We have a two story, 3 full, 1 -half bath home. We (me, wife and two boys) are on well and septic and have lived here for a year. Three or four times since we've lived here, we'll hear the toilet bubble a few times and then a big WHOOSH throughout the house.

Yesterday, while I was in the shower, I heard the toilet bubbling. I also noticed at the end of my shower there was a very small amount of standing water. That had never happened before. After my shower I checked the toilet. Looked fine, flushed it. It filled up as if it were clogged but slowly seeped back down.

I went off to do something else. In the meantime, my son went in his bathroom (different bathroom), used it (being a boy - toilet paper was not an issue) flushed. No problems. The flushing lever, however, stuck in the down position. I didn't realize there was a problem until water was pouring heavily through the downstairs kitchen light fixture. While there was no noticeable clog in his bathroom, it overflowed, continued running because of the lever, flooded the bathroom and the downstairs kitchen.

There is no odor, my wife does not flush personal items down the toilet, and we do not have a garbage disposal.

What do you think the problem is? Thanks - Ed

We have a two story, 3 full, 1 -half bath home. We (me, wife and two boys) are on well and septic and have lived here for a year. Three or four times since we've lived here, we'll hear the toilet bubble a few times and then a big WHOOSH throughout the house.

Yesterday, while I was in the shower, I heard the toilet bubbling. I also noticed at the end of my shower there was a very small amount of standing water. That had never happened before. After my shower I checked the toilet. Looked fine, flushed it. It filled up as if it were clogged but slowly seeped back down.

I went off to do something else. In the meantime, my son went in his bathroom (different bathroom), used it (being a boy - toilet paper was not an issue) flushed. No problems. The flushing lever, however, stuck in the down position. I didn't realize there was a problem until water was pouring heavily through the downstairs kitchen light fixture. While there was no noticeable clog in his bathroom, it overflowed, continued running because of the lever, flooded the bathroom and the downstairs kitchen.

There is no odor, my wife does not flush personal items down the toilet, and we do not have a garbage disposal.

What do you think the problem is? Thanks - Ed


Hi Ed,

Bubbling in a fixture indicates one of two things. (1) A partial blockage in the sewer lines or, (2) your septic tank needs to be pumped.
You must isolate the problem before you can repair it. I would check the septic tank first. There are several ways you can do this. One would be to open up the inspection covers on the tank to see if it's full and needs attention and the other would be to open up the house cleanout and flush every toilet and cycle the washer at the same time. If the cleanout loads up with water then you have a problem in the septic tank and drain field. If not then you have a problem in your sewer lines and you should snake the line from the roof vent of the MB lavatory. Good luck, Tom

Thanks! We're going to have the system pumped either way. I have no idea when/if the previous owners ever did so we'll consider it starting fresh (so to speak). We'll evaluate at that point whether we need to snake from the roof to take care of the problem. I appreciate your fast response.. Ed