Mysterious drainage problem

[Ster1]

Hello,
My name is Pete. I live just outside of Denver, CO. I am not a professional plumber, I’ve done well enough over the years to get by. I’m a mechanic by trade. I’m posting because I have a drainage mystery I’m struggling with. I’ll describe as well as I can. I’m sure I’m going to use improper lingo, so please understand I don’t know what I’m doing. My house has 2 standpipes. They are cast iron, I believe either 3.5 or 4” ID. They are the pipes that go down into the foundation, and end up going out to the sewer. Every drain in the house uses one of these standpipes. I have a bathroom that has a commode, shower and a sink that are on one standpipe, and everything else in the house ends up on the other one. So that one standpipe is used entirely by one small bathroom. I’ve found my clean-outs inside the house, and I have 2 clean outs outside the house also. The inside clean outs are cast iron plugs (actually look like brass plugs in cast iron pipe maybe) the ones outside are PVC. The entire system might be 4”, I’m not completely sure. Here’s my symptom: that one bathroom does not drain. It’s just stopped a few days ago. It didn’t stop cold, it will drain off eventually, but I can fill the standpipe, and watch the water go down, and it takes several minutes for the water to get to a point I can’t see it anymore. I took the commode off the pipe so I could troubleshoot. I can run a snake down there 25-30 feet before I hit something I can’t get past. When I let the system drain overnight, I can put maybe 5 gallons in there before I see water rising again. That’s a guess,
I plan to measure that more accurately tomorrow. No other drains in the house are effected, even the ones in the basement. Just this bathroom on the main floor, and just this one standpipe. So, to recap, the only real data I have is, the 25-30 feet of snake, the suspected diameter of the pipes in the system, and the amount of water it takes to fill it up. Whatever is stopping the drain is allowing water to drain, just very slowly. I’m thinking the hole is reduced to effectively 1/2-1/4” in diameter. That’s just a rough guess based on how long it takes to drain.

I would sure be interested in any and all suggestions. Thank you for reading my long-winded story!

 

[John Gayewski]

Hello,
My name is Pete. I live just outside of Denver, CO. I am not a professional plumber, I’ve done well enough over the years to get by. I’m a mechanic by trade. I’m posting because I have a drainage mystery I’m struggling with. I’ll describe as well as I can. I’m sure I’m going to use improper lingo, so please understand I don’t know what I’m doing. My house has 2 standpipes. They are cast iron, I believe either 3.5 or 4” ID. They are the pipes that go down into the foundation, and end up going out to the sewer. Every drain in the house uses one of these standpipes. I have a bathroom that has a commode, shower and a sink that are on one standpipe, and everything else in the house ends up on the other one. So that one standpipe is used entirely by one small bathroom. I’ve found my clean-outs inside the house, and I have 2 clean outs outside the house also. The inside clean outs are cast iron plugs (actually look like brass plugs in cast iron pipe maybe) the ones outside are PVC. The entire system might be 4”, I’m not completely sure. Here’s my symptom: that one bathroom does not drain. It’s just stopped a few days ago. It didn’t stop cold, it will drain off eventually, but I can fill the standpipe, and watch the water go down, and it takes several minutes for the water to get to a point I can’t see it anymore. I took the commode off the pipe so I could troubleshoot. I can run a snake down there 25-30 feet before I hit something I can’t get past. When I let the system drain overnight, I can put maybe 5 gallons in there before I see water rising again. That’s a guess,
I plan to measure that more accurately tomorrow. No other drains in the house are effected, even the ones in the basement. Just this bathroom on the main floor, and just this one standpipe. So, to recap, the only real data I have is, the 25-30 feet of snake, the suspected diameter of the pipes in the system, and the amount of water it takes to fill it up. Whatever is stopping the drain is allowing water to drain, just very slowly. I’m thinking the hole is reduced to effectively 1/2-1/4” in diameter. That’s just a rough guess based on how long it takes to drain.

I would sure be interested in any and all suggestions. Thank you for reading my long-winded story!

I suggest you call a drain cleaner. They might cost 100 to 500 dollars. For an easier job like your describing I would say probably petty cheap to have them come clear your drain. Here's the rub. You want to call someone who has a camera. After they clean your drain you'll want a camera inspection. That way you can see, and they will be diligent about actually cleaning your drain pipe, rather than them coming and poking a hole in the plug and having to come back later. They should have a blade that will clean the entire diameter of a 4"pipe. If they do then they will need access that is at least 3.5 inches in diameter.

No reason to do this yourself.