How to Fix Washing Machine Drain Pipe Overflow

Water all over the floor? Problems with your washing machine drain pipe? I've lived in several old houses and dealing with overflows from my washing machine has always been a struggle. Our current house was built in 1972 and the overflow from the washing machine drainpipe was our first major homeowner disaster. If you've struggled with this plumbing problem, I'm going to give you some ideas for solving it.

Why does my drain overflow?

I suppose we should have paid more attention to the patched plaster on the wall behind the washing machine. That was a clear sign that overflow from the drain pipe had happened to previous owners. Now I realize that is a sign to look for in older homes. When a few months after we moved in water started overflowing everywhere during the drain cycle of the washer, we realized we had a real problem. Older houses like ours were built when washers were smaller and didn't require as big of a pipe to drain them. Today's extra large capacity washers use more water and spit it out faster. The result? The pipe that the washer drains into can get overwealmed and overflow--all over the floor.

Even if you have a low water use washer you can have this problem if lint from the wash clogs up the drain. That's what happened to us. We would get the drain cleaned out and everything would be fine for a while. Then, just when I was overloaded with laundry from three preschoolers there would be another messy disaster all over the floor.

How Can I fix the problem?

For a temporary fix, you can call a plumber and have the drain cleaned out. We did that several times and generally we found that it took care of the problem for a while. However, after a few months of lint and soap build-up, we'd have an overflow again. We talked to a few of the plumbers who came out to unclog our drain. One thought he could put in a bigger pipe in the wall, but that wouldn't help the clogging or the size of the pipe that is in our slab. Another talked about putting a pump in the pipe, but he wasn't sure of the result.

Our Solution Step One: Put in a Laundry Utility Sink

Finally, we came up with our own solution, we needed a utility (laundry) sink that the water could drain into. I'd done plumbing projects before and so I found it wasn't that hard to install a sink with a large tub for the washing machine drain to go into. I bought the laundry tub with legs at home depot and also got the pipe, faucet and other supplies there. It took me an afternoon to put it in. I attached the drain from the sink to a lower part of the drain in the wall. I did have to take out some of the drywall to do that. If you don't like to do your own plumbing work, you could easily hire a plumber to do the job (or maybe convince a talented friend). When we remodeled last year, we bought a cabinet to put the laundry sink into. We also bought stacking washer and dryer to make better use of the space. The front loading washer actually does not use as much water as my old top loader; however, I have foiund that I still need a large sink to contain the water that drains from one load (which I discovered when a sock fell in and blocked the drain! Luckily, no overflow!). A side benefit of having a laundry room sink is that I now have a place to wash out shoes and dirty items.

Solution Step Two: Use a mesh lint catcher and Enzymes

The laundry tub prevents an overflow, but it doesn't stop the problem of clogs. For that, I've used mesh lint catchers that you attach to the end of the drainpipe with a strip of plastic that tightens around the hose. I find these at Walgreen's or Walmart in the laundry section. You can also buy them in bulk online. After seeing how much lint gets trapped by these, I can understand how my drains started overflowing! Generally, I change them once or twice a month, or whenever I see them getting full. If you are washing a lot of new towels, or other items with a lot of lint, you may need to change them more often.

But the lint catcher doesn't get everything that makes a clog. Soap and dirt still build up in my drains. I can tell because the water coming from the washer doesn't drain as quickly after a while. So, rather than waiting for a major build-up, I've decided to be pro-active and used an enzyme product which works on the pipes by using bacteria that eats the soap and other stuff in the drain. When I use this every month in my drain, it makes the whole thing run smoothly. If I forget, I eventually have to call the plumber in again. The enzyme actually works pretty far down in the pipes if you use it regualrly. With five kids and two parents, we have a lot of laundry. Generally I do about 12 loads a week. So I need to keep those drain pipes in good shape. The cost of using enzymes (there are different types and they wall seem to work the same--I've included some at the right which you can order form Amazon--which reminds me, I need to order some myself!) once a month is a lot less than just one plumber's visit to unclog my drain!