Ghostly plumbing in Knoxville

[Billythegrape]

Hello all,

I'm Matt, live in Knoxville TN.

Here's my situation. I just bought a new house in March. The way the house is setup is that it's in a hill, so both the "upstairs" and the "downstairs" are ground level entries, front and back of the house respectively.
This means that the house requires a pump to pull sewage to the sewer, I think. The plumbing in the upstairs bathroom (street level) gurgles quite frequently and at times violently; sometimes the plumbing in the bathroom sink discharges whatever's in the p trap along with a nasty stench of the farts of a thousand dead cavemen.
I investigated a suspicious closed off "room" in the first floor by peering through the drop ceiling. I discovered what looks from afar like a 55 gallon oil drum submerged in the cement floor with two pvc pipes leading from it. Preliminary research indica t es this could be the pump, which acts like a tiny septic tank. Not sure.
Anyway, when this bad boy activates, there's usually a slam when it cuts off.
My question is what the heck is going on? None of the downstairs plumbing exhibits these issues. My upstairs toilet flushes sluggishly could this be the issue? Should I cut through the wall and clean the pump th I ngy?

 

[frodo]

hmmmmmm...

can you do something for me ? i need you to go look t the pump and piping

you should have 2 pipes coming out of the pit, one pipe will not have anything on it,,

the other, should have a chck valve and a valve.
I want to know, where that line ties into another pipe.

and will you take a picture please ?

 

[Billythegrape]

Ok will do. Laid up with a bad back- lifted acorns the wrong way (no not a single acorn, haha, 60-100lbs bags of the damn things) at work. I have to get up into the ceiling but I am reinforced with Tennessee's best narcotics for pain and can do ANYTHING!!!!

Just messing around, will do this asap. By the way, my screen now has a smudge thanks to your little fly in the sidebar, hahaha.

 

[frodo]

i get every body lol

 

[Billythegrape]

Here are the photos. The first one should show the pipe that appears to be a 90° turn into the black iron pipe. The other pipe seems to go out through the wall, which is an outside wall.

 

[frodo]

the last picture, you see that square plactic thing on the pipe ?

that pipe is the discharge. what does that pipe tie into ? where do it go ? what do it do ?

that is the one i am concerned with.

also. for giggles, look at the square plstic thing it is a chck valve it has an arrow on it, is the arrow pointed up or down ?

http://screencast.com/t/rFE8pUEVV6

I need to see where the discharge ties into the black iron pipe

 

[Billythegrape]

The square valve pipe connects to the black iron pipe, a direct connection.

 

[frodo]

The square valve pipe connects to the black iron pipe, a direct connection.

arghhhhh I know that !!!! LOL...i need to know HOW it ties in

the discharge has to tie in from the top not the side

 

[Billythegrape]

It ties in from the side, not the top. I can't get a picture because they walled the thing in, but I stuck my hand back into that nightmare of spiderweb horror and it's definitely mounted directly horizontal.

 

[frodo]

It ties in from the side, not the top. I can't get a picture because they walled the thing in, but I stuck my hand back into that nightmare of spiderweb horror and it's definitely mounted directly horizontal.

thats your problem bro,

what is happening, the pipe that comes up from the pit is full of water

and so is the horizontal pipe, when the up stairs toilet flushs it is dumbing into a line full of water.

do you have a clean out, outside the front of the house ?

pop the co..excuse..remove the clean out cap, look inside..is the pie dry or standing water.

if standing water you will need to get the line video ed to find a belly or root

 

[Billythegrape]

pop the co..excuse..remove the clean out cap, look inside..is the pie dry or standing water.

What does this mean?

I have a smelly pit in front of the house with a turtle shell looking thing covering it. It has a similar setup to what's in the basement under the turtle shell. Is that the thing you're referring to?

Now, do I just reroute the discharge pipe to the way it looks in your totally awesome MS Paint diagrams?

I understand video for a root, but what's a belly? Is that just a typo?

Seriously, thanks for all the help. I can do anything but not without knowledge.

 

[frodo]

no problem , glad to attempt to help.

you have another pump?

does this line pump into that pit ?

now i am confused

 

[Billythegrape]

no problem , glad to attempt to help.

you have another pump?

does this line pump into that pit ?

now i am confused

There's a pit in the basement and one outside in the front yard. The main line for the whole house (black iron) goes directly into this. The pit in the basement pumps into the main line. The front yard thing is before the street.

 

[Billythegrape]

Here are photos of what I have going on outside.

 

[frodo]

oh K,,,man that is a funky set up.

I am thinking the problem is that pump, or rather inthat pit.

look man, I want to call in Mr David on this, so ill get back, tonight. we are not ignoring you

 

[phishfood]

My initial thought is that the ejector pit, which is that drum inside of the house, is not vented correctly. If it is vented to an air admittance valve, or the vent is clogged, or the vent is too small, that can cause problems. When the pump kicks on, it will pump out a lot of water at once. So the air that is in the line it pumps to needs to be able to get out really fast. If it can't, pressure will build inside of the drainage pipe, and will cause just the problem that you have. Likewise, when the pit empties, there can be negative pressure produced in the drainage piping that drains into it, if the vents are not up to par. Venting, venting, venting, ya gotta have good venting when you have ejectors/pumps.

 

[djmayhill]

In my area there are some house which have what we call a forced deer main where since it is under pressure it needs a grinder pump ( different then an ejector pump) out in the yard which would if that has gone bad could be your issue I would see if that put out front is full

 

[frodo]

the problem doesnt seem to be the inside pump. the problem is the horizontal sewer line in the house that the pump ties into.
jhe has already verified the discharge line is hooked up incorrectly. it does not tien into the top of the pipe
it connects from the side.

he says the 2nd floor fixtures drain slow and gurgle.at first i thought a root bound sewer, till i found a 2nd pump pit

i am thinking the yard pump is playing out, causing the back up in the sewer when house pump kicks on

any thoughts on my assumption ?

 

[Billythegrape]

How do I check the fullness of each?

 

[phishfood]

If the pump outside was not working, you would not be able to flush the toilet, drain the tub/shower, etc.