Re: Unclogging drain in walkout basement

buffalobill wrote:
On Aug 8, 6:51 am, PB2 <pbane...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi,

We recently purchased a house with a walkout basement. After some
heavy rain, we discovered that the drain in the walkout does not drain
properly. Water pooled during the rain (fortunately, not enough to
make it inside) and drained over the course of a few hours.

Any tips on how to unclog this drain? How do I know if it leads to the
sewage system? If so, can I just pour Draino into it? I was going to
try to open the grate to see if I could fish stuff out.

I'm new to home ownership, so any tips are appreciated.

Thanks,
PB

with goggles and rubber glove protection, loosen the cover on it and
have a look in. scoop out any muck with a garden trowel or your least
favorite serving spoon into a trash basket with a heavy duty trash
bag. there should be a trap like under a sink to separate the sewer
gas from the drain you see. but have your neighbors recommend an
experienced plumber to snake your drains including any roof and
basement connections. let him explain how your sewage system works,
and follow his advice.
-b

Basement floor drain, in most cases, does NOT go to sanitary sewer or septic, if installed properly. (Exception for old urban areas that had or have combined storm/sanitary systems.) It should go to sump pit and/or foundation drains, which should either lead to a drywell or daylight exit. Drano will be useless, since the clog is probably not organic. OP should call local generic roto-rooter company to get the drains snaked, and maybe have a camera run down them, if cleaning the trap right under the grate does not help. BTDT, but in my case the drain pipes themselves had failed, due to rust or heavy minerals clogging them like an old teakettle. Drain Guy's heaviest auger got stuck 3 feet in. Still not sure how I am going to address that, since my sump pit is bone dry even in heavy rains. It would cost thousands to cut the slab and replace them, and would not pay back on resale, so I may just fill the drain holes with sackcrete and forget them.

--
aem sends...
.

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