Hello,

I just moved into an old place and am having trouble with the washer. When the washer drains the drain pipe instantly overflows. I'm not sure if this is due to the length of the pipe (aprox 6-8 inches), the angle of the pipe, or the height of the pipe. In the pictures you can hopefully see it's a good bit lower than the top of the washing machine.
I'm a lay person so please bear that in mind when using technical terms. Thanking you in advance.

I am not a plumber, but the stand pipe looks too short, I had mine at 18" or so.

Also, is that a p-trap where half of that is outside the wall?

Thank you for your response. I think that is a p trap, yes. My first thought too was the length of the pipe, but I'm not sure how to go about extending it.

Here a picture of what it should look like. The standpipe(short vertical pipe in your photo) should be between 18" and 30" long. Your standpipe is plastic, so it can be extended by gluing on a coupling and a piece of pipe to increase the length. Now whether a trap exists or not can't be determined without an onsite inspection. The drain piping might also be partially restricted and in need of cleaning.



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you really can do anything until you know if there is a trap or not..
what i see doesn't give me much confidence about the integrity/legality of that set up...

I am thinking the same. I have seen the p-trap completely concerned behind the wall and installed with a washing machine box for the hose, or it be exposed completely and just rotated so it is closer to the wall, never seen a half in half out contraption like that which makes one wonder if it's even a p-trap.

Thanks everyone. Definitely have to get a professional to look at this.



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Actually, you don't. Remove the washer drain hose and look into the pipe with a flashlight. You should see water standing about 2 inches below the top of the pipe as it is currently configured. If that is the case, the P-trap is there and you just need to add more pipe to it to help stop overflow. I would personally open the wall and install it properly if it were me however. A properly designed washer standpipe will function properly without adding any stress to your washer's pump (by having to push water higher), but I have seen plenty of washing machines in basements that have to pump the water overhead to about 7 feet high and they operate properly, they just look unsightly. It is possible that your drain line is stopped up and the standpipe may work just fine, it is just hard to test that theory without fixing the standpipe height first.

just because they don't see water in the pipe doesn't mean there is no trap. it could be a double 90. one outside the wall looking in and one inside the wall looking down into the trap.
i doubt this is the case but it could be ???

I would open the wall and make sure you have a 2" trap and then you can set your stand pipe to 18 to 24 inches per code. The higher it is the better. It is a receptical so less likely to overflow if you have a slight blockage in your line. If you have ABS or PVC drain piping you might want to run a 5/16" snake down the line. If you don't have a clean out, I would install one at this time before you button the wall up. Good luck.

Hi, not a licensed plumber so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. Since, it is an old house, my guess is that hook-up was not originally for a washing machine. Notice that the standpipe is slipped over the elbow and there is a loose hose clamp at the base. Possibly there was a sink there at one point, the sink and p-trap were removed and a makeshift standpipe was installed. So a licensed plumber should be involved.