On Feb 27, 4:36*pm, aemeijers wrote:
Arrgh. Ain't nothing easy.
Y'all may recall the rotted out main drain line I was whining about
recently. Well, I had a guy in to replace it, and although he was
expensive ($1400 including new toilet flange, tub trap, and pipes up to
kitchen sink drains), he was fast, and seemed to do a good job. *All
that works fine. However, rather than disturb the old leaded connection
into the cracked/epoxied cast iron monster on the wall that leads out to
the septic, he stubbed out the copper and used a Fermco. No leaks or
anything, but that means the collector/trap arm on the wall for the
washer and nuisance drains sits 16-18" higher than it used to. So now,
my entry-level 5 YO GE washer, if I do more than a 'small' load, piddles
on the floor. That only used to happen if I was washing pillows or
something.

Background- the original wall drain for washer, which sits 16" lower,
apparently connects to nothing any more. I tested it when I moved in,
and an hour later had water all over basement floor. My best guess is
that it went to a now-failed or missing dry well. Been meaning to saw it
off with the angle grinder and mud it over, but that is another story.

Anyway, when the washer that came with house caught on fire, I had to
run out to Sam's and buy the only model they had. I had to extend drain
hose a couple feet to reach the other pipe on the wall, but it mostly
worked okay, other than minor accidents with washing big spongy things.
Now, not so much. Drain comes out of washer at the usual low-down
location, and goes up 80 inches or so, and 48 inches sideways. Old drain
was maybe 62? inches off floor, and original dead standpipe sits at 66
inches.

Except that I feel kinda broke right now, I do have a solution- call the
plumber back to install the plastic sump pit and bigass sump pump
previous owner left sitting under the stairs. I had been thinking about
one of those little pump-in-a-box things, and put it under the useless
sink that just drains onto floor. But plumber said *that would never
handle the volume from a washer.

Any ideas for a cheap work-around, until I feel rich enough to get guys
with jackhammers involved? How much vertical pipe do I need above the
trap on the drain everything is poked into? Would a smooth rather than
corrugated drain line on washer help? (Nobody sells those, so I'd have
to make one from elbows and clear tubing, I think.) Or should I just
build a platform for the washer and dryer? Or am I missing an
alternative explanation, that shifting the washer around to swap the
dryer that self-destructed same week drain did, may have cracked or
loosened something under the washer?

As you can see from the questions, I'm no plumber. Any actual ideas or
information greatly appreciated.

--
aem sends...

Ive seen machines pump up to a 6 or 7 ft drain. Have also seen this
problem solved by having the machine drain into a a laundry tub that
was being used as a sump for a sump pump. It was kind of a jury rigged
thing but it worked well. You may want to try sealing the connection
where the hose goes into the sewer. If you are lucky a siphon will
start that will actually draw the water from the machine. Once the
machine is empty the siphon will break.

Jimmie

Jimmie