Help! Our basement floor drain is backing up, just a little bit, but enough that it's spreading across the basement floor.
Some more explanation:
First it started causing issues because our AC unit was draining into that floor drain and it wasn't draining fast enough (or at all) that it started flooding the basement. So, we put a bucket under the AC hose and have been emptying it a couple times a day.
I tried to fix the drain and open opening it realized the water level in it was so high that it was causing the flood guard to engage and thus not let any water down and flood our basement.
We have this flood guard: [www.plumbingsupply.com]
So (stupidly) I took out the flood guard and tested it's draining capability and it went well. So I left it out for the morning and that's when disaster struck. I got home and we've had sewer water coming back up through that floor drain spreading across our basement. Probably a gallon or two of water total before I caught it.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Get a drain cleaning company out the appropriate line(s) If the water is backing up, flush a toilet; if it floods out, it is the main sewer line, if not, it is a branch line. If the main is backed up, it wouldn't hurt to get the line from the floor drain to the main cleaned as well

I'll do the toilet test, but do I need to keep the floor guard out to truly test that?
We just had a back up issue (in the main line) a couple months ago due to too much toilet paper/non-flushable wipes. They cleaned it out and did a video feed of the line and saw that it was actually really clean and smooth, no roots, other issues. And we've been really good about the amount of toilet paper, not flushing wipes, etc, so I'm not sure it's the main line. When it was, it came up through the basement toilet (I realize now the floor guards stopped it from coming up the floor drain.

Also, I snaked as far as I could on this basement drain (I think mine is 45 feet) and it didn't do anything. There's still some water sitting in the hole (which I think is supposed to be there to keep out the sewer gases).

Can you explain a little more how if it is clogged it'd still be able to take water being poured down it?

If the pipe is partially blocked it can fill up and overflow, then drain down. If you had backups prior, it could still be paper that pushed up into the pipe and dried in place.

I snaked the drain, but my snake might not have been long enough. Is there another way besides calling out a company to do it? I could rent a longer snake maybe. Is there a way to check if it really is a partial clog of some kind?

I was thinking I could put the shop vac blowing out or in right on to the floor drain and see if that'd help clear it. What do you think of that? Could be really stupid, not going to try it unless recommended.

Drain cleaning is seldom about how long your snake is (yeah, you can chuckle at that), it really is about how well you can use it. A large part of drain cleaning is the skill of the operator, and the rest is the proper equipment. Having the right equipment in the wrong hands is just as ineffective as not having the equipment at all in most cases. What you need is properly sized equipment able to clean your drains in the full diameter of the pipe, not just pop a little hole through what may have been blocking the water flow. I don't mean this to be disrespectful, but you don't have the experience to get the job done properly at this time. If you really want to give it a go, you will need to access the drain line through the cleanout plug in the side of the drain, and you will need to have a garden hose running full blast and get the drain backed up just prior to starting the cabling. Once it backs up, keep it backed up by letting the water to continue to run if needed and snake the drain out. As you clean the drain, the water will push out any debris, and you will find it impossible to get the drain to back up anymore as you continue. Turn on the water full blast and snake it 2 more times from the drain to the main sewer line inside the house, or 40'. When you pull the snake back, the gunk will (hopefully) be washed off the snake, the drain will be flowing properly, and you can reinstall the cleanout plug and strainer and clean up.

I appreciate honest (and funny) answers Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it.



Edited 1 times.

First recmmendation, always have a sump pit just next to toilet. Place a wire mesh with having pitch of 5mm, so that it filter out any tissues, wipes solid non degradable articles. Cleaning those unwanted articles from wire mesh once in a while is much more easier than cleaning the entire drains. If its no possible to do any of above then atleast install a cutter pump, which would create a fine mesh of those tissues & wipes.