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-   -   Toilet gurgles sometimes when washer drains (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=229199)

  • Jun 21, 2008, 09:33 AM
    Katnip
    Toilet gurgles sometimes when washer drains
    Hi,

    We bought out a 50 year old house with septic system 2 years ago. About a year and a half ago we had the septic tank drained for preventive measure. In January the washing machine started backing up when it would drain. Called Roto-Rooter and they snaked from the roof vent.

    Last month we noticed that occasionally when the washing machine drains, one of the toilets will gurgle and water will be drained out. What could be the cause of this? Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.
  • Jun 21, 2008, 09:48 AM
    IM4U
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Katnip
    Hi,

    We bought out a 50 year old house with septic system 2 years ago. About a year and a half ago we had the septic tank drained for preventive measure. In January the washing machine started backing up when it would drain. Called Roto-Rooter and they snaked from the roof vent.

    Last month we noticed that occasionally when the washing machine drains, one of the toilets will gurgle and water will be drained out. What could be the cause of this? Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

    From the perspective of a consumer, I wonder if further rooting may be required. Did the previous snaking reach far enough in the system or was the rooting, in places reached, complete? Are there cracks in the system that allow roots to establish themselves again to the point of being troublesome?

    We had rooting done not long ago. I was unable to locate a kind of remote access connection for the service provider, and we are getting gurgling in the bathtub drain again. No actual material backup in the tub, but I don't want to get to that point. I may try to locate the second access which is at the back of the yard so we can get a more thorough rooting. We're on a city system.
  • Jun 21, 2008, 10:25 AM
    Katnip
    I called Roto-Rooter and they are coming out again. She first asked if I had pumped the tank recently. When I told her time frame, she said it's probably a clog between the main line and the septic. I don't know if that's really it. Everything flushes fine and no backups.

    I'm not sure if the washing machine and the toilet are on the same vent. I'm just praying that this isn't a sign of septic failure! :confused: The drain field isn't mushy or smelly, etc. The gurgling has only happened a couple of times in the last month or so.

    I just don't want to get hosed.
  • Jun 21, 2008, 10:51 AM
    speedball1
    When a toilet "gurgles" at you it's generally a sign that it's venting,(drawing air) through the trap and the suction will drain water out of a toilet bowl.. If the toilet "bubbled" shot water up then I would agree with IM4IT assumption that this was a back up. As it is I can't agree that Rotor Rooter didn't snake far enough.
    Quote:

    I'm just praying that this isn't a sign of septic failure!
    I don't think your septic tank's going bad and If this only happens once or twice then even the venting problem doesn't sound too awful serious. Good luck, Tom
  • Jun 21, 2008, 03:58 PM
    Katnip
    Thanks Speed and IM.

    What is the correlation between the washing machine draining and the toilet gurgling? I guess there might have been some bubbles associated with the gurgling... nothing shot up... the water just drained out.
  • Jun 21, 2008, 05:43 PM
    speedball1
    Quote:

    What is the correlation between the washing machine draining and the toilet gurgling?
    Let me explain about bubbles and gurgles. "Bubbles" and "Gurgles". They both indicate that something is going on in your drainage system.
    A "bubble" indicates a clogged line while a "gurgle" indicates a blocked vent. Let me explain. When you flush the discharge drains down the pipe until it hits a partial clog. Then it rebounds back sending a "bubble" of air ahead of it. When you flush a toilet or drain a bathtub a suction is created by the water rushing down the pipe. This suction is relieved by a open pipe that runs to the outside called a vent. When a vent's stopped up the suction has to relieve itself somewhere, in this case your toilet. The noise you hear is the air being pulled through the trap by suction, (gurgle).
    Rule of thumb! Bubbles= drainage clog, while Gurgles = a blocked vent or poor venting. Your washer discharges with more force and volume then anything else in your home. This puts a large volume of water going down your drain at high speed and with great force, (especially if you have a Maytag) This will set up a lot of vacuum for your vent to handle. If the vent has a partial blockage,a birds nest, a dead critter or the pipes notl are enough it willattempt to vent through the nearest fixture, (your toilet) and the suction could pull the water out of the bowl. Of course that's if you had gurgles and not bubbles,( are you begain to see how important is is for me to know what's happening?) If you had a blockage in the sewer line the washer would discharge and send its load on down the sewer line. When it hit a clog or blockage it would bounce back and send a bubble of sewer gas ahead of it. The thing that makes me believe it's a vent if the water being pulled out of your toilet bowl. I hope I've explained everything, If i haven't then click on back with more questions. Please keep me in the loop and let me know what they find. Good luck, Tom
  • Jun 21, 2008, 08:59 PM
    Katnip
    Thanks for the info Tom! My husband has heard it and he says it's definitely a gurgle. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow. This site is great!
  • Oct 9, 2008, 10:01 AM
    sugahplm
    Hello all

    I also have gurgling problems in my 2 bath home but only one toilet does it. I call it glub glub as it is like when you have a drink with a straw and blow into the straw and the bubbles/gurgling/glubglubbing starts.

    This house has one common wall for all the plumbing. The roof is vented & is the furthest from the main/sewer in the front of the house.

    Then comes, to the far right (please remember to picture one long solid wall with plumbing), is a full bath with toilet, shower, sink-this bath is the furthest room/bath from the from the main/sewer line in the front of the house if this make sense. This toilet has only glubbed a very few times in the 20 yrs I have lived here. Both baths are on the same side of this common wall. Kitchen/laundry on the same/other side to each other.

    Next is the laundry closet , with washer and dryer. Actually this closet is on the other side of the wall from the bath mentioned above. And I do have a maytag!

    Then further up/left is the kitchen sink/dishwasher/disposal, etc. from and on the same side as the laundry closet.

    On the other side of the wall is the demon bath/toilet. The glubber. This toilet glubs almost every time the washer drains and sometimes soap bubbles from the washer come up in the toilet. And sometimes the water is sucked out of the bowl.

    We have (my husband is a contractor and does a lot of plumbing so not a newbie to drains/clogs/snakes etc.) snaked and snaked... manually and mechanically. From the roof vent to/through the mains the sewers, all the way out to the street... never found any clogs, roots etc. once a few years ago when we did the roof vent (at the "lowest" point?) it did seem to run better for a while and not hardly any glubbing. We had someone watch the front drains to see if anything clogging "passed" by but nothing at all went by.

    But now its back. But sometimes it doesn't do anything but that's rare.

    Oh and the time we were doing the vent, our friend thought he noticed that the sewer line was cracked, like it had a breach there where the elbow is from the sewer outlet above, would this cause a problem.. like not a vacuum?

    Its just two adults here. The house is 32 yrs old and we have lived here 20 yrs of it. Are the old small pipes too small for washers, etc. nowadays and full of sludge? Didn't seem to be any when we snaked.

    Thanks for any help! :confused:

    Hello all

    I added this to an existing thread but think it got lost in the shuffle so am starting a new one so tired of this toilet I went back and retrived the post, Tom

    I also have gurgling problems in my 2 bath home but only one toilet does it. I call it glub glub as it is like when you have a drink with a straw and blow into the straw and the bubbles/gurgling/glubglubbing starts.

    This house has one common wall for all the plumbing. The roof is vented & is the furthest from the main/sewer in the front of the house.

    Then comes, to the far right (please remember to picture one long solid wall with plumbing), is a full bath with toilet, shower, sink-this bath is the furthest room/bath from the from the main/sewer line in the front of the house if this make sense. This toilet has only glubbed a very few times in the 20 yrs I have lived here. Both baths are on the same side of this common wall. Kitchen/laundry on the same/other side to each other.

    Next is the laundry closet , with washer and dryer. Actually this closet is on the other side of the wall from the bath mentioned above. And I do have a maytag!

    Then further up/left is the kitchen sink/dishwasher/disposal, etc. from and on the same side as the laundry closet.

    On the other side of the wall is the demon bath/toilet. The glubber. This toilet glubs almost every time the washer drains and sometimes soap bubbles from the washer come up in the toilet. And sometimes the water is sucked out of the bowl.

    We have (my husband is a contractor and does a lot of plumbing so not a newbie to drains/clogs/snakes etc.) snaked and snaked... manually and mechanically. From the roof vent to/through the mains the sewers, all the way out to the street... never found any clogs, roots etc. once a few years ago when we did the roof vent (at the "lowest" point?) it did seem to run better for a while and not hardly any glubbing. We had someone watch the front drains to see if anything clogging "passed" by but nothing at all went by.

    But now its back. But sometimes it doesn't do anything but that's rare.

    Oh and the time we were doing the vent, our friend thought he noticed that the sewer line was cracked, like it had a breach there where the elbow is from the sewer outlet above, would this cause a problem.. like not a vacuum?

    Its just two adults here. The house is 32 yrs old and we have lived here 20 yrs of it. Are the old small pipes too small for washers, etc. nowadays and full of sludge? Didn't seem to be any when we snaked.

    Thanks for any help! :D
  • Oct 11, 2008, 05:23 AM
    speedball1
    Sugar,
    Bubbles indicate a partial blockage. When you flush the discharge drains down the pipe until it hits a partial clog. Then it rebounds back sending a "bubble" of air ahead of it.
    Quote:

    this toilet glubs almost every time the washer drains and sometimes soap bubbles from the washer come up in the toilet. And sometimes the water is sucked out of the bowl.
    I would snake the lavatory roof vent. Put out enough cable to reach the base and 20 feet more to get out in the main. If that doesn't get it then perhaps the drain lines are too small to handle the extra force put out by the washer pump. How big are they? 1 1/2"? 2"? But To be sure you have to snake the line. Good luck, Tom
  • Oct 11, 2008, 05:52 AM
    sugahplm
    Thanks tom
    But all this happens only when the washer drains.. sucking out of water, soap bubbles, gurgling, etc. as you mentioned something above about flushing? And as I stated (and we have kept this up since then)...

    Quote:

    we have... snaked and snaked... manually and mechanically. From the roof vent to/through the mains the sewers, all the way out to the street... never found any clogs, roots etc. once a few years ago when we did the roof vent (at the "lowest" point?) it did seem to run better for a while and not hardly any glubbing. We had someone watch the front drains to see if anything clogging "passed" by but nothing at all went by
    Hubby says lines are 3" ...thats at least the size of the cleanout pipe rubber top we bought to cover it.

    ok if the sewer cleanout pipe (in our front flower bed) is cracked/broken, down where it T's off to go down to the main/street, i mentioned, and nothing is getting "caught" (yuk) there to stop any rushing water, etc as we have kept an eye on this and we have tried to keep the vent pipe clean... what the heck is wrong? My neighbors that I've talked to close to me do not have this happening if I remember right, one for sure next door isn't.

    But another neighbor told me a friend of his living somewhere else, had the same problem with this glubbing and had a broken pipe such as ours supposedly and when he repaired the pipe it stopped. Is this true? A vacuum so to speak?

    Is that vent pipe for anyway? Dryer lint? Hubby told me once but I can't remember but seems to be a big problem and I know a cheap way of doing things. How to correct this vent easily?

    Thanks for anymore help
    Janet
  • Oct 11, 2008, 06:30 AM
    speedball1
    Quote:

    What is that vent pipe for anyway? Dryer lint? Hubby told me once but I can't remember but seems to be a big problem and I know a cheap way of doing things. How to correct this vent easily
    On a two bath house, as a rule you have three vents. One each on a bathroom lavatory that vents the group, and a kitchen sink vent. If you have a laundry room that could be another vent. Sometimes we tie them all togather in the attic so that we only have one pipe coming out the roof. This is called reventing. It is possible that the bulder terminated the vents in the attic but I don't see how that would pass inspection. A vent that does not terminate through the roof is called a local vent. I am giving these terms so that when you talk to your plumber friend you will be on the same wave length. There is only one way to prevent sewer gas fron escaping from a local vent that terminates inside a wall. This is a mechanical vent that is spring loaded so that it lets air in to vent but stops sewer gas from getting out. This vent is called a Studor Vent. A plumbing drainage system has traps on each fixture. These traps keep sewer gas from escaping into your house. On a unvented system the water draining sets up a suction that syphons the water out of the trap letting sewer gas out into your house. I have tried to explain how vents work and the different kinds. You asked how important venting is. Vents are necessary for a plumbing system to function. Regards, Tom
  • May 17, 2009, 07:45 AM
    Katnip
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Katnip View Post
    Hi,

    We bought out a 50 year old house with septic system 2 years ago. About a year and a half ago we had the septic tank drained for preventive measure. In January the washing machine started backing up when it would drain. Called Roto-Rooter and they snaked from the roof vent.

    Last month we noticed that occasionally when the washing machine drains, one of the toilets will gurgle and water will be drained out. What could be the cause of this? Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

    My husband snaked the roof vents yesterday. I did laundry and the toilet was quiet. This morning, while washing dishes it stated gurgling again. Only some of the water drained. Nothing happened when I showered (sometimes the toilet will gurgle) My husband said he was able to snake down all of the roof vents pretty far. Should I have him do it again or is it time to call a pro?
  • May 17, 2009, 08:27 AM
    sugahplm
    Hi I am not a pro but have posted about the same question above.
    I think its time to call a pro as I finally broke down and did so myself. He said even houses 6 months old(new) get stoppages. And that's what we had even though husband also snaked out drains, vents etc without finding anything. But it was a hand snake and a little motorized one. Thought all would be fine and it did stop a while but then it got worse and worse. Had to be so careful with the toilet etc.
    So we called a company called drain doctor, don't know if nation wide-we're in Texas. But they came out with their big big motorized snake and he did from the sewer main in our flower bed all the way to the back of the house and then all the way out to the city sewer line in the street and wallah! We haven't had any problems. Only cost $119 also. Might sound a lot for just a machine to take a few minutes but when you have been living with this problem/worry it was well worth it.
    Good luck!
  • May 23, 2009, 09:03 AM
    Katnip

    Hmmm, I actually saw bubbles and then the toilet drained after the shower had been on. I'm confused now
  • May 23, 2009, 09:17 AM
    sugahplm
    Like soap bubbles? From soap in the shower/shower drain? Or was the washer running? Uh oh now I'm confused. :confused:
  • May 24, 2009, 08:36 AM
    Katnip

    I was in the shower when I heard the "gurgling" noise coming from the toilet. I looked and saw that it was air bubbles and then all of the water from the toilet drained out.
  • May 24, 2009, 10:47 AM
    speedball1
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Katnip View Post
    i was in the shower when i heard the "gurgling" noise coming from the toilet. i looked and saw that it was air bubbles and then all of the water from the toilet drained out.

    Wow! Your vent must be plugged solid to suction all the water out of the bowl. Snake the lavatory vent. Put out enough cable to reach thje base and 18 feet more, Good luck, tom,
  • Jul 3, 2010, 05:07 AM
    CakeLady
    Sometimes a "snake" just won't do it. We have had the same problem, even to the point that if you are outside while the washer is draining---you can hear the roof pipe sputtering the whole time it's draining. My guy came out with a 15 foot piece of lead pipe and reamed the vent pipe up and down, scraping the sides, then flushed it out with water. We've not had a gurgle or suction/draining problem since---and that was 5 years back. Sometimes the old vent pipes just get full of stuff that blocks it up and won't let enough air in there to equalize the vaccuum caused by draining large amounts of water at a time from the washer. Might have someone try that...
  • Jul 3, 2010, 06:23 AM
    speedball1

    Quote:

    My guy came out with a 15 foot piece of lead pipe and reamed the vent pipe up and down, scraping the sides,
    Lady, You're reesponding to a 2 year old dead thread but your post is so interesting that In just got to ask.
    !5 foot of leads pipe to clear the vent stacks. Interesting!
    Could you explain how it was accomplished? Our experts are always looking for new methods.
    Thanks for the update, Tom
  • Jul 6, 2012, 06:37 AM
    LaurenML
    We purchased a foreclosure last year and the kitchen drain was slow.. then completely plugged, nothing unclogged it so my hubby ran new drains and tapped into the main line. Now we have gurgles, sewer gas smells, and slow draining toilet. We have been told it's now a venting issue. So, how does he goes about reventing to handle the kitchen tap in? Oh, if he takes the cap off the main line in the basement, the toilet will quickly drain. Thanks in advance. Lauren

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