Henry Ramsey
Member
Hey all, I live in a condo in Houston. These were built in about 1971 as apartments and resemble townhomes rather than condos.
The units are three sizes:
3 bdrm w/ 2 full separate bathrooms up, 1/2 down
3 bdrm w/ 1 sink+commode - tub - sink+1 commode up (hollywood bath), 1/2 down
2 bdrm 1 full bathroom up, 1/2 down
We have full gamut of 1970s construction; aluminum wire, FPE breaker boxes, galvanized steel water lines and cast iron sewer main. There are 30 units total in four buildings which share the sewers in parallel pairs and each dumps into city street sewer separately. The units 30 units. #1-15 on one side and #16-30 on the other. There are clean outs at the rear end of each and in the middle of only one side. The rear of the property backs against Addicks Dam.
I'm the association president and defacto manager so all issues big and small come my way.
This is a doozy though:
On January 7th at around 3:30 PM I got a knock at my door that unit #21 had their toilet over flowing. I went to the unit to find it was not just over flowing it was *running* over.
I asked the next unit resident toward the street #22 if they were having problems and they had none.
concluding a sewer clog from #21 to #16 I went looking to see who was home so I could see who else had problems. Nobody else was home yet it was only 4pm, but walking around I found the cleanout at the Dam end which is also the end of the sewer line was bubbling and water was coming up.
In front the 5 of the 6 units #16-19 had evidence of water coming from under their doorways.
I got a pipe wrench and opened the clean out which relieved the pressure of the over flowing toilets.
All the overflows ceased.
When people got home we began clean up. The HOA had the sewer line snaked that night and the plumber found 1/2 dozen tampons amongst other stuff. The issue recurred the following Saturday and the plumber came and roto rooted the sewer line again. We have since had both sewer mainlines jet washed.
Now, after that long summary I have two questions:
1) Why would the water overflow in the sewer main that cause 5 units toilets SKIP one in between?
The unit that initially had the water flowing #21 was the front end of the clog (unit #22-30 were wholly unaffected), but the very next unit #20 was skipped. After that all four units #19-16 to the end of the sewer line flowed over.
What is up with that? Is that normal? Is there something wrong in that unit that stopped it from clogging but perhaps also contributed to the main sewer issue?
2) And why are toilets in only a couple of units still bubbling?
Unit #19 they had a secondary clog at their sink which was snaked, but the toilets are now bubbling and began doing so before the initial clog issue. When they flush upstairs the downstairs toilets water moves
and gurgles.
At one point someone suggested the latter issue with bubbling *was a vent issue*, but a plumber I trust who knows our plumbing said not. He said we have three outlets each unit into the main; toilets, upstairs, and laundry+kitchen sink. Each is separate connection to the sewer main and should be cleaned routinely.
His opinion too was we just need new sewer connections due to age.
Also, there are individual vents on each unit. Two or three pipes depending on size. Most units have their A/C mains drain into the drain behind the bathtubs with an overflow pipe from the attic pans that leads outside.
Unit #20 which has thus far been skipped now has low water level in the toilet after they flush.
Is that a coincidental but unrelated issue perhaps?
I'm sorry for being long winded.
*Edited to add complete sentence above. *
The units are three sizes:
3 bdrm w/ 2 full separate bathrooms up, 1/2 down
3 bdrm w/ 1 sink+commode - tub - sink+1 commode up (hollywood bath), 1/2 down
2 bdrm 1 full bathroom up, 1/2 down
We have full gamut of 1970s construction; aluminum wire, FPE breaker boxes, galvanized steel water lines and cast iron sewer main. There are 30 units total in four buildings which share the sewers in parallel pairs and each dumps into city street sewer separately. The units 30 units. #1-15 on one side and #16-30 on the other. There are clean outs at the rear end of each and in the middle of only one side. The rear of the property backs against Addicks Dam.
I'm the association president and defacto manager so all issues big and small come my way.
This is a doozy though:
On January 7th at around 3:30 PM I got a knock at my door that unit #21 had their toilet over flowing. I went to the unit to find it was not just over flowing it was *running* over.
I asked the next unit resident toward the street #22 if they were having problems and they had none.
concluding a sewer clog from #21 to #16 I went looking to see who was home so I could see who else had problems. Nobody else was home yet it was only 4pm, but walking around I found the cleanout at the Dam end which is also the end of the sewer line was bubbling and water was coming up.
In front the 5 of the 6 units #16-19 had evidence of water coming from under their doorways.
I got a pipe wrench and opened the clean out which relieved the pressure of the over flowing toilets.
All the overflows ceased.
When people got home we began clean up. The HOA had the sewer line snaked that night and the plumber found 1/2 dozen tampons amongst other stuff. The issue recurred the following Saturday and the plumber came and roto rooted the sewer line again. We have since had both sewer mainlines jet washed.
Now, after that long summary I have two questions:
1) Why would the water overflow in the sewer main that cause 5 units toilets SKIP one in between?
The unit that initially had the water flowing #21 was the front end of the clog (unit #22-30 were wholly unaffected), but the very next unit #20 was skipped. After that all four units #19-16 to the end of the sewer line flowed over.
What is up with that? Is that normal? Is there something wrong in that unit that stopped it from clogging but perhaps also contributed to the main sewer issue?
2) And why are toilets in only a couple of units still bubbling?
Unit #19 they had a secondary clog at their sink which was snaked, but the toilets are now bubbling and began doing so before the initial clog issue. When they flush upstairs the downstairs toilets water moves
and gurgles.
At one point someone suggested the latter issue with bubbling *was a vent issue*, but a plumber I trust who knows our plumbing said not. He said we have three outlets each unit into the main; toilets, upstairs, and laundry+kitchen sink. Each is separate connection to the sewer main and should be cleaned routinely.
His opinion too was we just need new sewer connections due to age.
Also, there are individual vents on each unit. Two or three pipes depending on size. Most units have their A/C mains drain into the drain behind the bathtubs with an overflow pipe from the attic pans that leads outside.
Unit #20 which has thus far been skipped now has low water level in the toilet after they flush.
Is that a coincidental but unrelated issue perhaps?
I'm sorry for being long winded.
*Edited to add complete sentence above. *
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