Regarding Plumbing in an Older House

[pulltostart]

Question about a washer hook-up in a home built in 1959...

The house is slab-on-grade construction and the washer hook-up is in the utility room off of the carport. It is old enough that the washer standpipe is 1-1/2" diameter, not the 2" diameter one would encounter in a home built after about 1970-ish. The plumbing goes into and beneath the slab and then who knows where. I'm positive this line will not accept the discharge from my 3-year-old TL Speed Queen and replacing the sewer line is out of the question.

So, my question is, would a workaround for this situation be to install a laundry tray in the utility room and discharge the washing machine into said tray? As long as the tray were large enough to handle basically a tub full of water then the water could take it's time to gravity drain into the sewer line and not overwhelm the plumbing.

Good solution to the problem or not?

lawrence

 

[hydralique]

Yes . . .

If by "laundry tray" you mean a laundry sink, this is a good solution. E.L. Mustee makes a line of inexpensive plastic sinks available through either Home Depot or Lowes, I can't recall which. They're not as nice as cast-iron sinks but easier to deal with and far cheaper. Having a laundry sink is also nice because you'll see if you get a slow running drain before it completely clogs.

 

[neptunebob]

Our house was built in 1972 and has the 1.5 inch pipe in plastic. In 40 years, no washer has been able to overwhelm it. So you might try it, it might be enough, that is if the pipe is not clogged anywhere else. If you have space for the sink you can do that too.

 

[rp2813]

I agree with reply #1.  At our other house (built in 1957) we had a laundry sink, and when it started running slow we knew it was time to call the rooter guy.  We used a mesh lint catcher "sock" on the end of the washer's drain hose but the sanitary system was still prone to clogging.  The whole housing development had a bad design and everybody periodically had the same issue at the same point in the secondary line.  Since the laundry was located in the attached garage, the sink there was the lowest point on the secondary and slowed down before any of the drains inside the house.  A previous owner wisely had a clean-out installed below the laundry sink.

 

We were thankful to have the laundry sink as an indicator rather than dealing with overflow issues from a standpipe without any warning.

 

[pulltostart]

Thanks for the input. Yes, "laundry sink" is a more appropriate name for what I mean.

I've had to deal with this in other homes, but never used this solution. In one house, the laundry was in the basement and there was a lateral about 24" off the floor that ran a good 15' before it hit the stack. The standpipe had been extended to 6 or 7 feet off the floor and sometimes that wasn't enough to prevent overflow.

My first reaction was to think I was going to have to ditch my SQ. Horrors!!!!

lawrence

 

[washdaddy]

What makes you think that the drain that is there won't handle your SQ? It's been handling washer's for over 50 years without any problems. Has something changed?

 

[rp2813]

Has something changed?

Something sure did change when we replaced our 70's Maytag with a '97 Amana, which at the time was a SQ clone.  The volume of water being pumped out the drain hose was significantly larger and was purged with much more force than from the Maytag. 

 

 

 

 

 

[pulltostart]

Washdaddy

My existing house is fine, the plumbing is new as of about 6 years ago, but I'm moving and the concerns relate to the "new" house.

I have no idea how previous occupants handled the situation - the plumbing might just be fine. But not likely.

lawrence

 

[mattl]

Well I suggest you try it first and see what happens.  The lines may handle it fine.  I've got 2 Duets and a Dishwasher running into an 1 1/2" line and even with both washers going it's not an issue.  I can't say I've had all three running at once, but certainly a combination of 2 of the 3.

 

[yogitunes]

would check it to see how it works at first....1 1/2 inch should be more than suffice....

many of us who have several machines in a run, as in mine, 4 machines all drain into 1 1/2 inch, at the bottom connect to 2 inch horizontal, and finally hit into 3 inch before it leaves the house....as a curiosity should it happen, I filled all the machines, and then set them to spin all at the same time...oddly enough, there were no issues except for some suds coming out of the first pipe....

I have seen setups with the hose routed into a closed pipe, meaning no air or water could get in or out around the drain hose, but make sure to use an air-gap to prevent a siphon effect....this seemed to work best even for previously slow drains, it pushed what ever was slowing it down....out of the way!

in any older home you encounter, it is usually best to pour some heavy duty drain cleaner down, and if possible a few pots of water boiled on the stove....there is also sludge remover you can put down the pipes before bedtime, and by morning, a thorough flush of the pipes should clean everything out...

 

[epixstar128]

According to my plumbing guide book a clear 1.5 inch pvc pipe can handle 35 gallons a min on gravity drain

 

[DigAPony]

water being pumped out the drain hose was significant

I'll second that, a Speed Queen TL can really blast out the discharge water.

However, a 1-1/2" standpipe alone is not to blame for any overflows which are more likely restrictions and/or inadequate venting further down the line.

 

[mrb627]

Action = No Action

I would do nothing until you had the opportunity to connect your machine and give it a run. Then decide if you call a plumber.

Malcolm

 

[pulltostart]

Thanks all for the input! I will let you know how it turns out.

lawrence

 

[wayupnorth]

This thread has got me thinking. I have had some problems with my septic pump over the last year and with over 40 gallons of water going into it every time from my 30 year old Maytag, I figured out a way to route a new drain pipe to it and let it go out in the woods beside the house. I would like to use something very flexable so I dont have to mess with fittings, only 1 hole thru the side. Now, if it would ever finally warm up and melt, I could do it. Still in Polar Vortex here.

 

[tomturbomatic]

A dry well was a common solution for laundry and kitchen drains in homes with a septic tank.

Lawrence, you might want to have the seller or real estate firm provide a 6 month insurance policy to cover things that might not be readily apparent when you look at the house.