Hello, my washing machine has been overflowing out of the stand pipe. I'm pretty sure my main line is clogged as when water is draining into my septic is trickled in instead of a rush of water. Aside from that, I opened the wall to inspect the plumbing for my washer and it is awful. No clue how this past inspection. So the washer drains into a standpipe which goes down and across the room into my main drain. The main drain is 34 inches off the ground. As I see it I have two options, raise my box so I can have proper slope and put in. P trap and an aav or install a utility sink and have the washer drain into this and use a pump to discharge the water into the pipe. Any ideas?

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Pipe should slop toward the main drain 1/4" for every foot, so if it's 8' run it should drop 2". Also, that lateral pipe that goes into the wall is serving as a trap, but it's such a long flat spot your clog may be right there. I would re-plumb the whole line, put in the correct slope and also the correct trap.

For sure you need a 2" ptrap installed at the bottom of the stand pipe. All of those 90s do not help the drain as the pump for the washer puts out a lot of water fast. Raising the height of the Standpipe to 46" could help but that drain had better never be clogged in any way or you will get an overflow into your home.

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Yeah, I agree it needs to be re-plumbed. So my clog might not necessarily be in the main drain but in the line for the washer. I'll have to flush a toilet and see how it drains into my septic to make sure its not the main drain. The washer is the only appliance I am having a problem with so it makes sense the issue is the washer.

So my main drain is 34 inches off the ground at the point where the washer line enters (this is the lowest point on the drain). The piping runs 20 feet, so at the washer the pipe would have to be 39 inches off the ground for proper slope.

My box for the washer is currently at 46 inches off the ground. In order to have an 18 inch standpipe, and the p trap, I would have to move the box closer to 60 inches from the ground. This would mean my p trap would be 42 inches off the ground. Isn't it code that the p trap not exceed 18 inches off the ground?

Is this possible to do, or should I be looking more into installing a utility sink and having the washer drain into that? The only issue is that I don't have much room for a sink and it wouldn't look that good, but at the same time a washer box that is 60 inches off the ground will also not look to great. Do I have any other options? Maybe the washer draining into a pump and then pumped into the piping shown in the pics?



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there is no code regards to the height of the washing machine box and trap.
even if the sewer pipe is 6 feet off the ground, you can still put a trap with a standpipe. my code gives a max of 24 inches for a standpipe but not a minimum.
you must check with the washer manufacture to make sure the machine's pump will pump that high. most will.
secondly, avoid a seperate tank and pump at all costs. in fact some codes say no pump allowed if the system will work by gravity..

Ah okay, awesome, I guess the most logical thing would be to raise the box and re-plumb it.

I just had someone flush the toilet for me while I was out at the septic tank and the water trickled in at a very slow rate so I think there is a clog in the main line. I just had the septic cleaned out and the guy said he could see some tree roots in the pipe and said to use a root remover. I suppose I should snake the main line. Hopefully it isn't anything more serious, it's an old cast iron pipe about 60 years old.

Code in my area is that the bottom of the box must be at least 34" from the finished floor, and that the standpipe must be at least 24" .