Plumbing problems?

First let me give you some background info: My house was built in 1990, and we are the first and only owners. We had plumbers come out to snake the line several times over the past couple years because our washer keeps backing up into our sink *nasty*. This works for a month or two, then it just starts backing up again. P.S. We don't put any food particles or grease down the drain at all. Any solutions?

Public Comments

1. I hate to say this but it sounds like you are not properly vented to the drain on your washer. my suggestion....call a licensed plumber out to check vents and make sure you haven't had a drain line to fall which would cause your system to be unlevel. plumbing must have a drop in the line to make sure it drains properly.
2. Are you on a septic tank or city water?? Without knowing, its kind of difficult to answer. If you're on septic, and you've had lots of rain, it is possible that your septic needs to be emptied since it hasn't been since 1990. Also, your run off could have collapsed. If you're on septic, try running some ridx down your comode or lifting the little lid on the septic tank and pouring some in there. At that time, you can check to see if its too full. If you're on city water, you might want to check your grease trap, even though you say you never put anything down the drain, you'd be suprised. Try those out and see if it helps.
3. do you have a septic tank full ? trees in the area growing roots into the septic lines ? tree roots grow very fast around that give you some ideals
4. Do you have any trees that are sending roots into the main sewer line? Are you on a city sewer system or rural septic system? Is the lint trap on your washer working. You didn't mention if you have a garbage disposal. When the drain is snaked, how far do they go? Your problem may be further down the line. You may have a collapsed drain. The stone drain lines can break.
5. you probably have roots growing into the sewer at some point and the plumber is able to cut out the roots but they grow back in at the same point or there is an offset joint in the pipe either way you have to find out where the problem is dig up the line and repair it some plumbers have tv cameras they can send down the sewer and determine the conditiopn and where the problem is this can save alot of time and trouble in locating just where the problem is
6. You say that the water backs up into the sinks, which leads me to believe that your washer does not have a 'stack' that leads from the discharge line up and out of the house. Because of the high volume discharged by washing machines, they require a 'buffer' to handle the turbulent flow that they exude. This line would probably already be in place or you will have a lot of expense adding one. A vacuum breaker that is added where the line from the washer enters the discharge tube also has been known to solve these problems, but the problem is that the discharge line from the machine shares a common line with the sink and it is easier for the fluid to 'back up' into the sink rather than flow down the discharge line. Anything you can do to alleviate this condition will help. Hope this helps, I had to opt for installing a line into the attic where we tied onto the 'breather' from the bathroom and that gave us the needed relief so that ours now does not 'back up' into the bathtub. It wasn't a pretty sight.
7. Here's the thing... the washer ( I am assuming you mean the clothes washer, not the dishwasher) puts out a large volume of water very quickly when it empties or rinses. This is filling the line out of the house faster than it can drain. This may be because it is pitched wrong (not enough down angle) or because it is obstructed. Actually, the fact that you say that snaking it straightens it out for a while makes me think it is a combination of both... that is, insufficient pitch is causing it to build up a clog of whatever is going down it, over time. When the obstruction reaches the point where the opening through is too narrow to accomodate the amount of volume in a short time, like when the washer discharges, it has no choice but to back up. And your sink happens to be the lowest point of outlet. The ultimate solution is going to be to correct the pitch of the outgoing line. Meanwhile, a check valve on the line will help.
8. All these people guessing at your problem, is going to leave you confused and angry. I am not going to try and "guess"! What you need to do is have a plumbing contractor with a camera, snake the problem line, and he will be able to properly diagnose the problem. Good luck!
9. You need to check the following: 1. Vent line, it needs to vent to make sure the water does not make a trapped water baffle and back up. 2. Check for tree roots around the tiles, small roots will ball up and grow inside creating a blockage of flow that restricts the drainage of the water. There is a liquid root killer you can pour down the drain to help get it to the roots. Can kill trees possibly though, so make sure the tree is on your property unless it is a problem one, then the neighbors will never know. OOPS! 3. realize that lint and fabric softeners cause drain problems that dry up and plug off the drain pipe after a long period of use. 4. check for collapsed tiles 5. Pour some of the liquid plumber down the sink drain and see if it helps, 6. If you have a septic tank, it is highly unlikely it is that unless you have an old tank, big family, lots of laundry, baths, and dishes daily to overload the capacity. The fieldbed helps keep the evaporation of the debris depositied there daily to be self sufficent. You would know if it was that anyway because it would run over and go outside the ground to saturate it as a tell tale sign. To keep it active, just pour some dried dog food in the bowl and let set till soft. Flush! The dog food has the same activie bacterias as the RIDEX effects from the box. Dog food is used to reseed waste treatment plants when the bacterias go belly up...I know I have done it.
10. Use the process of elimination. Check to make sure your lines are both vented. Check the design of the secondary lines under your house - most likely they are connected & then "Y" into the main line. Check to make sure that the lines are not compromised also - if there is a breach in one, when the line is snaked, it will only be partially effective. There is the possibility that they used the wrong kind of "Y" also or the configuration of the secondary lines lends itself to the problem. Crawl the house & use a flashlight & inspect every part of the pipes - look at the configuration & if you cannot see any possible reason, then you may want to call a different plumber.