Stop Appliances from Backing Up Into a Sink

Learn how to stop appliances from backing up into a sink. Find out how a plumber with a drain camera can help you find and unclog an obstruction in your pipes.

LESLIE: Gordon, you’re up. What can we do for you?

GORDON: I recently redid my kitchen and I updated my laundry room. And I’m having drainage problems.

TOM: What kind of drainage problem are you having, Gordon?

GORDON: The – it’s backing up.

TOM: Alright. So the sink drain is backing up?

GORDON: No, the sink’s fine. It’s the dishwasher or the new washing machine.

TOM: Well, you probably have an obstruction in the – in the drain waste vent pipe that’s going from the kitchen out. Have you had – have you tried to snake this pipe with a plumbing snake?

GORDON: Yes.

TOM: And you’ve found nothing?

GORDON: No, not a thing.

TOM: Explain the layout to me, Gordon. Where is the washing machine in relation to the dishwasher and where is the water backing up?

GORDON: OK, everything is backing up into the sink.

TOM: And where’s the washing machine? How close is that?

GORDON: Everything is within about four foot of each other.

TOM: Alright. Well look, the drain that they replaced – when you replaced the kitchen, the drain pipes were all the same size?

GORDON: Yes.

TOM: Alright. There has to be an obstruction here. You just haven’t found it yet. There’s no – there’s no mystery to this. You know, the water flows down the pipe and works it’s way to your sewer system or your septic system and it’s done. Now, if you snaked it and you haven’t found an obstruction, you probably haven’t gone far enough.

I would do this. I would call Roto-Rooter; have those guys come out and they can either snake it or they can run a drain camera down it and figure out where the obstruction is. It’s not a mystery. There’s a reason that all these pipes are backing up when you run a lot of water and there’s probably a partial obstruction in that pipe or a partial collapse of the pipe somewhere. It can happen for all sorts of reasons. And when enough water gets in that pipe, from all of the fixtures that you’re running, it just backs up. Probably goes down after it sits for awhile, but that’s because it’s not completely blocked; it’s only partially blocked. The thing here, Gordon, is you’ve just got to figure out where it is. And if you’ve tried all of the stuff locally, it’s time to call the pros – like a Roto-Rooter – and have those guys come out and really figure out where this is.

Gordon, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.