Another chapter in the joys of home ownership

[carbonel]

I just went down to the basement, and my feet encountered damp carpet at the bottom of the stairs. (Why I thought carpeting for the basement was a good idea entirely escapes me now.) And there's still a large pool of water around the drain that normally deals with the air conditioner condensation, so presumably the drain is blocked somehow unless there's something outside that's preventing it from draining.

Unlike the previous times this has happened, it doesn't appear to be a sewer problem. The water appears to be clean and I can't smell anything but general basement smell. Also, there hasn't been any sewage backup into the shower, which happened the two other times. And finally, I'm not overdue in having Ron the Sewer Rat do the annual reaming out.

So -- any idea what else it could be? I've never had any other sort of flooding in my basement.

Comments

Plugged drain?

[lsanderson]

I'd first try a plunger on the drain or a snake.

Re: Plugged drain?

[carbonel]

The drain plate is way too large for a plunger, alas. I don't own a proper snake, but the plan is that Greg will be coming over with one later today.

He has also told me the odds are very good that it's safe to flush the toilet, which is cheering.

[graydon]

Clear water strongly implies that the pipe is blocked, rather than backed up, yeah. Which in turn means something got into the drain from this side and is blocking it. Could be simple -- plastic bag -- or horrid -- plaster of paris, paint -- or unspeakable -- silicone rubber ball that just fits in the pipe -- but no way to tell unless you've got a plumber's endoscope on hand.

lsanderson's suggestion to plunger or snake first seems practical. I might try taking the drain cover off and fishing around with a hook, first, if you can. Bent coat hanger may tell you how far in the blockage might be. (If you're really lucky it's a plastic container lid under the drain cover, at least if I'm visualizing the correct sort of floor drain.)

[carbonel]

Greg says that in a house of its era, the pipes are probably two-inch cast iron and concurs that the pipe is probably blocked. He also says there's usually an access point for clearing out the trap -- at least, I think that's what he said. He seems reasonably confident he'll be able to deal with it.

He's also bringing over a box fan for the wet carpet. I don't think it's soggy enough this time for a shop vac to be of much use.

[graydon]

Shop vac can be just the thing to vacuum up the desiccant.

Generally speaking, sogged basement carpet is done; it will become a fungus farm no matter what you do. Overdoing desiccant application can slow that down long enough that the replacement can be planned, rather than having to be an emergency.