Overflow when Washing Machine drains; Seeking Advice

fiish

Hi,

I think I may have a problem with my flat's laundry drainage. This appears to have only started this weekend... basically when I was doing laundry and the washing machine was draining after a rinse, I heard the sound of water splashing on the floor followed by a gurgling from my kitchen sink after the machine had drained. Enough water spilled out to flood my kitchen but I'm more worried that it may be damaging the ceiling of the flat below.

It sounds like the pipe my washing machine drains into is overflowing, as I looked at it (had to pull the machine out of the cupboard - heavy!) and there isn't any visible damage to the piping (plus it's connected to my kitchen sink drain and that drains fine)

I don't have experience dealing with this issue... anyone can lend some advice? Would I be able to resolve this myself, or is this serious enough to warrant calling my landlord in?

Thanks!

basmic

Pour a jug of water through the machine, and put the hose in a bucket and set the machine to a drain or spin cycle for about 5 seconds. See if any waters comes out of the machine or not.

If so, then that would seem to indicate your waste pipe is blocked. In which case, I would pour some caustic soda down and some water boiled from the kettle.

dander

My best guess would also be a slight blockage in your pipe - much more water comes out of the washing machine much faster than the sink, so whereas the sink will just drain a little slower, the washing machine will react more noticably and it can cause an overflow.
Personally I would start with gentler products like soda crystals before moving on to the really strong stuff like caustic soda - and if you do use caustic soda, read the instructions carefully - it's not suitable for all situations.

fiish

The washer's drain pipe has an S-bend trap in it - could using the soda crystals make the blockage even worse?

Also, since it's connected to the same drainage pipe as my kitchen sink would it help to use the soda crystals there instead? The washer's drainage pipe is quite inaccessible and getting to it needs me to move the machine out, which stops me using my kitchen.... :-/

dander

If you start with soda crystals (rather than caustic soda) they are dead cheap, so you may as well start with the easy side of things and just chuck some down the kitchen sink. If you are lucky they'll clear the blockage and all will be well.

I'm not quite clear from your post where the water actually came out from, so it's hard to figure where the actual blockage might be, but it is most likely to be somewhere downstream from the sink because the kind of stuff that goes down kitchen sinks - food debris, grease etc, is the kind of stuff that can build up a blockage.

fiish

Sorry for not being clear earlier - the water comes out because the standing pipe which the washer's drainage hose feeds into overflows. The overflow comes out onto the floor behind my kitchen cupboard. Had quite a job soaking that up.

maninthestreet

fiish wrote: »

The washer's drain pipe has an S-bend trap in it - could using the soda crystals make the blockage even worse?

Also, since it's connected to the same drainage pipe as my kitchen sink would it help to use the soda crystals there instead? The washer's drainage pipe is quite inaccessible and getting to it needs me to move the machine out, which stops me using my kitchen.... :-/

Take the S-bend trap off - it just screws on, and can be unscrewed by hand.

basmic

If I were you, buy some soda crystals as well as caustic soda - then arm yourself with them and some hot water, and attack the pipework.

If you're lucky, the blockage might just be in the S-bend - as maninthestreet as already said, that should unscrew by hand.

If that's not blocked, try what I said about setting the machine to drain a jug full of water in a bucket. If the machine doesn't drain, then it could be that which is blocked - in which case, I'd consider a boil wash with half a bag of soda crystals.

fiish

I have removed the P-bend trap under my kitchen sink and cleaned it out. Thanks for that tip, there was plenty in there!

The S-bend for the washing machine drainage pipe is boarded behind the kitchen cupboard (with a hole cut in the boards to insert the washing machine drainage hose) and completely inaccessible - if I could get to it without destroying the cupboard I would do so, however I doubt the landlord would be too pleased with that.

I had no luck with the soda crystals In fact now it seems really clogged up. I picked up a plunger after work and tried using it on the kitchen sink - and the water I pumped with the plunger came out the other standing pipe (the one for the washing machine). This leads me to think there's a blockage further downstream which is unreachable to me.

Because of this blockage I cannot flush the pipe so the soda crystal approach is blunted somewhat. Any further advice? I'm thinking of calling a professional in if I can't resolve this in the next few days....

basmic

All I can suggest is what I have done previously - caustic soda and hot water.

dander

I agree, if the gentler methods haven't worked - it's time for caustic soda!