Washing machine drain causes toilet, tub and both sinks to overflow.

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codecobalt

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Hi,

I moved into an apartment 3 weeks ago that was having the shower updated due to a leak. Landlord said it would be done before I moved in, it wasn't done (no shower) until 2 weeks after I moved in.

Then, when I do a load of laundry and the washing machine drains, it causes my toilet, bathtub, kitchen and bathroom sink to overflow, flooding everything. I've plunged and snaked the toilet and tub to no avail. The landlord came and said it was because of a sagging pipe in the basement was causing sediment to sit.. bought a new piece of pipe and hangers to keep it straight. Said it was fixed and left. do a load of laundry and boom no better than before. I've talked to the previous tenant and they said it did this last year and that the plumber snaked it all the way to the street line and said it would only be a temporary fix as he believed the line to the street has fallen apart (over 100 year old home with ceramic sewage lines to the street).

It's getting INCREDIBLY annoying and I haven't heard from the landlord about this issue in over 3 days, since I told him about it. They've been deducting $50 from my rent each week but it's really growing to be such a pain in the ass that it's almost unlivable.

Does anyone have any advice for what I can do as a "temporary fix"? It seems like the last plumber simply snaked to the street creating a "new" path to the sewer, how would I go about doing that? Everything on the first floor shares the same drain line.

I'd prefer to rent a snake fix it myself and deduct that from the rent until a permanent fix can be made. I don't have enough to pay a plumber to correctly fix the issue.
 
Tell the landlord it needs to be repaired or you will file a complaint with the housing authority. Just holding back rent doesn't seem to be working.
 
Last edited:
In your situation I would recommend against you snaking the line.
 
You don't want to open yourself up to your landlord blaming you for this sewer problem or for worsening the problem. In fact snaking the sewer line may not solve your problem. Plus if you fix it then the landlord will just delay on other fixes and wait for you to fix. Obviously $50 is not sufficient to get the LL's attention. Perhaps you should withhold payment in total until it is fixed.

Before any of that I would check with your local housing authority and ask them what legal recourse you have.
 

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