broken pipe under basement floor

After I noticed a small puddle in my backyard on laundry days and the waste water stack next to the basement washer started overflowing, I called a rooter. They hit dirt, confirming my suspition that there's a break. I believe the previous owners installed the PVC stack that goes into the basement floor by the washer. The floor drain is about 3 feet from the standing PVC pipe and I can see that the concrete has been patched in between.
I wanted to have someone come out with a camera to locate the break, but the plumber who came after the rooter accessed the situation and wouldn't touch it. "Not up to code." The house was built in 1923 and none of the basement plumbing is vented. The only plumbing in the house that is vented is the bathroom. The kitchen sink plumbing runs down into the basement floor too, probably connected to the same drain as the washer waste was. Needless to say, I will probably never be able to have a dishwasher installed either. I can live with that.
There have been no other problems with the plumbing in the 12 years I've lived in the house. No smells, no clogs, no slow drains. Will I be able to find anyone to fix this? Is it something we can do ourselves or will I be forced into a huge remodeling project in order to vent everything? Where do I start?

I'd first call another plumber, who should be happy to fix your problem without worrying about a Code that shouldn't apply in this situation. Long-term, however, what a glorious opportunity to tear walls and floors apart, buy lots of new tools, and in fact bring everything up to current Code.

If your only problem is truly a break in the line, that's not too hard to fix, once the hole is dug .

leak

One thing to consider is that a broken drain line under the basement floor could NEVER cause a puddle of water in the yard, unless the ground slopes down so that it is below the level of the pipe in the floor.

Is the washer line out side a seperate line going to the main leaving the house? Out here many of the older homes had a seperate 1.5" galv. line going from the kitchen and /or washing machine, outside and then joining the main or latteral going out to the street or septic tank. Many times this can be corrected in the basement by running new lines directly to the old existing plumbing or by using one of these

http://www.zoeller.com/zcopump/Products/homeimprove/drainpump.htm

and piping to the stack.

You're right, Mikey, about the opportunity to remodel. Don't think we haven't stewed over that idea! Problem is, the .6 acre lot our little house sits on is more desirable than the house itself, so we anticipate the next owner will tear it down and build something 3 times the size. That seems to be the trend in our neighborhood. Not an encouraging motivation for a remodel where most of the costs would be for mechanical.

The house sits on top of a hill, sloping steeply behind the house to a wooded back yard. The basement laundry room is at the back of the house. That's the reason for the "puddling" in the backyard, HJ. Water flows down, right? (That's the only sure thing I know about plumbing!) It would be a prefect lot for a nice walkout. Hope the leak doesn't cause the house to slide back!

I'm pretty sure that both the kitchen and laundry are connected to the main line under the basement floor, Cass. The floor drain is ancient. The PVC stack is definitely newer than the rest of the plumbing and the kitchen is also "newer" (a 1940's addition). There's also that patched cement between the washer and the floor drain.

It would be great if I can find a plumber to fix this. Is this something a professional would need to pull a permit for? We're a little frightened of the whole digging up the floor thing. Any suggestions on informational diy plumbing websites?

If you look at the link on my preveious post the pump sits on the floor so there is no digging to be done. I have put in a few of these and they work great.

Call another plumber like hj said and see what they say.