Washer Won't Drain: A Guide for Upstairs Laundry

In a lot of townhouses and condos, the washer lives in a closet off the upstairs hallway, a few feet above somebody's living room or kitchen. That arrangement is convenient right up until the machine stops mid-cycle with a drum full of gray water. At that point your first job isn't finding the broken part. It's getting the water out without any of it ending up in the ceiling below.

This guide covers that first, then walks through finding the cause.

First steps before you touch anything

1. Cancel the cycle and unplug the washer. On a stacked unit or in a tight closet the plug may be hard to reach; switch off the laundry circuit at the panel instead.
2. Close both water supply valves behind or above the machine.
3. If it was a hot wash, wait. Let the water cool before you open anything.
4. Put down towels in front of the machine and have a shallow baking pan or a low plastic tub ready. A bucket won't fit under most filter openings.

Is it the washer or the drain?

Before you drain anything, look at where the washer normally empties.

• •If it drains into a laundry sink, is the sink full or slow? Then the sink drain is clogged, not the washer.
• •If it drains into a standpipe or a recessed laundry box in the wall, has water backed up or spilled over the top? A clogged standpipe can make a perfectly good washer look broken.
• •During the last drain attempt, did you hear the pump humming? A hum with no water moving points to a blockage. Total silence points more toward the pump motor or the controls.

Getting water out of a front-loader

Most front-loaders have a small access door at the bottom front, often in one corner. Behind it is the pump filter, and many models also have a thin drain tube with a cap.

1. Lay towels down and slide the pan under the access door.
2. If there's a drain tube, pull it out, point it into the pan and remove the cap. Let it run, cap it, empty the pan, and repeat. It's slow, and there's a surprising amount of water.
3. If there's no tube, turn the filter counterclockwise a little at a time so the water seeps out at a rate your pan can manage. Don't pull it all the way out at once.
4. When the flow stops, remove the filter completely.

Expect this to take a while. A full drum holds far more than any pan, so plan on many trips to the tub or sink.

Getting water out of a top-loader

Top-loaders usually have no drain filter. Bail the water out with a pitcher into a bucket, then soak up the last of it with a towel. Alternatively, lower the end of the drain hose into a bucket on the floor and let gravity do some of the work, but only if the hose will come off its connection without a struggle.

Clear the pump filter

With the front-loader filter out, look at what's in it. The usual finds are coins, hair ties, lip balm, a sock, bra underwire and a surprising amount of lint. Rinse the filter in a sink and reach into the opening with a gloved finger to feel for anything else lodged in the pump housing. With the washer unplugged, you should be able to turn the pump impeller slightly by hand; if it won't move at all, something may be jammed deeper.

Thread the filter back in firmly. A filter that's cross-threaded or left loose will leak on the next cycle, and this is one of the most common reasons for a washer to leak right after someone "fixed" it.

Check the drain hose in a tight closet

Laundry closets are small, and washers get pushed back as far as they'll go. That's hard on the drain hose.

• •Pull the washer forward carefully, keeping the supply hoses from stretching.
• •Follow the drain hose from the back of the machine to the standpipe. Look for kinks, flattened sections or a spot where it's pinched against the wall.
• •Check how far the hose goes into the standpipe. If it's pushed deep and sealed tight, it can siphon water out during filling or cause odd drain behavior. The installation manual gives a recommended depth; most want the end secured with a clip or strap, not stuffed in and taped.
• •Disconnect the hose at the machine end over a bucket and look through it. Socks and lint can lodge right at the connection.

Test the standpipe

With the hose out, slowly pour a bucket of water into the standpipe. If it backs up or drains sluggishly, the clog is in the house plumbing. That's a job for a plumber or a drain auger, not an appliance repair.

Run a test

Reconnect everything, open the water valves, restore power and choose a drain or spin-only setting with the drum empty. Stay with the machine.

• •Drains fast and quietly: the blockage was in the filter or hose.
• •Pump hums but little moves: there's still something in the pump or hose.
• •Nothing at all, or an error code: note the code and the model number. On many front-loaders, a door lock problem or a failed pump shows up this way.

On some top-loaders, the machine won't drain or spin if it thinks the lid is open. If the lid lock or lid switch is faulty, the washer may fill and agitate but stop before draining.

Protect the floor below next time

An upstairs washer is worth a few low-cost precautions:

• •A drain pan under the machine, ideally one connected to a floor drain or line if the house has one.
• •A battery-powered water sensor on the floor beside it.
• •Supply hoses in good condition. If yours are old rubber hoses, replacing them is sensible.
• •Never leave the house with the washer running.

Our article on stacked laundry in condos and townhouses goes into these setups in more detail.

When to call a technician

Book a repair if the filter and hose are clear but the washer still won't drain, if the pump hums but won't move water, if a drain or door lock code keeps coming back, or if you see water leaking from under the machine rather than from the filter area. Also call if getting to the filter means pulling a stacked unit out of an alcove you can't safely manage.

The technician checks the pump, the drain path and the controls in your home, explains what failed and quotes the repair. You approve the price before any work starts. For an LG front-loader, our LG washer troubleshooting guide covers its drain codes, and the washer repair page lists the machines we work on.

Short answers

Can I run the washer again to see if it drains?

Only after the water is out and you've checked the filter and hose. Starting another cycle on top of a full drum just adds more water.

Why does my washer drain slowly but eventually empty?

Usually a partial blockage in the pump filter or hose, or a slow standpipe. Clean the filter first.

Is a musty smell related?

Often. Standing water in the pump or a clogged filter smells after a few days. Clearing it usually cures the smell.