Country Living

This is one thing that they will never tell you about in Country Living magazine. If you do not have a sewer system available in your area...you have a septic tank. But for your washer...you should just have a drain line. Basically, they dig a trench in your yard, line it with gravel and lay PVC pipe with drainage holes in it, hook it to the washer and then cover it back up with dirt.
Having that in mind, we thought that after the unbelievable amount of rain we got, our yard was just saturated. Well, it was like walking on a sponge. About that same time our washer quit draining well...it would back up and flood the laundry room.

So poor me, with my arachnophobia and claustrophobia went under the house. In some places under the house, there is plenty of room and it is well lit. However, where I needed to be was in the far back dark, damp, dreary, dismal, creepy corner. To get there, I had to shimmy on my stomach under the air duct. But I did it...and lived! Happy to report that since it was 15 degrees, no critters were spotted. The washer does not drain into the septic system (that's good). But it does drain into the front, not the backyard. Not so good. We have maple trees in the front yard. Maple tree roots are infamous for going everywhere and causing havoc.

So our thought is that the drain has either collapsed (from age) or that the roots are blocking the drainage holes. So, everytime we do laundry...and we do A LOT of laundry, we have to babysit the washer. The washer has to be monitored and stopped at least twice during each of the two spins. Wait. And start it back. If you get easily distracted (like me!) the you end up mopping the laundry room.

So, we need to figure out a solution. Would using a liquid drain cleaner help? Or have it rotorooted? We really don't want another trench dug and the sidewalk jackhammered!

The only good thing is that the laundry room is next to the living room. So while I babysit the washer, I can watch Pirates on the HD tv. Ahhh! it is so nice to see Orlando Bloom in high definition...it is like he is in the living room!! Thus my getting distracted and subsequent mopping!!