can we talk?
specifically about DRAINS?!
How is your hooked up?
Ours--in an older house--goes FROM a hose in the machine, suspended on ropes from the rafters (I wish I was kidding!) TO our white plastic utility sink--FROM the sink TO plastic pipes attached to its drain TO a pipe positioned over a hole in the floor--only a few feet away from the sewer stack.
I've got a sink catcher in the utility sink: it catches lint and stuff so well, it causes the sink sometimes to overflow (like NOW!), bump the sink and the pipes underneath it get loose and leak......I HATE IT! And, I can't use the sink, of course!
What should I do? What can I do?
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A few key points:
- drain pipes are not pressurized, so gravity has to be able to work ("stuff" should always flow downhill in plumbingland)
- a "trap" (the curvy black piece under any sink) keeps a bit of water in the bottom of the u-shape to seal off nasty sewer gas from flowing back in room, always a good idea to have a trap on every appliance (it's also code)
- when a fixture is drained, it creates a vacuum and can pull the trap water with it, resulting in the odour problem, but there is a solution for this, the vent pipe:
- vent pipe goes all the way up to your roofline and helps prevent the vacuum problem, and provides a SAFE place for any sewer gas to vent out (smells nasty and is explosive in the right conditions, lots of methane gas in there)
- so that said, never never vent anywhere other than outside (not close to a window either, you won't be a happy camper)
- waste pipe is messy stuff to work with, dress appropriately, open windows etc
- local permits and inspections may be required, any advice provided as is yada yada yada ;)
now for the actual stuff:
figure out if you have access to the vertical part of the plumbing stack (the large 3-4" diam. pipe going from upstairs fixtures into the main drain under the concrete floor) - if you do and it's close enough to the tub you're in luck (about 6 feet I think), you can cut into the stack and add a coupling to tap into it with special coupling with rubber sleeves and metal clamps to tap into a pre-existing run of pipe) - then run horizontal section to the tub trap (bit of slope here) and the washing machine trap
if the vertical stack is not close enough, you may have to break the floor and tie into the pipe under floor, again you can use insert couplings to tap in, the rest of your new work will use glue fittings - make sure you have the right type (abs or pvc, pipes will be labelled)
if you don't have plastic drain pipes, it's a bit more involved but not impossible
for the vent - some plumbers put a "future use" vent pipe from the basement to upstairs when building the house - not likely tho - so you would run a vertical pipe from the tub trap, to somewhere where you can connect into your existing vent (in attic possibly) - maybe this can tie in to your kitchen stove move if the pipes are in same area -
code says vent is required - if you're going to cut corners, it'spreferable to NOT have a vent than to have one that's venting into a wall or ceiling space - in some areas there is a "cheater" vent that may be accepted, little fitting that goes above the tubline, allows air to enter to break vacuum but doesn't let gasses out the other way
if any of this sounds confusing (to me it does right now lol) some pretty pictures here:
[url]http://www.rona.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentServlet?assetId=1051&langId=-1&parentAssetId=86&parentAssetId=40&parentAssetId=6&pageNo=2[/url]
there are multitudes of configurations on these things, you can post follow ups as you look at diagrams and your setup - as you said one of those plan it for a while then do it properly - once you start cutting main waste pipes you need to know how to finish quickly ;)
also check out your local library or Depot/Rona for well-illustrated books on the topic
if and when you do post your essay--I shall find it here! I've subscribed to this thread. I'm so glad I know how to do that
If you need photos, I can get some, I think!
We're going on vacation in a few days, so we won't be doing anything quickly!
However, I am a bit fed up having to do my laundry in my rubber boots!
Paul...you've probably been asked this a million fafillion times but...what do you do for a living.... :D
I shall expand on the directions for said project later when I have more than a moment - this may well turn into another dyi essay lol
You got it PaulD!
Actually, dh and I put in the laundry tub specifically so we could drain the machine (and catch the lint) --before the hose from the machine somehow dropped into the hole in the floor.
We replaced our main line to the sewer last year (old clay pipe!) and so back-up is not the problem it used to be, thank goodness!
But how should we set this up--so I can use the sink?
hmm yea in many cases the washer dumps into the sink (those in the 30+ age bracket may remember the "suds-saver" option that allowed reusing warm soapy water for more than one load? - the machine would dump into the laundry tub that had the stopper in, and would suck back the sudsy water into the machine
the sink shouldn't really drain into the floor drain tho, which is what it sounds like..., it should be "hard-connected" directly into the drain line - probably wasn't done to avoid having to cut the floor slab when that tub was installed after construction... at least it's a laundry tub so odours aren't as bad as say a kitchen sink with various decomposing food particles... definitely not up to code anyway...
very well?
Cause it sounds like we have the same system: except that I have "extra" pipes leading from the drain of the utility sink to a hole in the floor!
can't the washer drain into the sink? Mine is an older house and the hose from the washer is suspended from a rope attached to the rafters (to hold it high enough to drain) and it drains directly into the laundry tub. From there to the drain. I now consider myself very fortunate to have this system. :)