trailer house -waste water problems

My girlfriend was taking a shower and the water was going down the drain, but the bathroom sink was making gurgling noises. Later, she was doing laundry and the water backed up into the shower, and with it was some sand. The water level in the toilet is not always at the same level and it gurgles also, depending on where water is being dis-charged from. Her trailer is hooked up to the city water system and they have said that there isn't anything wrong with their system. Her neighbors are not having any problem and the trees are all on the other side of her neighbors trailers. Any ideas on what is wrong?
Would running a snake down the washer drain line fix anything?
Thank you
Steve

Is there an outside cleanout? That would be the easiest and less messy place to snake it out. You can rent a professional size snake, clean it all the way to the main city sewer line.

Also take a look at how the system is plumbed. Look at where the washer enters the main drain pipe in relation to the shower. The water is taking the path of least resistance, if it's clogged down stream of the washer, the water is going to back up to the lowest drain, which happens to be the shower. Then you can determine where the clog is, clean that line. The line that is clogged is probably part of the vent system, the reason for the gurgling.

If the city has verified that they are clean, clearly she has a stoppage between their test/access point and the last place (item) in her mobile that backed up. Mobile waste plumbing was always simple, and mostly in a straight line, generally 3" or 4" (PVC) main trunk(s) that possibly met in a "Y" at the last point before going into septic, private or municipal. Chances are good that you can access it at the last place that the PVC goes into the ground. Mobile homes are not permanent, so you should be able to access it there, get enough movement/flex to open and lift it up and out. Be careful because if the city is wrong and the waste is backed up into her main waste pipe/trunk, and you open it, gravity will do its thing and you will need to take a shower afterwards. Do that, have her turn on a faucet. The water will either make it out, or it won't. If is comes out, the city is wrong. If it doesn't come out, she has a clogged pipe. If there is a "Y" because she has waste from the front (bath tub, sink, washer, toilet) and has plumbing from the back (same stuff as up front), problem probably at the "Y". If the problem is in her plumbing, its PVC, so be careful snaking it. Probably not think PVC, so be careful.

Good luck. I've done that for friends, and its a dirty job.

Mark

(quoted from post at 15:56:34 07/02/15) Is there an outside cleanout? That would be the easiest and less messy place to snake it out. You can rent a professional size snake, clean it all the way to the main city sewer line.

Also take a look at how the system is plumbed. Look at where the washer enters the main drain pipe in relation to the shower. The water is taking the path of least resistance, if it's clogged down stream of the washer, the water is going to back up to the lowest drain, which happens to be the shower. Then you can determine where the clog is, clean that line. The line that is clogged is probably part of the vent system, the reason for the gurgling.

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I agree that the drain line is probably plugged. Most trailers have a big(4")'collector' line running from the front to the rear underneath the 'dry' side. Kitchen sink and bath drains are connected to this line which is, at the low end, hooked to the sewer or septic tank 'drop'. If it was plugged between the kitchen line and the point where the bathroom or toilet line enters into it then all the problem would be with the kitchen sink only. It sounds to me like the sewer line or the drain pipe from the full-length line is plugged. There should be a clean out at the end of that collector line. If it's determined to be a plugged vent line (doubt it) run a snake down the vent pipe(s) which are accessed from the roof.

Trailer homes are often fitted with a atmospheric vent that is not a stack as in a constructed home. It is a smallish plastic cap about 3 to 4 inches tall with large holes around the sides of the top. Inside is a rubber gasketed port with a weak spring holding it closed. If the rubber gets soft with age, or goo, it can stick shut and cause all traps to be sucked dry. You will need to look for it. Jim

JAnicholson may be exactly right. Plumbing vent fittings in trailer houses are the cheapest things that can be installed, and those gizmos do not meet IRC Codes. They fail after a few years. They meet trailer house codes. Remove the black vents, go to lumber yard and get the real $30 vents, there are various brand names. One used to be Studor, if I recall. You may see both, the $1.99 black vents gizmos, and $30 real ones. You're gonna have to bite the bullet and spend the money.

(reply to post at 14:40:19 07/02/15)

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The gurgling is the tip-off that it is plugged or inoperative vents.

What about the sand? Where did that come from? Have you been to the beach? Do your clothes get full of it from work?

I crawled under the trailer and I did not find any threaded access caps anywhere. The end of the pipe that would attach to the city sewer was underground and I did not dig it up to see if the access plug was there. I did pull a rats nest of hair out of the tub drain. She ran her washer and everything seemed to be normal.
I don't think it is fixed yet, but time will tell.
Thank you everyone.
The vent pipe that goes up to the roof does not have a cover or cap over it. It is just a 2" (?) straight pipe. Is this a problem?
SDE

(quoted from post at 10:39:11 07/03/15) I crawled under the trailer and I did not find any threaded access caps anywhere. The end of the pipe that would attach to the city sewer was underground and I did not dig it up to see if the access plug was there. I did pull a rats nest of hair out of the tub drain. She ran her washer and everything seemed to be normal.
I don't think it is fixed yet, but time will tell.
Thank you everyone.
The vent pipe that goes up to the roof does not have a cover or cap over it. It is just a 2" (?) straight pipe. Is this a problem?
SDE

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They are not supposed to be capped. Can you get up there to look down it?