Drain problem or poor toilet design?

[bcsteeve]

Hi. We have a 9 yr old house. I've always had a problem with clogging toilets. Not just one, but all three. It does seem like its gotten worse over the years, which makes me worry there's a problem with the main drain (since its all three). However, there is no other apparent sign. Tubs, sinks... they drain just fine. And the toilet flushes fine when nothing solid is in it. But even my 3 yr old's poop can need a plunging (mind you, my 3 yr old does have surprisingly big craps!).

Its annoying and, frankly, its a bit embarrassing and I avoid having company over because of it.

I've always been thinking its the toilets, by reason that nothing else ever seems to get clogged. But I don't want to spend many hundreds on new toilets if that's not the problem.

Thoughts?

 

[SHR]

I bet bad toilet design.

 

[bcsteeve]

(3rd time trying to submit this post. Something is up with your Facebook login!!)

Thanks! Now I have to figure out how to spot a "good" design!

 

[JoShUaNyCpLuMbEr]

LoL.......................You see, the thing with that is if you could have a plumber that's going to come over and evaluate this problem for free that would be your best bet but if it were me I would have to see the actual bowls themselves. your best option is to get one toilet bowl called a power flush bowl. you can get one from any name brand you wish, that's going to tell you if you have a pressure problem immediately or if you have a drain issue or if its just that toilet toilet bowl unit within itself.....those are your first steps "process of elimination".
Second, you need to locate your main sewer line and watch someone flush a bowl and see how strong the flow is because that will determine if you have nice pitching in your piping! remember.. plumbing is supposed to always float down hill!

 

[bcsteeve]

Locating the main and watching the flow is easy. We have a cleanout in the yard that's easily accessible. I've looked down there before while a toilet is flushed and it certainly flows. Its not "gushing" by any means, but its some 50' from the house and it passes in and out of view pretty quickly (nothing sits around). Its always clean whenever I look. I've always taken that to be a good sign.

I'll look up this power flush thing you mention. Is this what you're talking about:

https://www.flushmate.com/

?

 

[JoShUaNyCpLuMbEr]

that's actually great news then.........that completely eliminates your house having any major drainage issues! So now the only two places you can possibly have any issues with is the way your bowl is flushing or the drain from the bowl to the stack line that is located no further then 2 feet from the wall that the toilet bowl is behind.
Buy one of those toilet bowls that are a power flush bowl and watch it change your life! and if it works to your standards and you have the finances for it start doing all of them 1 at a time or the other 2 together. AND YES! that's the kind of bowl! shop around to get good rates!
Joshua From Bullseye Mechanical Corp in New York City!
Hope I've Been Helpful

 

[bcsteeve]

Awesome. Thanks for the info and advice!

I'm learning fast. From that search I learned about MAP scores and was able to look up the current model and discovered it only has a map score of 350, which appears to be sub-par.

 

[SHR]

There are dozens of posts on this and other forums about which toilets are "the best." Do not even look for a "power flush" toilet. That is a marketing statement which has no standards to back it up. I bet your existing toilets were sold by someone who said they had a power flush. Many plumbers disagree about which are "best", but you can gain a lot of knowledge about the different toilets available and easily make your own informed decision. Good luck.

 

[bcsteeve]

I'm sure I don't need the best. I just want to not have a plunger as a permanent fixture in each bathroom.

 

[JoShUaNyCpLuMbEr]

Don't mean to argue over this forum but I've been doing plumbing for 15 years.......Second of all I wouldn't be marketing any name brand if I wasn't getting paid for it.........if you want to do a little research on me I am on yelp in manhattan and im not going to have any other HACK plumber discredit my plumbing knowledge. if this guy "even is a plumber" he didn't have anything very informative to say so thank you for taking a moment to get some insight

 

[bcsteeve]

Well, his statement didn't jive at all with the research (power flush appears to be a technology by flushmate which virtually every toilet manufacturer has licensed in their more expensive models). You learn what to ignore

I very much appreciate your posts Joshua... its sent me in the right direction. Of course its up to me to continue my research.

 

[JoShUaNyCpLuMbEr]

And also I've installed 100 of these kind of bowls throughout all of New York City and they aren't "the best bowls" to have. the best toilet bowl to have in my eyes are the bowls equipped with flushomoters on them but if you don't already have that set up in your house for that flushomoter bowl then forget about it. this is the next big thing and with the problem that your having i'll swear upon this product because I've not one......Never gotten a call back with one for with any problems!!

 

[frodo]

I understand you are new to this forum. we generally like to have grown up discussions here
where we voice our opinions and counter opinions. we do not, call each other hacks, and make personal attacks.

bcsteeve, something you can check on each toilet. before spending money on new toilets
pull a toilet, look at the wax ring under it. has a

ring such s this been used, they have been know to restrict flow if not installed corectly. also look and see if the wax ring is impeding flow.

 

[bcsteeve]

I can do that. But, really, after reading about the pressure assist flush toilets over the last few hours and spending some time learning about map scores, etc... its obvious I have some crappy (pun intended) toilets here. I wouldn't mind an upgrade. I think I'll research and pick a good unit and buy one and install it. At that point, I'll inspect the wax ring and also make sure its not something stupid like a Hot Wheels jammed in each one (it'd be the previous owner's kids though... these flush problems pre-date my son's existence). If the problems aren't entirely resolved on that toilet... well, then obviously its something else. But I've never really liked these toilets anyway so I'll replace one and go from there.

I also never realized they make taller toilets until today! I'm 6'4 and think that might add some comfort (although, my wife is 5'2 so I'll just have to tell her that's how they come these days. hehe.)

 

[Matt30]

What make/model toilet do you have now?

 

[bcsteeve]

Its a Briggs 4430 tank 4325 bowl.

 

[phishfood]

I don't know the specific tank/bowl numbers on Briggs, but the couple of them that I have installed have been really weak flushers.

 

[bcsteeve]

That's consistent with map-testing.com, which gives it a low score of 350. In random searching I found it hard to find anything below 500... and mine's 350. Nice. So glad Mr. Contractor went with the absolute cheapest option. Always appreciated.

 

[Mr_David]

Power flush toilets are nice for high traffic toilets but can be very temperamental sometimes. I have seen the aftermath of one that exploded.
They use a pressurized vessel and although they have a 10 yr warranty. Trying to get warranty service can be frustrating.

recently made 4 service calls (2 by another tech and 2 more by myself) to fix a sloan flushmate.
2 defective cartridges. So far They haven't called back again.

Keep the working parts simple and it will be less trouble to fix in the future.

 

[SHR]

That's consistent with map-testing.com, which gives it a low score of 350. In random searching I found it hard to find anything below 500... and mine's 350. Nice. So glad Mr. Contractor went with the absolute cheapest option. Always appreciated.

I seldom defend contractors but the truth is 9 years ago the better rated toilets were all around a 300 by today's standards. The toilet that rated #1 in CR magazine ratings for years only rates a 300 on the map test! Fortunately toilet manufacturers were woken up by the Japanese manufacturers and now there are many good choices that flush well.