Cheshirekat
New Member
Having an issue with a toilet that has trouble flushing and no one seems to know what to do about it. I'm not the most plumbing savvy guy and any advice and wisdom would be much appreciated! My wife and I rent an old home in Florida. Supposedly, the waste lines are clay(but I can't confirm that). The toilet on one side of the house has trouble flushing, and it's going to be a big problem, as it's my wife's bathroom and she's really unhappy with the situation. Toilet will flush, but most days it will not flush paper down. The other drains in that same bathroom are also very slow to drain. Often, the drains in that bathroom will also start smelling like rotten eggs at the same time, though no waste water ever backs out of the drains. We have a second bathroom with a toilet that flushes without problems, and the water from the kitchen drains without issue as well.
The bathroom with the drainage issue and the toilet that will not flush is the one closest to the utilities waste line and also the lowest set of drains in the house.
The landlord has send a plumber out several times to look at the toilet with the flush problem. He cannot find a reason for it and says it must be a blockage on the city utilities side. The utilities people check the waste line from their end, and they cannot find a problem from their end. Also, the lines have been snaked from both ends and it didn't seem to make a difference.
Here is the weird part that leave's everyone scratching their heads. Every time the city utilities people just check the line (by opening the curb valve), the toilet starts flushing without any problem again. Immediately. My wife and I have seen this happen several times, but when we tell the landlords/plumber/utilities folks, no one seems to take it seriously, but at the same time they cannot find another solution.
It seems to me there has to be a connection between our flushing/drainage problems and the utilites valve being opened. Could it be there is some sort of methane build-up that is causing this?
Thanks in advance for reading and for your insights!
J.
The bathroom with the drainage issue and the toilet that will not flush is the one closest to the utilities waste line and also the lowest set of drains in the house.
The landlord has send a plumber out several times to look at the toilet with the flush problem. He cannot find a reason for it and says it must be a blockage on the city utilities side. The utilities people check the waste line from their end, and they cannot find a problem from their end. Also, the lines have been snaked from both ends and it didn't seem to make a difference.
Here is the weird part that leave's everyone scratching their heads. Every time the city utilities people just check the line (by opening the curb valve), the toilet starts flushing without any problem again. Immediately. My wife and I have seen this happen several times, but when we tell the landlords/plumber/utilities folks, no one seems to take it seriously, but at the same time they cannot find another solution.
It seems to me there has to be a connection between our flushing/drainage problems and the utilites valve being opened. Could it be there is some sort of methane build-up that is causing this?
Thanks in advance for reading and for your insights!
J.
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