I have to bath rooms in my home. For a while now, one of the toilets bubbles when you first flush it and the process is slow. I have snaked out the drain and it still does it. When you use a plunger to unglog it, it works fine for one flush. I am at a loss and no one seems to know what the issue is. I hate to go an purchase a new one for it will be a special order due to the color, a dark bone. I have also used chemical treament and that seems to help a little but not for long. Please, any ideas?

Catsmine

That happened to me in my first house. The plumber told me that the air vent to the sewage line had become partially clogged and back pressure was slowing the process. I had never seen a plumber on a roof before but he fixed it.

massplumber2008

Hi all:

It is possible that the vent stack is clogged. It is also possible that the toilet uses the lavatory drain/vent as its vent and the lavatory drain is partially clogged so check that, too.

First thing to try here, however, is to snake the toilet... Have you used a CLOSET AUGER to snake through the toilet itself?? If not, purchase a closet auger and snake the drain through the toilet...see if that improves things.

After that, I would quickly lift the toilet and see if anything is caught up at the base of the toilet. If not, I would take the toilet outside, set it up on sawhorses and then pour a 5 gallon bucket into the toilet. If it drains fine then you are off to start unclogging the drain pipe itself!

Let us know what you think...


MARK

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speedball1

Bubbles indicate backpressure. Backpressure indicates a partial blockage downstream from the toilet. In this case I recommend pulling the toilet and snaking from there.

Catsmine, A clogged vent will not produce back pressure. Blockages and clogs produce back pressure and bubbles while a clogged vent produces suction and you'll hear gurgles from your fixtures traps. Too many repair plumbers out there that fail to understand basic construction principles. Regards, Tom