Toilet almost overflows, big problems???

Mike67cmaro

Mike67cmaro

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My toilet and my neighbors toilet both have the same problem. Our upstairs toilet sometimes will flush normally and sometimes won't. When it doesn't flush properly it usually fills up but not overflowing then falls back down to the normal level. Our other toilet works fine along with all drains in the house. What could be causing this???
 
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It's called neighborhood toilet vent syndrome. It happens when inverted cyclonic type wind passes over both vents simultaneously. It causes positive air pressure which causes the water to rise in the toilets when flushed. This happens in reverse in the southern hemisphere lowering the water level in toilets. It is a very rare phenomenon.
 
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What can I say, I am very tired and I tend to get creative.

You may both have something stuck in the toilet.

A partially blocked vent
 
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Go buy a toilet auger, and when you are through, loan it to your neighbor.

snake-toilet-auger.jpg
 
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cart

That is almost as bad as the time I had a full cart, and left it in the aisle while I went to get another item. When I came back the cart was gone. I looked everwhere, checked the other customer's carts, and even looked in the back storage area, but it had completely vanished.
 
hj said:
That is almost as bad as the time I had a full cart, and left it in the aisle while I went to get another item. When I came back the cart was gone. I looked everwhere, checked the other customer's carts, and even looked in the back storage area, but it had completely vanished.
Click to expand...

The stock boy must have found it and thought it was a cart full of drops and returned everything to the shelves.
 
Are the two homes identical from a plumbing standpoint? Were they built by the same contractor? I'm wondering if we should be thinking about a design/build issue or a maintenance issue.
 
Yes both houses are from 1960, both typical Baltimore townhouses. The same toilets I'm pretty sure also. Someone has mentioned to him the he need a new wax ring . I know Im not a plumber but I thought if you had a leak around the base of the toilet that would mean the ring was worn out. But back to the question same house same plumbing both almost 50.
 
If you imagine where the toilet drain path flows, is there any other fixture which shares that path? If so, does that fixture also drain slowly when the toilet has its problem? I'm looking for a common point to suspect a clog, but I admit to being a little puzzled by the "sometime" part.
 
Try getting a 5 gal. bucket. Fill it with 3-4 gallons of water and pour it in the toilet bowl and see if you can duplicate it that way. If you can't and it gos down normaly every time the toilet needs replacing. What brand of toilet is it and is it 1 or 2 piece. Are you in a hard water area?
 
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First question: no its in the upstairs bathroom there is a sink and a bath tub in it when the toilet acts funny everything else still works. My neighbor hasn't had this problem but I sometimes do when the toilet works you can semi sort of hear the sound of the flush in the bath tub drain. Other than that its is exactly the same as the neighbors. Second I am not near the toilet to do the water trick but I didn't realize a toilet was a wear item.
 
I live in a hard water area and many people have to replace their toilets due to mineral build up in the water ways slowing the flush to the point that it will act just like you describe.

The test i do is what I described and that is why I asked if you live in a hard water area.
 
It may be a vent issue. Can you go up on the roof and check your vents. Could be that you have a lot of birds and they are dropping debris in both your vents and your neighbors.
 
mike67cmaro said:
that would make it work sometimes and sometimes no???
Click to expand...

Yes, It will do that when it is right on the verg of not working at all. Do you live in a hard water area?
 
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