A guy on the ground floor of a 5-storey apartment building gets suds in his sink even when he isn't using his plumbing. The landlord sends a plumber who finds no problem. I tell him his drain is too close to that coming down from upper floors, cite UPC 711.1 on suds relief. I tell him his landlord won't want to fix this problem, it'll be too expensive. Do suds prove faulty plumbing? If he can get the landlord to expose the plumbing and it turns out to be plumbed properly is he out of luck? How can he get authorities to get the landlord to address the matter?

As a landlord, and assuming most landlords do not know the plumbing layout way back whenever, and I believe even if professionals are hired they can't determine how things were piped originally without really invasive process, especially with multi-story buildings. Add to it if the suds relief plumbing code for that AHJ may come after the building date so it may be non-conforming yet legal, I don't think you go knock down walls and ceilings to see what's going on.

My first question would be whether this happened since day one or a recent experience. If it's from day one I would be inclined to chase it down by asking previous owners or tenants if they experienced same since the beginning of their occupancy. If it's a recent development I would consider either there may be a partial blockage not severe enough to back up the fluids but suds would build up. Along with that I would investigate to see which apartment caused this suds, if I can determine that when suds come up when apartment 3B is running their washing machine I would go to apartment 3B and knock on their door and ask to see their washing machine and detergent. In this day and age of low water consumption washing machines using high efficiency detergents producing much less suds this should be a thing of the past.



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Thanks. I think your recommendations are hopeful.



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