Drain line in garage for Laundry will not clear up and overflows

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sel4ever15

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Hello, I've been trying to figure this out and even with the help of roto-rooter people, it is still a mystery.

1. Laundry drain in garage has not worked since I bought the house about a year ago. I had home warranty people come out and power snake it 75 ft. That didn't clear the clog. They put on the form that it was a "possible rock pit". Anyone knows what the means?

2. The rest of house drains just fine. No problems. However, when I use the tub or take a shower, the water drains fine, but the garage floods everytime with very bad smelling black water that reminds me of oil or tar. I dread taking a shower now knowing that I will have to be cleaning up the garage right after. Any ideas what this is and why its happening?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
You need a camera service with a locator and somebody who knows how to use them well. If you have a tub/shower, floor drain and laundry that go to a " possible rock pit " I would think that there has to be a disclosure when the house was sold. Even if not, is that type of drainage allowed in your area as a gray-water drain? Are you on a septic system? Gray-water is when water other than toilet (soil) water is allowed to leech into the soil via a gravel or stone pit.
If it is gray-water and it is okay for your area, you may have to dig a new pit, connect to the sanitary or look into other drainage options.
Curious if there are other bathrooms/showers in the house and if they are okay.
Lots of questions because it is hard to help without actually being there to see what is going on.
 
Thanks for the reply.

There was no disclosure when I bought the house. It was bought as a REO in "as is" condition. When I bought the house, nothing in the house drained, except the toilet. The tub and sinks were all clogged. I remodeled the interior of the house a few months back and had all new drains and lines put in under the house (in the crawl space). There is only one bathroom and everything after the remodel drains just fine.

My contractor told me the sinks and tub in the house drain to the sewer in the street. He also said the kitchen sink is less than 15 ft. from the garage drain line. If the roto rooter power snaked it 75 ft, shouldn't it have cleared up since everything from the kitchen forward drains just fine.

My contractor quoted me $250 for a camera to go in the drain. I have no idea how much something like that would cost. Is that a good price for that service? Thanks.
 
That's a good price. I did one similar last month.
They rerouted a kitchen and a laundy to ?. but they did not hook it to the sewer. I located it with a camera and electronic locator.I Never did dig it up, but I presumed it went to a gravel pit.
 
i think roto-rooter is way over priced and most of there guys aren't very experienced.none of them last more then a few months.not all but most.it seems to me that your shower and tub is draining fine because its backing up in your garage.when you run the shower is it backing up out of the laundry line?if so,your laundry line would run towards your sewer main and the shower line would tie into the laundry line.so if the shower water backs up through the laundry line the clog would be after the shower tie in.and if your toilets are flushing it would be between where the laundry line ties in to the main and the bath tub ties into the laundry line or....both your laundry and shower line run into a rock pit and its not leeching out and the laundry line in the garage sits at a lower point then the shower so all the water would back up in the garage first.make sense?
 
Why dont you access the line outside the laundry and simply replace it to the sewer or septic tank.

In the big picture , it will be cheaper than spending money on investigations to find out it goes to a pit in the ground full of broken tiles (rock pit)

DR C
 
Turn the electrics off first and check the outlet pipe from your waste disposal unit, the pipe which goes into the drain could be blocked, check the external grate if you have one.

Make sure your other sinks on the ground floor are able to empty, just in case your drains are blocked.

Sewer Service
 

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