Floor Drain Backing Up

Water under pressure can cause the sewer line to back up because it escapes through the lowest point it is the easiest route.

Floor drain backing up.

So your basement floor drain is backing up and flooding. It will help avoid your own a home s waste backing up. Although it may seem like it not all problems related to the backed up sewer line have to do with actual clogs and defected pipes. Typically waste water backing up out of a floor drain is not a floor drain backup.

A backed up floor drain can be mystifying. And while it is commonly held that a sewer drain backs up largely because there is a blockage or break in the sewer line some homes have floor drains attached to the storm sewer system. Most floor drains however will be connected to pipes carrying wastewater and sewage away from the house. I wrote a blog post explaining the basics of floor drains over eight years ago and i ve received more comments on that post than any other.

For homes that don t have a basement floor drain drain line clogs can cause backups in the lowest fixtures of the home like ground level tubs sinks or showers. And it will prevent the foul smelling waste from your neighbors from backing up the main neighborhood sewer line and flooding your home. The majority of those comments were from people trying to understand why water was backing up out of their floor drain. A sewer drain clog can be a serious problem that may qualify as a plumbing emergency and a potential health concern.

Installing a backup gate in your basement floor drain line is a one time investment and you ll definitely be thankful later for making this decision. Sewer drain versus storm drain. There s water in the basement. First you need to determine if it is local waste produced in your home that can t get out due to a blockage in the main line leaving your home or if it is waste from the sewer system coming back in called a backflow.

What causes basement floor drain backing up. A sewer drain and a storm sewer are two different things and sometimes older houses have both. Sewer line clogs floor drain backups. Because a floor drain is located at the lowest point in a drain system it is the first place a backup will be visible but not necessarily the point of the clog.

So with the main drain backing up wastewater will continue to build up in the line until it overflows and backs up out of the floor drain. A blockage can occur if a portion of the line has broken but generally a blockage is.