Recently, our washing machine has started causing the kitchen sink to gurgle & occasionally backflows into the sink. Washer drain line doesn't overflow, but I can hear it rising in the pipe before if starts gurgling the sink.
Edit: Also, when it's backing into the sink, if I run the disposal, it drains right out.

Neither the sink nor dishwasher have any drainage issues.

Washer is the only thing upstream of the kitchen.

I've tried to snake it, may give that another shot. My snake was acting up & binding last time [not from the pipes, does it outside the pipe too].
Didn't want to resort to something like drano in there, unless that's a safe option?
Anything else I can check before buckling down & calling a plumber?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,

IANAPlumber, but, you might check the vent. If it's clogged it might case that issue. However, I'd place odds on a constriction somewhere downstream. Sink and dishwasher don't drain the sheer volume of a washer, so it might be open enough for them, but cause problems with washer outflow.

I've had a couple of houses with plumbing problems, both in the drain line outside the house. One cost me a lot of money to fix - basically a collapsed sewer line just inside my property line. They had to dig down about 6-8' to find it, in the proximity of both water and gas, so a good part of it was hydro digging.

I'm assuming you mean roof vents?
What's the best way to check that they're clear? Blow air from the roof end?

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I'm assuming you mean roof vents?
What's the best way to check that they're clear? Blow air from the roof end?

If you try this, make sure your drains are all capped, or you will make an unholy mess. Better to force air into the drain nipple (closest one to the vent, if it is shared) in my experience. You don't need a lot of pressure, 20-30 psi is fine. I have a pipe cap into which I've threaded an air hose coupling, this almost eliminates leakage/spraying of dirty drain water.

Good to know. Was thinking with my Ryobi blower, starting with a pretty low speed & my wife on the other end with a walkie or on the phone.

Don’t do that blower thing man. It’s just starting to clog downstream and the washer puts out the most amount of water so that’s how it manifests. The sink and dishwasher don’t put out that kind of volume so you don’t notice it when those are running. Just snake it

^^^^^^^ This 100%, Get or rent a good long power snake, or hire it done. I always snake through the roof vent pipes, the clean-outs anywhere I can get a snake in.

I just had a very similar issue in my house.... Kitchen is just upstream of the clothes washer. Kitchen backed up, not clearable with a sink plunger.

I took the p-trap out in the sink only to find that there was water flowing back from the drain, not down from the sink.

Then I noticed the utility sink (same drain as the washer) was half full of yucky water.

Waived the white flag and as Andy Griffith said, I called the man.

The man snaked it a couple times at the kitchen clean-out and all was well. He said no specific clog, just a gradual buildup of grease from the kitchen sink... No matter how careful one is, it still happens. First time having to have a drain professionally cleared in the 15 years we've owned the house... I can't complain.

Ran about 10ft of snake down the kitchen sing drain. Hit some resistance & had some grease on the snake when it came out.
Ran it through a couple times, we'll see how it goes now.

I tried this recently based on recommendations I've seen in other threads here. It worked well.

Thrift Drain Cleaner

quote:

Originally posted by safespot:
I tried this recently based on recommendations I've seen in other threads here. It worked well.

Thrift Drain Cleaner

Disposal safe?
Might be a good option

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by safespot:
I tried this recently based on recommendations I've seen in other threads here. It worked well.

Thrift Drain Cleaner

Disposal safe?
Might be a good option

No, not disposal safe! Glad you asked.

quote:

Originally posted by safespot:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by safespot:
I tried this recently based on recommendations I've seen in other threads here. It worked well.

Thrift Drain Cleaner

Disposal safe?
Might be a good option

No, not disposal safe! Glad you asked.

Thanks, I'll have to see if I can bypass the disposal [single drain sink] & funnel it down the line post-disposal.

Laundry soap will often build up in the incoming side of the house trap. When I did that work, there were times you'd take the cap off and it would just be a solid mass of soap. You'd have to break it up and remove it with a chisel.


Local rules/codes etc etc aside... to ANYONE, if you can get your washing machine out of the system, you're doing yourself a huge favor water and soap wise, they're killers of septic system. (I know lots of people who just have them running into the woods, or flower gardens etc)