clogged toilet

Users who are viewing this thread

lauriebee

New Member
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
maryland
The toilet upstairs nearly overflows and then drains very slowly. The upstairs bowl, however, abruptly empties when I flush the toilet in the basement. What is wrong with the upstairs toilet?
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,771
Reaction score
1,191
Points
113
Location
New England
Sounds to me like you have a partial clog in the line below the upstairs toilet. When you flush the downstairs toilet, it creates a suction that breaks the clog.
 
Messages
951
Reaction score
6
Points
18
Location
Midwest
Yep. I had a toilet that was experiencing some line obstruction. The plunger and a short snake did nothing for it. I discovered I could sometimes use water flow in the tub to create a venturi effect and suck the toilet level down so that it would flush. I eventually had the line augured out along with the vent stack and other branches.

When you are paying someone to do such a nasty job, get everything cleared and make sure to chase all the garbage out with a lot of water in all branches before you release them. Otherwise you can end up chasing a clog around from branch to branch. The plumbers were a bit skeptical but humored me when I systematically started flushing branches...until a line that was free flowing a few minutes before (they had witnessed it) revealed that it was now completely clogged. That was when the really nasty work began, but they got it all.
 

Gary Swart

In the Trades
Messages
8,101
Reaction score
84
Points
48
Location
Yakima, WA
You need a professional plumber that can do a complete job on your drains. Do not use chemical drain cleaners. Not only do they not work on clogs like you have, the will create a hazard for the plumber you will eventually have to call.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks