floor drain problem

[drainhead]

I have a floor drain that doesn't always drain. This is a floor drain that is at the entrance at the bottom of the stairway that leads into my basement. It is tied into the perimeter drain that flows into a sump pump located in the basement.

The problem is at times it will not drain so water builds up in the entrance way until it gets high enough to flow under the door and into the basement.

In order to get it to drain I have to use a plunger on it. One or two pushes and it starts to drain. I have noticed that when I plunge it bubbles come up out of the drain leaving me to believe that somehow it air locks thus not allowing the water to drain. Once I plunge it it drains fine.

I have had a plumber snake it and he also water blasted it. In each case there seemed to be no obstruction. After doing the water blast it drained okay no matter how much water we put in the entranceway.

It also seems that the longer between rain the more likely it will not drain. Putting a roof or bilco door is not an option in this case.

Is there a way to fix this problem!

[PLUMBER RICK]

soulds like dirt or mud. that's why the jetter worked better than a snake. i would run a camera at this point once you can get it to drain. this will tell you what is wrong, where it is, how many feet the line and problem is, and how deep it's located if you need to dig it up. it's possible a good cleaning is all you need and the camera along with an honest plumber will be able to confirm this.

don't get suckered into a free camera inspection, it's never a free lunch. pay for an honest opinion and don't obligate to a "fix it now contract". make sure you get a video tape for others to bid if needed.

check with an honest plumber that comes from a recommendation. stay away from the yellow pages.

too many snake oil salesmen doing this type of work.

rick.

[freddy]

it may be if you have a strainer on this floor drain,the holes may be slowing the water down to where it creates an air lock. look into larger strainer size to put over drain..

[drainhead]

I forgot to mention that this is only a year old (new house). The drain actually drains better with the drain cap off than on. Th eplumber drilled more holes into the cap and cut the shoulder off on the inside of the cap and cut down the height of the drain part that sits in the floor. What I don't understand is why the drain works more frequently if we have frequent rain and usually doesn't drain when we don't have rain for a period of time. Seems that more rain drain works no rain no work.

I know that the drain tile sets in gravel since I checked this out during construction and seemed to be correctly installed. Still would like to know why it bubbles (lots of gurgling, blups) so much when I plunge it to get it working. It has a good swirl after the plunge. After the plunbing and it usually only needs one push and it works fine.