What's the benefits of sand washing machine?

Why do my washing machine and dishwasher keep backing up?

• We have a basement washing machine and the dishwasher is almost directly above it up in the kitchen. When I do a load in the dishwasher I have to make sure there are no clothes in the washing machine as the water drains into the washing machine... eeeew! When I do a load of clothes I have to make sure the kitchen sink (A double basin) is completely empty because when the washing machine drains it backs up into the sink. We bought this house last year and it didn't start doing until about 3 months after we bought it. I don't know if this related, but also in our bathroom about 30 feet away from the dishwasher and washing machine when you turn the water on there is alwasy a flow from the shower head even when the knob is turned to faucet only. This has always been like this and we haven't figured out how to fix that either. Recently our bathroom faucet has started to always have a small drip. I'm hoping our plumbing doesn't need to be completey replaced! Some have suggested root issues as we do have quite a large tree in the backyard less than 10 feet from the house and quite near the dishwasher and washing machine. Any suggestions?

• Answer:

  It sounds like you have multiple problems. Let's take them one at a time. First, your dishwasher and washer: water will find the easiest route to travel. This should be down the drain and into the sewer in both cases. Since both your washer and dishwasher drains back up into the sink and each other, that says that you have either a drain blockage downstream from the last appliance in the drain chain, or a partial sewer line blockage. Since you mention a tree in the yard, my money would be on a sewer line problem. To save yourself some money, I would disconnect the drain from the last appliance in the chain and snake it with a 25' snake. If the clog is local, that will clear the problem. Otherwise, you'll have to call in sewer maintenance people to snake your sewer line. The problem is most likely roots. Now on to the bathtub. The problem with shower water coming out when the diverter is set for the tub, is a leaking diverter. It needs to be replaced. Okay, now your bathroom faucet probably has a bad washer in it. You can either get a faucet repair kit for your make and model and do it yourself, or have a plumber do it for you. If you decide to have a plumber come in, have him/her repair the tub diverter and the leaking faucet at the same time. It'll be cheaper. I don't know how old your house or the plumbing is, but I recommend you keep your eye open for signs of moisture where there shouldn't be any. The sooner a problem is corrected, the less damage it will cause.