[tjuser23]

I am having trouble figuring out what this floor cleanout in my basement slab is.

It is on the opposite side of the basement than the main stack. The main stack has a cleanout in the wall right before it goes below the slab, and there is a backwater valve in the floor about 5 feet from the main stack. So I don't think they would put another stack cleanout on the opposite side of the basement. (especially one that is in the floor).

The house is a new construction built about a year ago. It has an interior drain tile around the perimeter of the basement that drains into the sump pump, so I thought maybe it is a cleanout for that interior drain tile?

I read though that plumbers don't usually install cleanouts in those?

Any ideas?

I am trying to figure out what it is and if I can cover it when I lay flooring down. We are installing a vinyl plank flooring.

I attached some pics of the main stack behind the washing machine in the wall and the backwater valve, along with a pic of the cleanout in question.

 

[jmon]

It may be for a cleanout idk. But like you said, not normally. To me it looks likes the builder may have thought about a future half bath. you know, like just a toilet and sink etc.??

 

[Chris616]

On your floor plan, can you indicate the location of bathrooms/kitchen/etc. on the upper floor(s) (so that we can understand if the main stack services all the drains in the house).
Please show the location of the basement sump.
If the floor plan is oriented normally, is it correct that the city sewer line (or outlet to your septic tank) is “up”?
Does your house have (typical to North America) gutters and downspouts external to the house that drop water above grade?

In one year old construction, should you not have access to the building plans?

Chris

 

[TheEplumber]

I would assume it's the upper end or low end of your building drain.
Do you have a cleanout on the exterior?

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[tjuser23]

On your floor plan, can you indicate the location of bathrooms/kitchen/etc. on the upper floor(s) (so that we can understand if the main stack services all the drains in the house).
Please show the location of the basement sump.
If the floor plan is oriented normally, is it correct that the city sewer line (or outlet to your septic tank) is “up”?
Does your house have (typical to North America) gutters and downspouts external to the house that drop water above grade?

In one year old construction, should you not have access to the building plans?

Chris

Thanks for the reply Chris. I do have the building blueprint but there is nothing about plumbing on it. I went to the city and they don't have any diagrams of the below slab plumbing, just the inspection report that says "approved".

I updated the floor plan. The blue dashed line is where the 2 upstairs bathrooms are - they are butted up back to back and all of the plumbing is right in that area.

I also marked the only other plumbing in the house, a pipe that serves the kitchen, it also has a cleanout in the wall before the pipe goes below the slab.

The house doesn't have gutters yet (we havent got around to purchasing them yet) but yes once installed the downspouts will direct the water above grade away from the house.

I marked the sump pump, it is in the small storage area under the stairs.

Also, I marked the direction to the street, which would be "down" looking at the blueprint.

 

[tjuser23]

I would assume it's the upper end or low end of your building drain.
Do you have a cleanout on the exterior?

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Thanks for the reply EPlumber. There is no cleanout on the exterior that I can find...

 

[Chris616]

The plumbers on the forum might be able to estimate what the rest of the under-slab drainage piping looks like. The main drain line is flowing from at least the main stack through the backwater valve then reversing and going out to the street, so exiting the basement where the cleanout in question is located seems logical, like EPlumber suggests. You could unscrew the cap and flush some toilets to test that theory.

Chris

 

[TheEplumber]

The plumbers on the forum might be able to estimate what the rest of the under-slab drainage piping looks like. The main drain line is flowing from at least the main stack through the backwater valve then reversing and going out to the street, so exiting the basement where the cleanout in question is located seems logical, like EPlumber suggests. You could unscrew the cap and flush some toilets to test that theory.

Chris

Usually only fixtures below the manhole rim flow through a backwater valve. The upper fixers are high enough not to flood should the street sewer plug.


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[tjuser23]

Usually only fixtures below the manhole rim flow through a backwater valve. The upper fixers are high enough not to flood should the street sewer plug.


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Interesting, I assumed everything flowed through the backwater valve.

Anyway, I pulled the cap off of the cleanout in question and turned on some sinks upstairs and then shined a light down the cleanout, I could clearly see and hear water flowing through the bottom of the pipe going out of the house toward the street.

So, it must be one last cleanout before it leaves the house, kind of dumb that they would put it in the floor of a room that is intended to be finished though, no? Closer to the CMU block wall would have been nice so I could have built the wall out to hide it.

 

[TheEplumber]

My area puts cleanouts outside where the building drain connects to the sewer line.

Yours may be inset to miss your drain tile system.
You can buy a "Tom cap" or another type of cleanout top to set into your floor. Or custom make one.

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[Ghostmaker]

That most likely is the main clean out for the sewer serving your house. Open it up and take a look. What ever you do, do not cover it with something easy removable.