Basement floor drain overflows after taking shower(s)

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shawnburr011

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Greetings,

I am having an overflow problem with the floor drain in my basement. It's not too bad as of yet, but I don't want it to get worse. The overflow is only causing about a 3 ft. square area of water so far. It only occurs after my wife and I take our showers in the morning. I know it's coming from the showers because the water is warm and that is the only source of water in the drain prior to the overflow. We usually take them right after each other, where after the 2nd person is out, the water is noticeable on the basement floor, coming from the floor drain. The water will eventually drain down, but it takes about a half hour or so. I tried to snake out the line from the clean out trap on the pipe nearby the floor drain, but didn't feel any obstruction. In my attempt to snake out the line, I only had 40 ft. of line to work with, so is it most likely that the clog is further down the line? Is there another way to reach this clog, as I don't see any other pipes going into the basement floor other than the one I accessed? The overflow doesn't occur from the washing machine, which is in the same basement room as the floor drain, as I ran three consecutive large loads yesterday with no overflow problem. It only occurs after taking showers back-to-back. The shower is on the 1st floor and seems to have no drainage problem. I am trying to fix it myself first, but is it time to call in a pro?

Best Regards.
 

Cass

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It sounds like you have it right but do this test first.

Try filling the washer and after it is full turn turn it off and turn on the shower and let it run until it is backing up the floor drain. Then turn off the shower and dump the washer water and see if the water in the floor drain comes up higher. You will then know for sure if the blockage is B4 or after the washer tie in.

Is the basement finished?
 

hj

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drain

I assume since you only had 40' of snake that yours was probably too short and too small to do the job, also assuming you were using it on the correct pipe. We would have to do an on-site evaluation to determine where the problem actually is, and how to solve it.
 

shawnburr011

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Many thanks for the quick responses. I decided to contact a local plumber, who through his analysis, determined it was a clogging problem in the main line due to mostly roots. He used his industrial size power snake to clean out the main line, so now the line is clear, at least for a couple of years. I don't think that there would have been any way that my little store bout snake would have made a difference in trying to free up the main line, so I'm glad I contacted a professional with the right equipment.
 

Toolaholic

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one more thing

add copper sulfate once a year down drain to kill roots. root ex is one brand
 
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