# Clueless



## dixonfam (Mar 1, 2010)

Ok I seem to have a problem.  This is already happened three times.  I've had the plumbers come out three times already.  Every time I do laundry I find a puddle of water at the base of the toilet in the hallway bathroom.  Then the water starts to come up from the drains in the tub and shower.  There's also alot of like dirt that comes up from the drain.  What could be causing this problem and how can it get fixed?


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## kok328 (Mar 1, 2010)

Sounds like you have a drain that is partially clogged.  Enough to let some low volume utilities drain but, not the high volume of water that a washing machine dumps.  I'm surprised that the toilet doesn't cause problems.
Call someone (not a plumber) out to have your drain lines rodded out.


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## Cork-Guy (Mar 1, 2010)

Now, before you call a plumber I'd like to make a suggestion. I've used this with very bad clogged drains with success; you will want to use this method on each drain going from the highest running drain to the lowest. 

You'll need baking soda, vinegar and salt. Mix the baking soda and salt together (1 cup baking soda, 1 cup salt) and make sure to mix it well. Then, at the highest running drain poor this mixture into the drain. Then, follow up with 1 cup of vinegar and as soon as possible BLOCK the drain using a wet rag or something.

Note, you may see water come up from other drains in the house... THESE are the drains you'll also need to preform this task on. This is a cheap and eco-friendly way to try and solve your problem.


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 1, 2010)

You could also try forcing water down the drain with a garden hose.  You can make a hose/drain gasket with rags packed into the space.  
Hot water may work better.   I go directly from the water heater drain. 
Watch for water overflow in other places until the clog erodes & clears, which may take a minute or two.

Tub & shower clogs = hair, kitchen clogs = grease, laundry room clogs = lint[?].

What was the plumber's official diagnosis?


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## Redwood (Mar 1, 2010)

It sounds like you either have a partially clogged main line or, if you are on a septic system you may have a septic problem.

Nothing I have seen proposed above will do anything for your problem.

You need some professional help because this is only going to get uglier...

If on a septic I would start there and your septic cleaner should be able to either tell you what you need or, be able to handle it.

If you are on a sewer I would call a sewer cleaner...


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## dixonfam (Mar 1, 2010)

Well the plumber said it's the city pipes that's clogged and they used some type of I guess a snake it's in a round thing and they crank it and the metal rod line goes in.  But they had to use a electrical one because the manual one just wasn't getting the job done and I guess it need to go further.  They are also going to put in a request to get a camera line in to see if there's a problem with the city pipes or if there's some type of clogg that they can't unblock.  My toilets have been flushing a lot better than before though.  I haven't done laundry yet.  The true test will come once I do several loads of laundry.  I'm hoping it's been fixed but I guess we'll see soon.  Thank you all for your posts.


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## majakdragon (Mar 2, 2010)

Washing machines put out a lot more water when draing than most people think. The newer models have even higher flow pumps, and this is why the Code for washer drain piping was increased to 2" from the old 1-1/2" size. There is a clog somewhere in the main drain. I have never seen a Plumber use a hand auger on a main line.


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## Redwood (Mar 2, 2010)

majakdragon said:


> I have never seen a Plumber use a hand auger on a main line.



I agree! If your plumber is using a hand snake you need to find a different plumber for your drain cleaning...


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 2, 2010)

Prices I pulled off the Internet for this service: $1800 to $2400.

and
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/clog-drain-toilet.ht
for worst case
http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/sewer-line.html


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## Redwood (Mar 2, 2010)

Prices off the internet are totally meaningless.

The price comes down to one thing only...

How much it costs depends on what the qualified companies that service your area charge.

Here in Connecticut the per capita income is $54,117 and a plumbing company in French Camp, Mississippi where the per capita income is $5,047 are not competition.

I would be rapidly out of business if I charged their rates but would probably have more work than I could do. On the other hand they would also go out of business but they would have a lot of time on their hands and no work...

It is what it is...


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 2, 2010)

Redwood said:


> . . .totally meaningless.
> 
> French Camp, Mississippi where the per capita income is $5,047 are not competition.




You sure. . .?
Amazon.com: On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You&#39;re Not (9780312359201): Robert Burton: Books

The median Household Income for French Camp is $25,417.
ZIPskinny demographic information for 39745 - FRENCH CAMP MISSISSIPPI
I guess each house could have 5 people.

The median US household income is approx. $50K.

One way to get the most accurate pricing is to get enough bids so that at least some of them cluster.  Your true cost is likely in the center of the cluster.  It's called a dot plot.

relative cost
$0.....|.....|.....|
........1.....2....3
.....a.....bcd...f
with a and f being outliers and c being the true cost.

But getting prices off the Internet is less hassle and if you get enough of them the accuracy of each one is less important.  Thirty can be considered a statistically large sample.


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## Redwood (Mar 2, 2010)

Wuzzat? said:


> You sure. . .?
> Amazon.com: On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not (9780312359201): Robert Burton: Books
> 
> The median Household Income for French Camp is $25,417.
> ...



That book sounds like one you need to read....

Lets examine what I said...
*Per Capita Income*... By definition Per Capita Income takes all income within a given population and divides it equally among the entire population.

You came back with...
*Median Household Income*...By definition Median Household Income divides the income of each household into 2 equal groups one high and one low with the 50th percentile income being the median income.

If you want to use Median Household Income for the figure that is fine with me. Median Household Income: $146,755 trumps the $25,417 fairly hard and yes the expenses of operating a business in that area are much higher and so are the costs.

ZIPskinny demographic information for 06820 - DARIEN CONNECTICUT

Use your dot graph all you want and you might depending on your sampling get a reasonably close US average, but the bottom line is what plumbers in your area are willing to do the work for.

Schools out! For tonights homework read the first 2 chapters in "On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not" and we will have a quiz tomorrow.


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 3, 2010)

Redwood said:


> read the first 2 chapters in "On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not" and we will have a quiz tomorrow.



I read the book about 5 times.  It was a hard read because he said a lot of things that I don't want to believe.
May I use my notes for the quiz?


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## Redwood (Mar 3, 2010)

Wuzzat? said:


> I read the book about 5 times.  It was a hard read because he said a lot of things that I don't want to believe.
> May I use my notes for the quiz?



Nope!
F


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## Wuzzat? (Mar 3, 2010)

Redwood said:


> Nope!
> F


Aw, man, . . .my memory is definitely not what it. . .hmmm. . .uh. . .what were we tawkin' about?


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## dixonfam (Mar 3, 2010)

So when you say that there's a clog in the main line are you talking about the house or the city pipes.  The thing is I live in military housing and I don't have to pay for any of the service.  I think the only time I would have to pay for anything is if I damage something like if I purposly damage something.  Anyways when ever I call they send a plumber out to the house.  All three times they've sent out plumbers.  The first one really didn't do much and the second and third one are the ones that used the contraption what ever it is.  So does  this mean that I'm going to keep having this problem?    I've done couple of loads of laundry and it hasn't happened yet knock on wood.   Well thanks everybody for all the informative posts still little confused with all this but it's been very helpful.


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## Redwood (Mar 4, 2010)

Well See all that cost chatter was totally meaningless...

If you have been running the washer without the water coming up then it sounds like they have cleared the problem...

If it repeats soon at some point you might have to turn up the heat and stir some action out of the plumbers...

I'm sure they have adequate equipment on your base it just might be hard finding someone that knows how to use it...


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