Toilet backs up and leaks around wax seal

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Ewhitaker0020

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Hello everybody, my problem is that my toilet is starting to flush slowly and now sometimes it will back up and water will leak out around the wax seal. There is a clean out in my yard very near this bathroom, when I opened the cleanout I noticed that there was something down in the line. When I used a drum auger to pull some of it out it was tiny roots. The line coming from the bathroom joins this cleanout which then leads straight down. The water flows freely until it hits this vertical cleanout and flows down to the roots. My question is what should I do about the root problem. The weird thing is that my sink and shower never back up but when using them my toilet will sometimes gurgle and air will escape through it. Do I kill the roots and if so how? Do I dig up and replace all this pipe? Please any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Is there any way to clear the roots out for the time being? The store I work at sells something that you flush down the toilet. Is there a tool to clean them out? Or should I just abandon this toilet for now (I have another toilet to use) and dig up the lines and replace them?
 
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I would think at the least a professional evaluation, i.e. possibly a cleanout and/or scope.

As mentioned, the pipe is most likely compromised and will require replacement as the roots will keep entering the pipe.
 
Okay, thanks everybody for your helpful answers. The piece of pipe that is compromised is very close to surface level. I will be replacing it as to get rid of my root problem. I appreciate all the help
 
Update: I dug up the pipe and it turns out that the broken pipe is an old clay pipe. And all of my main sewer is old clay pipes. I had to jerry rig a PVC elbow to replace the clay pipe elbow so now it's fixed. There was the worst clog of waste and roots I've ever seen (I am a novice at this). Thanks to everybody that helped me. How old would this clay pipe be? If anybody knows
 
In my area, it has probably been 40+ years since clay pipe has been used for sewers. But if I understand correctly, it is still the only pipe approved for use for sewers in Chicago.

Point being, that is a question best answered by someone knowledgeable regarding plumbing in your area.

Repairs to clay piping needs to be accomplished with the proper connectors, otherwise you are likely to just replace one problem with another.
 
I could find nothing to fit inside the big open end of the clay pipe. It was bell shaped. I couldn't find a way to fit PVC into it because of the weird size. Now I realize I should have cut off the next clay pipe right after the 4" piece with the donut gasket and used that to connect to a PVC pipe. I didn't explain it very well but that's probably what I should've done. I'm sure I'll eventually be replacing my entire sewer line. Until then root killer a couple times a year.
 

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