Thanksgiving) Can I go till Tuesday?

I got ahold of hubby--he's on his way home.

 

[FarmerChick]

Use the plunger

suck and beat and suck and beat the hound out of it
(if a clog in front of the septic flow opening--this might shift it)

and don't use flush paper (just bag it if you can)
and don't use tons of water.

time to do the SS conserve!

tues is far away....I feel your anxiety.....been there!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Plunging is not working--there is an air leak where the washe rdrains into the drain pipe from the laundry tub. If I can't get it air tight--plunging does nothing, but now the water is in the dishwasher anyways--can't pluinge that.

Hubby is bringing a snake home fro work--we will snake the drain, and on tuesday we will call to get the septic pumped. Hopefully it will be one or the other, so both things will be taken care of.

 

[FarmerChick]

WOW
wait for hubby!
hubby's can do wonderful great things that we never thought of...LOL
he will be there soon and all might be great.
hang in there.
I know, plumbing problems are the worst.
But we can do it and survive...


sit back, relax, wait for hubby and do not panic.
we all know life is not to be freaked out on when something "hits the fan"--like the plumbing..LOL

let us know!

 

[patandchickens]

Can you block that air leak (e.g. with a wet rag strapped tightly around the leaky part of the pipe?) so that a plunger will work?

You should be able to guess from where the plumbing lines run (the ones that work vs the ones that don't) whether it is a blockage in your indoor black pipes or whether it is the septic tank itself.

Til Tuesday I suppose the main thing is going to be, do not use any more drains/flushing than can be avoided, and try to space it out so the system has time in between uses to hopefully drain the water on through.

Good luck, hang in there,

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm sure it is a blockage in the laundry tub. Alot of stuff goes in there that shouldn't. I tried blocking the air leak, with putty, but when plunging, the water went back and forth in the drain tube from the washer.

I called hubby back and told hm not to bother coming home, it could wait, considering we will be gone the next two days for most of the day.

The dishwasher did eventually drain.

The gameplan for now is to--not use laundry tub or kitchen sink, since it seems to be that drain that is affected.--be very cautious of using other drains, including flushing toilets. ( there will of course have to be showers for Thanksgiving dinners , but those drains are on the opposite side of the house). --Hubby will come home with the snake tomorrow, will snake out the drain, and on Tuesday we will call to get the septic pumped out. Hopefully all we be right in the world until, and after then.