Hello,

We live in a 3 story 3 year old home. We recently had the basement completed and only sometimes when the washing machine is draining the basement toilet gurgles and shoots water out onto the floor. We had the septic tank cleaned which was completely full but did not solve the problem. We tried running a garden hose down the vent in the roof and it stopped about 1 1/2 feet down so then we tried running water through the vent from the roof and it did not appear to be clogged because the water did not backup or overflow. Is there a screen in the roof vent? The contractors tried adding a vent in the basement sink which did not help. The washing machine is on the second level and sometimes when draining it has a loud suction sound we can hear through the garbage disposal. Please help with any advice.

Thanks,
Mary

Hi Mary,

The loud suction noise you hear is the washer attempting to vent through the sinks disposal unit. This tells me you have vent problems. Have you looked in the attic to se if any vents are revented back into a single roof vent. You may have to call in outside help to cut into a line that has been revented so that it can be snaked. Good luck, Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks so much for your fast reply. So, you think this is a vent problem with the toilet. Someone told me it may be the plumbing was installed incorrectly in our slab and we may need to rip up the floor and slab! Hope not. Anyway, I will attempt to look in the attic. I probably will need to hire a plumber. I don't know much about plumbing to really even know what to look for.

I have a question about the roof vent. Does it have a screen which would have blocked the garden hose from being snaked in? When we ran the water it did not overflow.

Also, is there always a cleanup valve outside the house? I think we have one in our basement line coming down from the above floor. I'm not quite sure what it looks like.

Thanks,
Mary :)

Hi Mary,

"I have a question about the roof vent. Does it have a screen which would have blocked the garden hose from being snaked in? When we ran the water it did not overflow."
No, what I think is that you have vents from other fixtures that are revented,(connected back to) back to a existing roof vent and the bends won't let your hose by them.

" is there always a cleanup valve outside the house? I think we have one in our basement line coming down from the above floor. I'm not quite sure what it looks like."
We don't have basements on the Gulf Coast so our cleanouts look like this,(see image). Code mandates a cleanout not over 18" from the house foundation and brought up to grade.
Yours may be in your basement but they all look the same. If the vent in question is revented back in the attic it will have to be cut open to snake it and glued back after the snaking's finished. This calls for a plumber. Good luck, Tom