It's been manageable lately. Last Wednesday, for example (recently I have gotten to a rhythm where I do laundry every Wednesday since I make a point to be home at night then), the water that shot out of the washer filled up half of the sink basin and almost overflowed through the grate in the laundry room floor, but it didn't pour over the former and didn't seep up all the way in the latter. There is a ton of lint in the tub strainer, which explains why there's so much water in the tub after every wash. However, when I scrape the lint off the strainer, so much water rushes through it and down the pipe that it hits some obstruction in the main drain pipe down beneath the floor that it backs up all the way up through it. I had learned lately how much lint to remove off of the strainer and when there's so much water that's about to rise through the grate that I shouldn't touch the standing water at all. It's a tricky balancing act, but I think I had it mastered.
Until last night, that is. It started off fine. Just like last week, water filled up one half of the sink (and there was barely any room left) and I could see water at a high level just underneath the grate of the laundry room drain. But the wash cycle was about to end and no more water had to evacuate through the washing machine drainage pipe.
I went back upstairs and waited for the water in the overflow area underneath the grate to subside, and it just about did. That's when I thought it was time to get the water out of the tub. So I reached into the water and down onto the strainer to yank off the lint. I tore off a piece and I could hear the sound of water rushing down the pipe. And then I thought, Well, what's another piece? So I tore off either a bigger or more important piece of lint, and the sound got louder because the water was rushing out faster.
Too fast. I had a bad feeling about this, so I went back to look at the grate, and sure enough, by the reflection of the laundry room light bouncing and refracting off its surface, the water level down in there was rising ... and it was rising fast, and it wasn't stopping. Oh, shit -- the water seeped, then gushed through the grate, marauding around the floor, covering every square inch and corner of it like the Plague. And there wasn't a goddamn thing I could do about it at this point, so I left to clean it up in the morning. Hey, at least the water was leaving the sink.
The washer had its issues in the past with unbalance loads and oversudsing, but I haven't seen that in a while, so I don't think it has an issue now. Now, obviously, there's something backed up in the main drain pipe that leads out of the house. I tried using the snake that Father has, but I don't know how, and the one time I tried it I just splashed dirty water all over that room. Moreover, I don't know if just unclogging the drain from this end is going to solve the problem. I think the water back-up is getting worse and worse over time; I had just been deft in controlling the amount of water that rushes down through there.
I think it's time to seriously entertain the thought that we need to bring someone, like a plumber or even a sump pump drainer, in to clean that out. But Mother probably thinks it's unnecessary and too expensive. So I am just going to have to fucking deal with this shit every time I wash my clothes. Or at least I will until My Fucking Father decides to come home to save the day, and I'll never be ready for that fucking day, but at least water will stop seeping through the bottom of the floor. Because it's a goddamn problem now, and it's pissing me off.
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