Basement toilet - intermittent clog?

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bggas400

Active Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
Location
Boston, Massachusetts
Hello,
The other day the toilet was not draining, so I rented a snake from HD and after an hour or so of pushing the line through the main, the toilet flushed without backing up. Today after using the toilet... I'm using the sink and I hear gurgling sound and saw a few bubbles coming in the toilet bowl. Clogged again. The water drained and it appeared to flush fine. The next time it appeared clogged. Waited a while, it flushed fine, next time it backed up, flushed, backed up, flushed, backed up. Driving me nuts.

Do you think the main is still clogged (possbile roots) or should I remove the toilet and inspect eveything?

Thanks for any advice.
Barry
 
The line needs to be thoroughly cleaned with a correctly sized cutter and cable, with a machine that is capable of powering both of the above.

Rental machines are usually comparable to a Ridgid K400, and while that size machine is capable of cleaning lines, trying to tackle heavy clogs with it is stretching it's abilities and takes some skill.

Be very careful, it is easy to overtorque a cable and have it flip over and injure you.
 
Thanks for the response. Ater renting one from HD 3 times in the past couple years (once this week), the handheld one not doing the job, and paying a big number to a plumber 3 years ago, I bought the K400 yesterday. Worked great. I think the clog was close in proximity to the toilet. Cleaning out via the 'clean out' didn't seem to wokr so I removed the toilet and went in that way. Slowly fed between 30 and 40 feet down the line. Removed it, changed the cutting head and did it again. K400 is a good machine but you gotta give that 1/3 hp motor a break after a while.
 
I agree Phishfood --- Also if you are having that many issues with the drain, have a plumber run a camera down the drain to see whats going on.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top