Glad to join a forum like this, hopefully can get some help, as I'd like to fix this myself if possible.
We recently (~8mo) purchased a single-story house built in 1956 on a concrete slab (no basement). A few weeks ago, our master bath toilet began struggling to flush. Also, any actual flushing would be accompanied by a sewage smell coming from the washing machine floor drain about 30ft away.
We had one of those chain plumbers come out. He ran a camera down the cleanout, about 30ft outside of the bathroom. Couldn't find any water anywhere after going about 40ft. Ran the camera down the washer floor drain (where the sewer smell would come from) about 20ft, and hit water starting a couple of feet down. Didn't see anything else of interest. Then he ran an auger down the toilet about 8-10ft. Hit water but nothing else. Same for when he ran it down the shower trap. From there, they wanted $400 to pull the toilet. Since I could do that for free in 3 minutes, and his visit was free since they couldn't unclog it, that was the end of that.
Since then I've done the following (in order):
I bought the bigger bladder, but I'm waiting out some weather before I can climb back on the roof.
The sink and tub in the same room drain perfectly fine. We have another full bath where all fixtures work fine, and a half bath where both the toilet and sink drain perfectly fine.
Something interesting, though: in the bath with the toilet problem, if I turn on the sink and tub and watch the toilet drain, the standing water in it rises about 2-4", but that's all. It's like it's draining just enough but can't drain everything, and will never actually overflow.
Since we recently bought the house, I'm honestly not familiar with the details of where the plumbing is going. The stuff I can see appears to be PVC. If the answer is "have someone come fix it", so be it (probably going to try the bigger bladder first regardless).
I know this is a lot to digest, so any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks!
We recently (~8mo) purchased a single-story house built in 1956 on a concrete slab (no basement). A few weeks ago, our master bath toilet began struggling to flush. Also, any actual flushing would be accompanied by a sewage smell coming from the washing machine floor drain about 30ft away.
We had one of those chain plumbers come out. He ran a camera down the cleanout, about 30ft outside of the bathroom. Couldn't find any water anywhere after going about 40ft. Ran the camera down the washer floor drain (where the sewer smell would come from) about 20ft, and hit water starting a couple of feet down. Didn't see anything else of interest. Then he ran an auger down the toilet about 8-10ft. Hit water but nothing else. Same for when he ran it down the shower trap. From there, they wanted $400 to pull the toilet. Since I could do that for free in 3 minutes, and his visit was free since they couldn't unclog it, that was the end of that.
Since then I've done the following (in order):
- -Removed the toilet. There is standing water starting about 6-8in down the drain.
- -Ran an auger down the toilet drain about 20ish feet. Eventually hit something, but it's likely just a bend I couldn't get around.
- -Sent "Main Line Cleaner" down the toilet drain. Followed the instructions and read up on it prior to using. Let it sit for about a day, and the water level dropped about 4". Directions said to flush with hot water, and after doing that it returned to the original level.
- -Climbed up on the roof and ran an auger about 10-15ft down the air vent. The length would put it right around toilet level in the bathroom. Hit water about 3ft above that, then hit some sort of obstruction (or bend) that I couldn't remove.
- -Used a garden hose bladder in the air vent. Didn't seem to make a difference. The vent is 3", and the bladder I got said 1-3", but it had some movement in it, so it's likely not big enough.
I bought the bigger bladder, but I'm waiting out some weather before I can climb back on the roof.
The sink and tub in the same room drain perfectly fine. We have another full bath where all fixtures work fine, and a half bath where both the toilet and sink drain perfectly fine.
Something interesting, though: in the bath with the toilet problem, if I turn on the sink and tub and watch the toilet drain, the standing water in it rises about 2-4", but that's all. It's like it's draining just enough but can't drain everything, and will never actually overflow.
Since we recently bought the house, I'm honestly not familiar with the details of where the plumbing is going. The stuff I can see appears to be PVC. If the answer is "have someone come fix it", so be it (probably going to try the bigger bladder first regardless).
I know this is a lot to digest, so any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks!
Lol.
