The laundry tub drain in our house is backing up again. I've been through this before late in 2010; see
here and
here. When the washing machine empties itself, the water rises in the laundry tub because the drain can't take it away fast enough. That's not right; the laundry tub's drain ought to handle whatever the washing machine throws at it, with no water backing up into the tub itself. Eventually, the laundry tub does empty as the water slowly drains away.
So, it's time to go the auger rental route again and see if I can clear out whatever is clogging the 3" pipe under the basement floor. I'm a pessimist
[1] by nature, so I'm not confidant of a good outcome here. It's not washing machine lint that's causing the clog -- no way. I suspect that it may be a crumbling clay drainage tile, and that we'll end up spending thousands to tear up the basement floor to replace it.
Anyway, I have no choice but to make an attempt with a rental drain auger. At least, I shouldn't have to deal with a seized clean-out cap this time around. But I do have to deal with a shelving unit full of stuff that's in the way of the clean-out.
Yikes! That's no worse than what's in many other basements, I suppose, but it's embarrassing nonetheless. Those are all things that no doubt seemed like a good idea at the time, but now are are just a burden. And you can scarcely get rid of stuff anymore. Here in Toronto, Canada the garbage collection scheme allows for one bag of garbage every other week. Extra bags are allowed for a hefty fee. You don't own your stuff; your stuff owns you.
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'Got the shelving unit emptied and moved away. Here's a view of the clean-out cap that's at issue.
And it feels like it's seized again; a 15" adjustable wrench won't budge it.
I applied some WD-40 Specialist Rust Release Penetrant and gave that a few minutes. Then I put the 15" wrench back on it, and whacked the end of the wrench's handle with a 2 1/2 lb. club hammer. That got it moving; there's nothing like an 'impact wrench' for freeing up stubborn fasteners. Here's the cap off its fitting.
The next time I screw that cap back in, I'll use proper anti-seize compound on it instead of white lithium grease, like I did last time.
So, I'm back to where I was almost nine years ago. We'll see if an auger will clear the drain this time.
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Just for the sheer heck of it, I ran my fifteen foot snake down the drain to see if it might snag/retrieve something. Near the end of its journey, it felt like it was snagging, so I pulled it back up for a look-see.
Some fibrous/hairy stuff. God only knows what that's all about. How can such stuff accumulate in a 3" laundry tub drain? Beats me.
- - -
Done --
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2019
All went smoothly. The rental was $27.00 CDN for four hours -- plenty of time. I ran the auger through with a boring gimlet first, then with an auger tip. The drain now runs freely, so I guess I don't have a collapsing drain pipe after all -- lint and soap scum must build up inside the pipe over the years and constrict it. The auger appears to deal with it ok.
The last time I did this rental, the Home Depot threw in a nice pair of canvas and leather work gloves; no more.
- - -
And A Little Extra Surprise --
MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2019
While I was at the drain, I thought I'd shut off the water supplies to the laundry tub's faucet and replace the faucet washers. The hot water shut-off worked ok; the cold water shut-off did nothing. With the valve apparently 'closed', water still ran freely. Hmmm.
I can only surmise that the valve's washer has embrittled and disintegrated.
So what did I do about it? Nothing. I put the shelving unit back in place and left the #%#@&ing thing alone.
Note:
[1] Not only do I think that the half-full glass is half-empty, I strongly suspect that what's left in the glass is tainted with salmonella and E. coli.
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