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My sink backs up when running water for 3 min. Also into dishwasher. It's also a double sink. On the other hand, my dishwasher also backs up into sink. This causes a disgusting smell through my home. Especially in the bathroom and my bedroom.

I do have a basement, and when water backs up into sink ..it also backs up out of floor drain downstairs. I had snake run through and it's not appearing to be stopped up. New pipes were put in under sink and it didn't help.

Please give me something I can do. I'm a single woman trying to figure this out.

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  • Note that you can't snake from the basement drain - this will do nothing since it is its own branch. You need to snake from the main down or from the street to house. – DMoore Nov 14 '14 at 15:56
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It really sounds like the drain line blockage is beyond the place where the basement drain exits the foundation and goes off to either the public sewer system or private septic system. Could be broken underground line, line filled in with tree roots seeking water through joints or holes in the piping, or sediment / deposits in the line that have restricted its flow.

Probably the best way to troubleshoot this type of problem is to use a inspection camera that is slid through the pipe on the end of a long cable with a camera display at the end. Some professional plumbers have these for sewer inspection. It may also be possible to rent one and use it yourself but then you do not get the experienced eye of the operator knowing what nuances to look for.

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  • I was thinking it was a little after the trap. I had an issue with old iron in my kitchen very similar to hers. It was about $20 of pvc vs $400 plumber. – DMoore Nov 14 '14 at 15:40
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    Well the OP may very well have drain blockage after the sink trap since the sink/dishwasher backup. However since the basement floor drain also backs up it is indicative of multiple problems. – Michael Karas♦ Nov 14 '14 at 15:55
  • To add, I've had this happen in a past house where the cause was problems with the septic system itself. In some places your septic field slows goes from being loose soil to becoming dense and hard overtime. Mild cases you can have it aerated where they take a machine that blasts foam beads into the ground to help keep the soil from hardening as well as loosening up the soil, but when it's too for gone they have to dig up the field. (hard soil acts like a plug at the end of the pipe) – RualStorge Nov 14 '14 at 21:46
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The problem is in the street, or at least towards it, as Michael suggests. If you snaked it yourself I doubt it made it all the way to the street. If it was professionally snaked, start making phone calls to whoever did it and to the city.

Jerseyville Sewage Plant. Call them and tell them your problem persists even after having your main line professionally snaked. If this is the wrong place perhaps they can point you in the right direction to contact your Streets and Sanitation department.

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