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So here is the situation: The laundry room is on a slab with all the drain and supply lines running through/under it. The washing machine and 2 sanitary tubs are serviced by the drain line. The drain line exits the slab into a basement area and continues over head until its run into a larger wast line and dumps into the septic tank. The drain line "sleeved" by a larger pipe for some distance in the slab before it exits into the basement area. It is visible in the basement and I will post a pic later today.

Now here's the problem. On occasion when the washing machine is emptying, water will flow out of the larger "sleeve" pipe flooding a portion of the basement.

Here's the catch, to does not happen every time. You may do several loads before it leaks, it may leak on the first load of the day. Or it may not leak at all for several loads. The only constant is when it does leak its gallons during the pump out cycle of the washer. The amount of water coming out between the "sleeve" and the drain line is what you would expect if emptying a bucket through a 2" pipe.


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Re: Plumbers/Master Plumbers help needed

Re: Plumbers/Master Plumbers help needed

Pics needed. Possibly a vent issue.

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Just something, could you be overwhelming the tank?A friend of mine, on a septic tank, uses biodegradable/organic soap in his/her washing machine and uses the effuse to water the garden, bypassing the septic tank. (biggest, juiciest blackberries I've ever eaten).

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looks like from pic 2" pvc dumps into a unvented floor drain. if the water is draining and it burbs on occasion it will back up. 1 gallon or a hundred gallons.
You need a good vent higher then top drain pipe in system, out the roof so you have a nice air pressure pushing waste water down with no burb.

or in your case from the floor drain vent.

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Is the septic around trees? At the cabin it started to back up,but only whenI was not there,it would happen to everyone else,and I used a fair amount of water. Turns out roots were the culprit. They got to the concrete tank through the lid. I silicone it back in place whenever we have it pumped now,problem solved!
Grub

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The sleeve appear to just be to make a clean hole in the concrete. The only way I can see drain water coming out there is if the drain line is broken. There should be no open drain connection under the floor to allow water to exit.

You could have the drain line scoped to see what is happening under the floor.

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The drain line is on the first floor of the house, a single story with a walk out lower level. The picture was taken over head it is about 9 feet above the lower level floor. The fall from the drain line to the septic tank is just over 16 feet. There are no issues with the lower level plumbing which consist of a full kitchen, full bath and an additional laundry room.

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Gotta agree with Joed on this one, that is just a sleeve for the drain line to go through the concrete. You won't be able to tell without a scope but during assembly somebody might have forgotten to glue a joint. Contraction could cause the joint to open enough to let the drain water into the sleeve.

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+?, I have to agree that the drain pipe has to have a breach in it somewhere to allow the water to get into the sleeve.
Can you access where it ties back into the main drain and work back to check all the joints?

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I plan on pulling the drywall in the upstairs laundry room this weekend for inspection from the top side. I'm also thinking of cutting the drain line where it exits the foundation and pulling on it to see if that section is not glued. The last thing I want to do is tare up the ceramic tile floor and concrete slab in the laundry room chasing this problem.

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A couple of things you can try before you start to pull things apart.

1)If the water pressure from the washer is pushing the drain pipe apart at a joint, then running the washer hose into the stationary sink will relieve the pressure and the pipe might hold together, and stop leaking. (how long are you going to stay in the house?)

2) Next time it leaks. Use some shims to keep the pipe from moving where it goes into the sleeve then try and drive the pipe IN from the other end. (mark the pipe) If it moves then it's a loose joint and you can clamp both ends to hold the pipe/joint in place.

If your not experienced, then the shim one end and drive the pipe IN till it has a nice solid sound then clamp both ends. This is the old school fix and it works most times.

You can drive the pipe out to look for movement, but you must be very carful not to separate the joint.(3/4 to 1" max movement)
Trying to get the pipe back together inside the sleeve is VERY tricky and sometimes impossible.

3)Running a scope down the drain to see what is going on, will give you a better idea where to start with the repair. This would be the best thing to start with, but most people would call a plumber than buy/rent a scope.

Best of luck
huts

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I am a master plumber... so I'll give my opinion on it.

To me it sounds like there's a crack/break or bad glue joint in the PVC.

If it were me, I would cap off both ends of the drain and pressure test the line with compressed air, and see if the drain holds a test. This way you'll know before any demolition.

In the basement where this drain enters, are there any clean outs on the line?

they make inflatable plugs that you can stick into the drain thru a clean out, then inflate, and that will block off the drain without cutting the pipe.