Basement toilet -- ready to just throw in the towel

Hi.

I'm frustrated as all h*ll on this one.

My basement toilet (which is not upflush) was gurgling, and not flushing. The water would rise to the level of the rim, and then recede. It would flush a little -- more like a pathetic "gurgle."

No leaks.

But I suspected a wax seal issue, and I can do wax seals. Well, the bolts broke in the floor. The iron pipe was sticking out above the concrete (no insulation or packing, just iron pipe and concrete).

I managed to put in a flange -- at least I got that far! Drilled into the concrete to mount it (that's not fun), and also had to use "Quickrete" concrete repair to build up the area of the floor enough to get beyond the level of the broken bolts, which I filed down as much as I could.

Of course, I couldn't even get the damn tank off the toilet -- bolts rusted on -- so, I've been hefting the thing up and down and up and down trying to get it lined up.

Finally did, with a new wax seal and a new flange.

AND IT STILL DOES THE SAME THING!!!!! IT GURGLES!!!!

Could it be the vent stack? RotoRooter? WHAT DO I DO????

I will try to remain positive and remind myself I managed to mount a flange in a concrete floor properly, dead-center bubble level side to side and front to back, all the while working around an iron pipe that sticks up maybe a quarter inch from the concrete in spots, and perhaps saved myself some money in the process -- because I'm gonna have to call someone, anyway.

So, at least they won't have to do a flange and concrete leveling and all that. I did that. And it didn't work.

Help.

Either the trap in the toilet or the sewer line has a blockage. Pull the toilet back off and dump a 5 gallon bucket of water down the pipe to simulate the toilet flush. If it goes down quickly, the problem is in your toilet.

It is not the vent that is causing your problem.
It is either a clogged toilet or the line under the toilet is clogged.
Nothing you are telling us gives any indication of which it is...

toilet

Could it be the vent stack? RotoRooter? WHAT DO I DO????

I will try to remain positive and remind myself I managed to mount a flange in a concrete floor properly, dead-center bubble level side to side and front to back, all the while working around an iron pipe that sticks up maybe a quarter inch from the concrete in spots, and perhaps saved myself some money in the process -- because I'm gonna have to call someone, anyway.

So, at least they won't have to do a flange and concrete leveling and all that.

You have a plugged sewer line. I would NOT have removed the toilet, or removed the tank, or installed a flange, (unless there was some obvious reason to do so), and I am not sure you installed the flange properly from your description. I WOULD have unplugged the sewer. But if you had removed the toilet and those other things turned out to be necessary because you did it, I would not have been a happy plumber, because I would have had to UNDO, or REDO, everything you did before I could get started.