I live in a 2 bathroom house in Houston with a sewage system.

Last night, my girlfriend was showering in the master bath, and the tub started backing up. After a minute or two, she noticed that the whole bathroom floor was wet and she had no clue why. Then I went into the other bathroom and noticed the same thing - water in the tub and on the floor. Today, I can flush the toilet in the hall bathroom and the tub gurgles. If I try and flush the toilet in the master bath, the water level rises, and then water starts coming from underneath the toilet, but there's no gurgle. And both bathrooms stink. (From sewage methane, I assume) Both tubs are draining VERY slowly. I did some poking around online, and it seems like it might be a venting issue, but the water coming from underneath the master toilet is kind of unnerving. I'm not much into plumbing, so if it's anything serious I'm calling a pro, I'd just kind of like to know what I'm talking about when I'm on the phone with the guy. Thanks in advance!
Brad

I did some poking around online, and it seems like it might be a venting issue, but the water coming from underneath the master toilet is kind of unnerving.
The fact that you have water backing out from under the toilet when it's flushed tells me that your primary problem is a blockage in the drain line and not in the vent. This blockage can be reached by snaking through the lavatory roof vent or pulling the toilet and snaking through there. Good luck, Tom

The fact that you have water backing out from under the toilet when it's flushed tells me that your primary problem is a blockage in the drain line and not in the vent. This blockage can be reached by snaking through the lavatory roof vent or pulling the toilet and snaking through there. good luck, Tom

Hey Tom,
Thanks for the quick response. Is it necessary to pull the toilet, or would I be OK just trying to snake the tub drain, since that was the only drain being used when the problem started? Would a bottle of some kind of crazy Drano/Liquid Plumr stuff be of any use at all? I've personally never had any reason to use them, and don't really have a whole lot of faith in a bottle of some crap fixing a clog... but I'm also a n00b with all things plumbing.
Thanks again, man!