Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-23-2014, 12:59 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,020 posts, read 85,838,736 times
Reputation: 130659

Advertisements

Can someone please post a picture how a sewer drain outside a house supposed to look like and where is usually located? I have some problems with the drain in the kitchen sink. Water drain slow, and the water from a washer, situated in a mud room behind the kitchen, back up in my kitchen sink.
No problems in the bathrooms situated in opposite part of the house.
I already tried common household tricks, bleach, hot water with detergent, plunger, Drano Liquid and granules etc. nothing work. A spiral drain cleaner doesn't fit in the kitchen sink drain hole. Have to call plumber, but was told to situate the sewer drain first. Walked around the house, but there is nothing that looks like one.
Thank you!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-23-2014, 01:09 PM
 
23,510 posts, read 69,890,838 times
Reputation: 48849
That is a cleanout. The easy way to recognize one is by the square (about 1.25 inch) lug on the drain cap. You may not have an outside cleanout. Sometimes they are located in basements or crawlspaces. If the house is one story, it is common for a plumber to snake from the roof vent as an alternative. Most homes have other cleanouts as well if the installing plumber was competent.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 01:17 PM
 
Location: Tricity, PL
61,020 posts, read 85,838,736 times
Reputation: 130659
Houston home, so no basement. Also no crawl space. One story house. I assume that the drain cap should be close to the house wall, or maybe somewhere on the front (?) yard, but should stick out of the ground, no?
Anyway it's possible that there is none. What are the other cleanouts? House was build in 1963.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 01:25 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,438,418 times
Reputation: 43642
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina View Post
I assume that the drain cap should be close to the house wall,
or maybe somewhere on the front (?) yard, but should stick out of the ground, no?
See the picture? See the vertical pipes? That is a clean out.

But if it has ANYTHING to do with your slow draining sink...
then you have some VERY serious problems going on.
Attached Thumbnails
Sewer drain and cap-laterals.gif  
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 03:55 PM
 
41,815 posts, read 50,770,941 times
Reputation: 17862
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina View Post
A spiral drain cleaner doesn't fit in the kitchen sink drain hole.

Under the sink is should be a p-trap, these can usually be taken apart by hand since it's common place for clogs. That is apparently not your issue but it will give you better access to the pipe to see if you use a snake.


Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina View Post
I assume that the drain cap should be close to the house wall, or maybe somewhere on the front (?) yard, but should stick out of the ground, no?
There is a possibility it's cast, if you know anyone with a metal detector have them come over.

Quote:
What are the other cleanouts?
They could be anywhere but you would need access to the plumbing for them to be any good. Check around where the plumbin is to see if there is any kind of access panel.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-23-2014, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,403 posts, read 65,528,173 times
Reputation: 23515
1963- no exterior clean out.

The main drain for the kit/laundry will be in the wall- if you look at the roof over that general area you'll probably see the vent. That's the easiest way to access that line to snake/clean it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2014, 06:22 AM
 
2,600 posts, read 8,722,266 times
Reputation: 2483
Go to Lowe's and buy a blow bag, I've used them for many many years and they work.

A blow bag is a heavy duty rubber bladder that attaches to a hose, its inserted into a drain and uses water pressure to clear a clogged drain.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-24-2014, 10:31 PM
 
15,632 posts, read 24,278,431 times
Reputation: 22815
My house was built in Houston in 1968. My cleanout trap is in the back yard, right in line with the roof vent and about 4 feet out from the house.

It was probably originally level with the ground but, over the years, it became covered with dirt/grass. When I bought the house, it was about 10" underground -- almost impossible for plumbers to locate, even using a special detector.

So, about 10 years ago, I had a plumber bring it up above ground. Naturally, I havent needed any plumbing work done on it since then, but it gives me comfort to know that it's easily accessble if necessary. I had a paver patio built around it and have it hidden under a faux planter. I'll take a photo tomorrow, elnina, and will post it here for you.

Last edited by TFW46; 12-24-2014 at 10:41 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-25-2014, 11:09 AM
 
15,632 posts, read 24,278,431 times
Reputation: 22815
elnina, here are two photos of my cleanout trap. One is an up-close photo and the other shows it in relation to the back of the house. You can see that it's been covered with a faux planter. Please ignore the mess -- I need to clean up this area of the patio. Hope this helps you locate your cleanout.




Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-26-2014, 04:27 AM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
44,873 posts, read 59,846,876 times
Reputation: 60410
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina View Post
Can someone please post a picture how a sewer drain outside a house supposed to look like and where is usually located? I have some problems with the drain in the kitchen sink. Water drain slow, and the water from a washer, situated in a mud room behind the kitchen, back up in my kitchen sink.
No problems in the bathrooms situated in opposite part of the house.
I already tried common household tricks, bleach, hot water with detergent, plunger, Drano Liquid and granules etc. nothing work. A spiral drain cleaner doesn't fit in the kitchen sink drain hole. Have to call plumber, but was told to situate the sewer drain first. Walked around the house, but there is nothing that looks like one.
Thank you!
Hmm.
If the water drains from the washer room towards the side you have no problem at, then the problem is likely between those points. Having an cleanout downstream from the opposite side bathroom won't help you. Well, it might but the snake will be going upstream.

A wild guess is that you may have a bunch of grease from the kitchen sink clogging up the works.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top