3 clogged toilets

[planechc]

Thank you for the reply. It's my house, 2 story, and they are new renters. The previous renter had stopped up the downstairs toilet I thought maybe with a toy. That's the one that's been augered twice. The plumber said he's never had to auger something twice as long as he's been a plumber. He said the upstairs toilets flushed fine when he was there. There is no other drain problems in the house besides the 3 toilets. This is a master plumber that's been working on them. It just doesn't make any sense to me why they work once then not the next time, unless toilet paper is gathering around an obstructed object.

[Terry]

Things in trapways
Unless you have a Caroma toilet with a 3" or larger trapway, you can't flush down potatoes, bars of soap, toy cars, toilet paper holders, shampoo bottles, doggies throwing balls, army men, cell phones, playing cards, carpet strands, coffee cups, construction waste, tile grout,

Heck, even the Caroma has a hard time with tile grout.

Carpet adhesive, measuring cups, pencils, car keys, I can think of lot's of things that kids and dogs drop in.
And construction workers.

One job I was one, the tile setter used the toilet drain to dispose of his broken tiles.



We use a closet auger with the large 1-3/8" end on it.
Smaller cables can go right by the obstruction and not move it.


We had a similar job we went out to, the first plumber told the homeowner that they had a defective bowl.
Jamie went out with his auger, and decided to pull the bowl.
This is what he found.
The first plumber had run his auger through, but it went right by Mr GI Joe.
__________________

[SewerRatz]

You could find a plumber that owns a Ridgid MicroDrain camera and have him put it through each water closet to ensure there is nothing in each water closet. Here a demo video of one in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oXUw..._embedded#t=45

[planechc]

Thanks again everyone. The plumber said all 3 toilets in the house are not connected by 1 pipe. He said the downstairs toilet is a separate pipe than the other 2. I think he's wrong. I looked in the attic and can see the pipes.

I went on the roof and put a snake down the vent pipe. That was a little tough to accomplish. I plunged the toilet downstairs, and it worked, then the 1 right above it flushed fine without plunging, and the other one upstairs I had to plunge then went down also. So, I'll see if that does anything. I didn't come across anything blocking the air pipe that I could tell.
Otherwise I will have to call a different plumber on Monday. I'll update after tomorrow.

[hj]

One thing you can be sure of, is that if the upstairs toilets do nof flush it is VERY, VERY, VERY unlikely to be a main sewer stoppage unless the entire lower level of the house is flooded right up to the ceiling.

[Cookie]

I wonder if they got fixed and found the problem.

[NBachers]

I've seen cases where I can auger or plunge a toilet, and solve the problem. Then the complaint comes back. I've found cotten swabs, tampon cardboards, and plastic straw parts lodged in the toilet exit. They were skinny enough to let the auger pass. I could achieve a good flush after clearing. But, in a little time, material became lodged against the objects and clogged again. It's time to take the toilets off, one at a time, and look underneath and inside. Then decide if it may be time to replace the toilets with something better.

[Inspektor Ludwig]

Q-tips. Ask if they use Q-tips. That stops up a toilet everytime.