Author Topic: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?  (Read 1871 times)

Sibley

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Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« on: November 24, 2017, 09:09:31 PM »
Plumbing question. I have a utility room on a slab at the back of the house. The utility sink drain has started gurgling when the washer drains (this is new). At the same time, I've got some water on the ground outside, and no obvious water source. Except the drain goes through the slab right around there. No water inside anywhere. How worried should I be?

The rest of the plumbing seems fine (more precisely, I'm aware of what the problem is and it isn't related to the drain).

paddedhat

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2017, 06:42:21 AM »
Well, it's not good, at all. I would first attempt to snake the drain line and see what happens. If you don't succeed, next step would be having a pro do the same thing.  If you can open a clog, a bit of detective work on what exactly the clog is composed of is helpful. For example, tree roots and dirt and a lot worse that hair and soap build up. At that point the line can be inspected with a camera scope.  Since exterior drain lines in your area need to be deep to provide frost protection, if your drain is creating a wet spot outside, I would guess that the pipe is broken pretty high up, like immediately under the slab. A lot of these leaks never really show signs of wetness inside the home, since slabs are typically placed on a thick layer of small gravel that drains freely. Unfortunately, given the upcoming lovely weather in Chicagoland, this is a problem that is now a pretty high priority, since you don't want water under a slab that can freeze solid, and cause frost damage, which can include severe structural damage, even in concrete. Hope it all works out, this sounds like it could become expensive.

Sibley

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2017, 10:34:27 AM »
Thanks. I'm not setup to do anything of this, so will call a plumber I trust. Hopefully there's an inexpensive fix.

jpdx

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2017, 10:02:13 PM »
Just to confirm that the source of the water really is from the washer drain, you can run a garden hose into the drain and see if that causes water to come through the slab.

Sibley

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #4 on: November 26, 2017, 08:09:39 AM »
Assuming that the water is coming from the pipe (I'm hopeful!), it's not immediate. I ran 3 loads of laundry last night, and didn't get any water outside until midway through the 2nd load. My friend, who is a qualified plumber, is coming over today to check it out.

Sibley

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #5 on: November 26, 2017, 09:37:45 AM »
Update: plumber friend came over. Several issues identified, all of them fairly minor.

1. Need a "drain sock" on the washer hose. Additionally, a dose of boiling water down the drain is prescribed (after fix the pipe).
2. Drain isn't vented. Gonna add some sort of venting. Don't need to cut into the wall or anything to install either.
3. There is a crack in the pipe, but it's NOT under the slab. No evidence of water getting under the slab either. The crack is inside the utility room, actually a couple inches up off the floor. Weird geometry of pipes, wall, support clips, etc allowed water to travel from the crack in the pipe through a crack in the wall through to the outside, then runs off the side of the exterior to the ground. Yeah. Old houses are great. So, replace that piece of pipe (same time as adding the vent), and then just deal with the rest of it. I know how to handle drying out the wall and fixing whatever damage there, so shouldn't be too bad.

Whew.

paddedhat

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #6 on: November 26, 2017, 09:44:43 AM »
Damn, sounds like you had some good karma to use up. You first described something that could of been a real expensive mess. Nice to hear that it worked out!

Sibley

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Re: Gurgling sink drain and water outside?
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2017, 12:20:28 PM »
Well, I have major plaster repair in my future from a roof leak (now fixed) so I guess the house gods are being kind on the plumbing! Not sure how bad the upstairs work will be yet, waiting for things to settle and working on drying out the wall. Also just figured out that I'll need to prime the walls in about half the house before I can paint - used to be wallpaper and the glue wasn't removed fully. Thank goodness they removed the wallpaper!