So I just bought a house and when I use the toilet in the Master bathroom, it bubbles and backs up into the toilet and then slowly drains out. I have had a plumber over to snake the drain. He snaked it 3 times all the way from the toilet flange to where the main line leaves the house. He found nothing. He said I should be good to go. Well guess what, it still does the same thing. So not only does by toilet not drain but I'm out $100. Everything else in the house seems to drain perfectly well without a hitch. I was wondering if it is a either (a) a grading issue with the drain line, or (b) do I have a clogged vent. The house did sit empty for about 9 months before we bought it. I am usually pretty handy around the house but I am stumped with this one. Please help!

Hi Davruss123...

Did the plumber LIFT the toilet and see what he could find INSIDE the toilet?

I'm figuring he at least snaked the toilet using a CLOSET AUGER tool (see pic.), but did he lift the toilet and inspect the toilet OUTLET itself to see if anything was lodged inside?

Try dumping a 5 gallon bucket filled with water into the toilet bowl.. see how that drains. It is possible that you may simply not have enough water volume in the tank for the toilet to flush properly. If full bucket flushed toilet well then look inside the tank and see if you can maximize the water level... let us know if need help on that.. ok?

Try the 5 gallon bucket of water.. let me know more...

MARK

Thanks for the reply Mark, however when we had the toilet off we did inspect it and found nothing wrong. Also while the toilet was off we poured bucket after bucket of water into the drain and after about the third bucket the drain would fill with water and that is when the plumber decided to snake it. After he snaked it however it did the same thing. I did try dumping water in the bowl and it still back up on us. Im still confused.

Sounds like the drain line needs to be snaked out again... Are the pipes exposed in the basement? I would also state that there should not be a need to snake out to the main drain line if all else is draining fine.

Sometimes, even with the best of intentions a snake can HOP over or twist through problem area and appear to have been cleared when in fact it has not been cleared.

I usually fill the drain line and keep it filled while I am snaking the drain line. That way, when I hit into the blockage I can mark the snake and work that area repeatedly... that make sense? Hopefully pull something back.

Could be that the plumber used the wrong head, or a head that was too small... maybe?

Let us know what you do...

MARK