We've got some plumbing issues at my parent's house.
I don't know anything about plumbing or terminology so I may be using the wrong wording.
In our basement we have our washer/dryer and next to it is a basin/sink that the washer drains into. Also there's water lines for hot/cold water. Recently its been getting backed up and waters comes UP through the bottom drain and fills up.
This happens when we use the toilet in the house and also the showers. The water fills up in the sink and very slowly will start to drain away. But when you flush the toilet about 1 gallon of water will came up from the sink drain. My dad is thinking one of the drain pipes is frozen (since it was cold lately 25-30 degrees), and that it won't drain causing the backup.
Does that sound right? Like a symptom? If it's frozen would there be a little draining or should it be completed stopped up from a frozen pipe? Is that the drain pipe?
We have this giant pipe that looks like it leads from the roof to the ground. There's exposed pipe to the ground at our basement door. It's about a 4inch pipe (pvc i guess?). My dad said that's the drain pipe thats clogged since its "outside" sorta covered behind a little brick wall. There seemed to be a little bit of water frozen next to it.
So we tried to "thaw" it out thinking itwas frozen. We put a oil filled radiator next to the pipe for about a few hours and made a "tent" to trap the heat. We used that and checked it often to make sure it doesnt burn. Today it just turned 50 degrees and should be for next few days. So hopefully, if it frozen it will thaw out.
Does that sound reasonable for a drain pipe to freeze? Is there always water in a drain pipe that it can even freeze? Or only when water is being drained. Could it just be a clogged pipe somewhere?
We've been really limited in our showering, using toilet... we need someone to scoop out the water with a bucket and throw it out through a sewer drain outside.
Any ideas? I guess we'll get a pro once we give the let the weather thaw it out for a day or two.
I don't know anything about plumbing or terminology so I may be using the wrong wording.
In our basement we have our washer/dryer and next to it is a basin/sink that the washer drains into. Also there's water lines for hot/cold water. Recently its been getting backed up and waters comes UP through the bottom drain and fills up.
This happens when we use the toilet in the house and also the showers. The water fills up in the sink and very slowly will start to drain away. But when you flush the toilet about 1 gallon of water will came up from the sink drain. My dad is thinking one of the drain pipes is frozen (since it was cold lately 25-30 degrees), and that it won't drain causing the backup.
Does that sound right? Like a symptom? If it's frozen would there be a little draining or should it be completed stopped up from a frozen pipe? Is that the drain pipe?
We have this giant pipe that looks like it leads from the roof to the ground. There's exposed pipe to the ground at our basement door. It's about a 4inch pipe (pvc i guess?). My dad said that's the drain pipe thats clogged since its "outside" sorta covered behind a little brick wall. There seemed to be a little bit of water frozen next to it.
So we tried to "thaw" it out thinking itwas frozen. We put a oil filled radiator next to the pipe for about a few hours and made a "tent" to trap the heat. We used that and checked it often to make sure it doesnt burn. Today it just turned 50 degrees and should be for next few days. So hopefully, if it frozen it will thaw out.
Does that sound reasonable for a drain pipe to freeze? Is there always water in a drain pipe that it can even freeze? Or only when water is being drained. Could it just be a clogged pipe somewhere?
We've been really limited in our showering, using toilet... we need someone to scoop out the water with a bucket and throw it out through a sewer drain outside.
Any ideas? I guess we'll get a pro once we give the let the weather thaw it out for a day or two.