Downstairs toilet isn’t flushing properly (well, wasn’t anyway). It would fill the bowl up, then slowly drain away, to a lower point than would be “normal”. I pulled the bowl up, and the drain pipe is filled with (awful) standing water/toilet paper/general badness.
I ran 75 feet of cable with a cutter attachment down the line with my power auger, and had no problems. If I run water in the sink, the toilet drain pipe overflows as it sits now.
I thought perhaps it was a blockage in the vent stack, so I climbed up on the roof to use the water pressure method to clear it, but water just ran down the stack, and filled the drain pipe to overflow, suggesting that the blockage is likely in the drain itself.
Unfortunately, 75 feet should have taken it well off of my lot, and likely out into the street.
So my question is, is there any other thing I could be overlooking that might cause problems, or is it time to call in the professionals?
If there’s 75 feet of pipe out to the street you should call whatever public works agency is responsible for the sewage line there. They may not take your word for it an require you to get a plumber in to tell them the same thing.
How long has this been going on? Maybe there’s a problem in the sewer system they’re already working on?
Hmm, and what happens when you use the upstairs fixtures? Does it fill up the downstairs drain pipe? Is it all downhill from your downstairs drain out to the sewer? Maybe the the sewer system isn’t providing enough suction to drain that pipe currently.
This toilet is on separate drain pipe, it seems. The upstairs toilets and tubs hit another vertical pipe in our laundry room that takes everything to the sewer. The downstairs bathroom, which is next to the laundry room, goes straight underground at the toilet and then travels away from the laundry. Of course, I would assume that they should meet up at some point, but I am not having any problems elsewhere. Using the upstairs facilities doesn’t have the same effect as using the sink in the downstairs bathroom.
Oh, and the sewer is definitely downhill all the way- in fact, my lot changes elevation by twenty feet from one end to the other.
Clogged vent won’t cause this … the water will drain as normal … just the vent won’t break the suction and the water in the trap will be sucked out along with what ever you flushed … letting all the sewer gases back into your home …
“and the drain pipe is filled with (awful) standing water/toilet paper/general badness.”
That’s a plug in the sewer line … and yeah, typically the sewer owners won’t come out unless a licensed plumber calls them … gotta pay …
ETA: Just saw your location … Wyoming … it’s a violation of SDMB policies to offer my next suggestion … [wolfish grin] … in public …
Just re-ran the auger down the line, once with the cutting blade and once with the retriever, and ran out all 75’ of line again, with no results. Retriever came back clean.
Verified that the shower in that bathroom doesn’t seem to affect the drain pipe at all, so it is just the sink and the toilet that are having issues.
My daughter was taking a shower upstairs while I was working on it, and there was no change to the water in the pipe at all, so the rest of the house is isolated from whatever this problem is.
Two drain lines out the sewer … I’ve seen stranger things but that’d be right up there … any chance you can get under the house and see where the pipes are?
I agree with the strangeness- my initial assumption was that the two drains had to join at some point, but I am definitely questioning that one now, as nothing else in the house is having problems.
I think your auger is making a turn you are not aware of. I have to do my bathroom drain quite often and it has a place where it turns the wrong way. I have to make several shots to go the right way. 75 feet of wrong way is hard to imagine but that’s the only explanation that makes any sense. A hidden septic tank maybe??
Not doubting that what you say is true, after all, it is what it is. But what you describe is very bizarre.
On the assumption that your waste system is (somewhat) to code, with no double taps into the main, no bypass loops in the downstairs toilet… Is it possible that your snake is detouring in a “Y” or a “T” and going up the vent stack instead of out the drain, where the blockage resides?
Yeah, next time you have the snake pushing in that 75’ … go look at the vent top … see if 50’ of snake is sticking out … bizarre “Y” or a “T” … it happens
Do you know if there’s a clean-out where the sewer pipe leaves the building? … shovel, a lot time … you saw that coming didn’t you? … at least it’s a sewer system and we’re not asking how many 5-gallon buckets you have …
If you are not going the wrong way, that is up a vent. Then There is a possibility that your sewer line is broken and you are just pushing it through the dirt under your house. It may be time to call the pros, they may have to put a camera down your drain line.
Some thoughts. Normally a city will charge for each sewer hook up. Therefore when building a house all the sewer pipes connect somewhere before connecting with the city sewer system.
What size is your drain 3 or 4 inches?
What size cutter are you putting down the drain?
Drain is 4 inches, cutter is only 3. I will be re-running the auger again and checking the roof vent tomorrow- that is the only semi-logical branch off of this drain.
Just as a help for the layout of the house:
________________________________________
| | | | |
| | f | | |
| | x | t | |
|___________|__________|_______|________| ----->
| |
| |
| |
|_______________________________________|
f - floor drain (utility/laundry room)
x - main sewer drain, laundry room (four-inch PVC disappearing into the concrete)
t - problem toilet drain
----> direction of flow
Shortly after buying the house, it turned out that running a washer would back up the floor drain in the laundry room- it was for that reason that I ended up buying the auger I have now. I ran that down the line, and that immediately cleared up any problems (as far as I knew- my daughters didn’t inform me of the toilet issue until we moved them upstairs and took over the downstairs).
All kitchen and upstairs bathroom fixtures are directly above the laundry area and downstairs bathroom, but they all tie in to the main drain in the laundry room. Up on the roof, there are 3 vent pipes- two in the vicinity of the laundry/kitchen area, and the third that runs straight down from the roof through the wall next to the problem toilet. There is nothing “downstream” from the toilet drain but apparently the sink and the air vent, so unless there is something crazy going on here, the most logical diversion for the auger is definitely the vent.
Auger going the wrong way seems most likely based on the stories I’ve heard. Not connected to the sewer wouldn’t surprise me either. Do you know if the sewers were there when the house was built?
I like the septic-tank suggestion. When was the house connected to the town sewer?
Anyway, my boss had pictures of a case like this one A hinged lid from a jug had found it’s way into the back of the toilet. Sewer snake went through clean from either direction… but when you tried to run water through it, the lid swung shut and sealed off
So I woke up this morning, and the drain pipe was completely empty, with the lovely smell of sewer gas coming in. It was the smell of success! Everything I did yesterday apparently jogged something loose, eventually, and now everything is working properly again.
So, no answers to the various mysteries, but at least I can use my bathroom again.
A hinged lid from a jug had found it’s way into the back of the toilet. Sewer snake went through clean from either direction… but when you tried to run water through it, the lid swung shut and sealed off