Drain in basement backing up!

[ben546]

Kinda freaked out here, I'm a 22 year old single guy with my own house and can't really afford a plumber. Last night my basement toilet clogged so I was plunging away at it, I turn around and see that a drain on the floor of my basement next to my hot water tank is backing up and spewing up water with a black sludge.

I mopped up the water and it eventually went down a bit but the water is staying there about 8" down the drain. Here is where things confuse me. My middle and top floor water works fine, this is not effecting the drain at all. However, excessive flushing/use of my laundry machine in the basement appears to be making the water level rise.


I used a 50' snake and ran it down the drain with no obstructions, I took my toilet out and ran the snake down there as well and got as far as I could until I reached a junction the snake wouldn't turn out.
Now, at the top of this drain, there is a 1/4" copper pipe coming out horizontally, whenever I turn the water on to my wash tub in the basement, water pours out of that, even when the wash tub has the drain stop in. So, turning on the water to my wash tub makes water flow out of this little pipe which seems really odd to me? I was thinking it may be a vent line that for some reason has water running through it.


If anybody has a clue as to what is going on here please let me know. Thanks.

 

[phishfood]

The drain in the floor has a trap at the base of it that is intended to hold water so that sewer gas does not vent out into your home. This is why you see water standing in it. The pipe that drains water into the floor drain is a trap primer line. It is designed to add water to the floor drain trap every time the laundry tub is used, so that the water in the trap does not evaporate and allow the sewer gas to come back through.

So those two things are normal, nothing is wrong.

It sounds, however, as though you have a partial clog in the drain line that is causing you problems. You might have to bite the bullet and get a plumber or drain cleaner in to resolve that one if you can't get it with your hand snake.

 

[LiQuId]

?? what he said, DONT try Drain-o... us plumbers Hate that stuff cause it wreaks our tools and it isnt good for your drains either.