How to Add a Basement Drain

LESLIE: Kevin in North Dakota is on the line with a question about a basement drain backup. How can we help you?

KEVIN: Yes, I have a problem in the basement. I had some people come out. I had a drain in the basement that backs up. It comes from the sink in the laundry. And they found clay when they went into the line. And they said that I have to bust up the tile and the concrete and then get to that pipe. Is that the only option?

TOM: The drain that you’re trying to get to is for the laundry and the sink? What actually is draining into that pipe?

KEVIN: Both the laundry – the washer and the upstairs sink.

TOM: OK. Where does the rest of the waste from the house plumbing system drain out? In particular, is there another drainpipe there, even if it’s up higher?

KEVIN: Yes.

TOM: So, another solution for a basement drain backup might be what’s called a “lift pump.”And this is – it can look like a small bucket or it can be actually installed in the floor. But it’s a bucket that – or bucket. It’s like a circular container, about the size of a large bucket, like about the size of a 5-gallon bucket that – inside of which it’s all sealed. The water drains there and then it’s float-activated, just like the float in a toilet, right? And once it gets filled to a certain level, this float comes on and it takes the water and it pumps it up, against gravity, high enough so that it can – gravity then feeds into the main drainpipe.

That’s a better option, because it sounds to me like this pipe, that’s going out underground and getting clogged through the clay, is probably a gray-water line that’s discharging somewhere but it may not be the main waste line. So if you were to use a lift pump in – as an alternative, you would – you’d be able to completely eliminate that run, both the laundry, the washer and that sink from upstairs into the same lift pump and then just drain it to the main waste vent. And you’ll have a lot less maintenance to deal with over the years regarding the basement drain backup.

KEVIN: That’d be great. Thank you.