My washer is backing up into the kitchen sink. My original thought was a partially clogged line, but the discharge is now bubbling up in a grassy area on the west side of the house. My septic system is on the east side. Any ideas?
Normally I believe your washer is not pumped into the septic system because of the water volume. You probably have a crack in your line from either tree roots or some other obstruction now blocking the line to some degree. With the larger water volume a washer discharges the restricted flow of the line becomes evident. I woudl start digging around the area where you saw the bubbling. You can call a plumber and they can do the labor for you and cut out the section of PVC (my guess) and replace it. Or you can do it yourself and save the bucks. I just hate to pay $50 an hour for a guy to dig a whole. Now if it was my sewer line I might feel differently!
Do you have any cleanouts in your yard? If so, then it's very possible you could clear any blockage without having to dig up your yard. Additionally, many plumbers are now equipped with mini cameras that can be inserted into the drain (via the cleanout) to properly diagnose the problem. Assuming your drain pipe is PVC, then it's probably either a sag or roots that was the root (no pun intended) cause of the blockage. And FWIW, my 40 year old house had the same issue for years, where the washer drain would back up into the sink. My lateral is cast iron, so it could be any number of issues, but my guess is that it was root intrusion - I cut down a dying Arizona Ash 4 years ago, and coincident or not, the backup hasn't happened since.
