Hello, does anyone have any ideas? I've pulled off the toilet and snaked it both ways, bottom to top and top to bottom. Nuttin in there. Snaked the pipes all the way out to the vent tube in the front yard. Nuttin in there. Cleaned all the jets in the toilet bowl, raised water level in the tank to the maximum but the thing still starts to overflow sometimes, even with a little paper in it. I don't have any idea what to do next. Everything checks out clean. Can anyone help??

Has this always been this way or did it just start? Is t5his your only toilet? If you have two does the other one flush OK? Does it back up when there are no solids to flush down? Have you put your hand up the large hole to check for rough spots? Let me know Tom

Has this always been this way or did it just start? Is t5his your only toilet? If you have two does the other one flush OK? Does it back up when there are no solids to flush down? Have you put your hand up the large hole to check for rough spots? Let me know Tom

Tom, this is our downstairs toilet in the powder room. It was recently taken out while a new tile floor was installed and put back in with a new wax ring. The sink in the powder room and I believe the washing machine discharge all flow to the same pipe heading to the sewer. I even ran a pipeking with the garden hose attached from the clean out in the basement and everything is flowing properly that I can tell. I can't find any clogs anywhere. I had my hands all over this toilet and didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. I even blew out all the vent/jet holes with my air compressor. Its an intermittent thing that is driving me nuts. Nothing else in the house sinks/toilets ever back up. Could there be some sort of back pressure issue?
Thanks chris

Hello Chris:

Hey... gotta tell you... you just said some words we hear around here a lot... "new tile floor and put back in with a new wax ring"... ;)

This HAS to have something to do with new problem... yes.. 8 out of 10times, the wax ring is the culprit....squeezes out as toilet is set and crosses flange and blocks drain pipe...BUT YOU SAID you lifted the toilet, and you would have seen if had been set improperly...right?? Did you raise the old closet flange flush with or above the new tile floor..

Here is where I would start at this point: Lift that toilet AGAIN... :(

Take it outside and put it up on a sawhorse, fill tank and bowl (bowl will self level water level) with water and flush a few times.. see if flows well.

If doesn't, problem is at toilet itself. If drains perfectly, 10 times or so.. then want to take a hose and try to flood the toilet pipe.. see if can get toilet drain to backup inside house.

If that shows nothing... may have to start getting creative... ;) Could even have a clogged vent... Get back to us... Mark

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its an intermittent thing that is driving me nuts.

Sounds like a big glob of the wax ring is in the pipe, catching paper then catching solids, then catching more paper. Got to get a bigger snake or you might try a lot of boiling water to melt wax.

Jarhead, tell us more about the "all the way out to the vent tube in the front yard" are you on septic? The vent stack goes through your roof to open air. I suspect that you have something like a paper clip, toilet paper holder spring or other object that lets water flow but can snag on toilet paper or soilds from time to time. I'd try the toilet auger again, not just a snake, and pry open the spring on the auger so it can trap a piece of wire. Twist the hech out of the auger as you slowly advance it.

Hello, does anyone have any ideas? I've pulled off the toilet and snaked it both ways, bottom to top and top to bottom. nuttin in there. snaked the pipes all the way out to the vent tube in the front yard. nuttin in there. cleaned all the jets in the toilet bowl, raised water level in the tank to the maximum but the thing still starts to overflow sometimes, even with a little paper in it. i don't have any idea what to do next. everthing checks out clean. can anyone help?????

Thanks guys lots of great questions and I'll try to answer them.
I'm on public sewer. The new tile floor is same level as old floor so flange is at same level.
The two tubes in front yard have a vent cap and a screw cap. When looking down tube with vent cap and my wife flushing toilet I see water flowing by normally. I've pulled the toilet several times and the wax ring has always been seated properly.each time I've installed new ring (probably wasting money but I'm not taking any risks). I've ran a large toilet auger through toilet both ways, bowl to bottom and bottom to bowl. I've sent a 25' snake down drain with toilet removed all the way to clean out in basement where it heads out to street. Haven't hit any obstructions. Set water level in tank to maximum (hair below top of overflow tube) I've used a wire and cleaned out jets in bowl. I've ran small auger in syphon hole in bottom of bowl. It seems to be working but I don't trust it.
Mark, you mentioned possible clogged vent, what vent might that be?
I'm not sure about vent to roof, I'll have to look into that. This toilet is the most used in the house, could it just have gone lazy?

That's all I can think of for now,
Thanks chris

Wow! Sounds like you did your work!

Did you try putting toilet up on sawhorses and flushing... hmmm.. Just last resort before you finally SMASH this baby and buy another toilet!

Last thing I can think of is to check the vent out the roof. Climb up on roof, if can safely do that, and use strong flashlight to look down into pipe... if nothing there, may need to snake the vent using that 25' snake you mentioned you used down toilet drain and see if that improves things. We have heard of dead animals, bird's nests, bee hives... mostly leaves, or ice overs during winter.

Check into all... let us know... Mark

thanks guys lots of great questions and i'll try to answer them.
i'm on public sewer. the new tile floor is same level as old floor so flange is at same level.
the two tubes in front yard have a vent cap and a screw cap. when looking down tube with vent cap and my wife flushing toilet i see water flowing by normally. i've pulled the toilet several times and the wax ring has always been seated properly.each time i've installed new ring (probably wasting money but i'm not taking any risks). i've ran a large toilet auger thru toilet both ways, bowl to bottom and bottom to bowl. i've sent a 25' snake down drain with toilet removed all the way to clean out in basement where it heads out to street. haven't hit any obstructions. set water level in tank to maximum (hair below top of overflow tube) i've used a wire and cleaned out jets in bowl. i've ran small auger in syphon hole in bottom of bowl. it seems to be working but i don't trust it.
mark, you mentioned possible clogged vent, what vent might that be?
i'm not sure about vent to roof, i'll have to look into that. this toilet is the most used in the house, could it just have gone lazy?

thats all i can think of for now,
thanks chris


Thanks mark, I haven't tried the sawhorse trick yet but I probably will. I'll also try to check the roof vent as soon as I can. I'll let you all know how I make out.
Thanks for all the info and ideas. Chris

this is our downstairs toilet in the powder room. It was recently taken out while a new tile floor was installed and put back in with a new wax ring. I think I may have the answer. When I was the service trouble shooter for a large plumbing company we used to get calls like yours. "The toilet does not overflow; the water reaches the rim and gradually subsides, leaving the waste and a small amount of water in the bowl."
As a rule in older toilets this would mean a blocked jet butI was getting these calls on toilets that we just installed in our new construction. So when we got a complaint that one of our new toilets was having a flush problem I went out on the call. After a few calls I found the trouble. When our installers set a toilet the wax ring would spread in instead of out. This choked down on the opening setting up a back pressure that stopped the siphon action of the flush.
The remedy was to pull the toilet and form the wax seal so it beveled out and would spread out instead of in blocking the drain opening. I would have this checked first. After our plumbers began to bevel the ring out out complaints stopped. Good luck, Tom

I just sent Tom an PM and mentioned this to him so I'll share it with you too. Last time I had a problem like this I eventually found an orange juice can lid in the toilet trap. It worked like a perfect flapper valve. Sometimes it would be open and let everything pass, including a snake. Then the "valve" would flip and be a near perfect seal.

Here's mine Bob.

Rental property, tenant keeps complaining about stopped up toilet. I keep snaking out with small snake. A week later stopped up again. I rent a large snake. Clean out in basement won't come out so I knock a hole in clean out. Small bathroom, 2nd floor, large machine, the type you put together 30"sections of snake. Have husband working foot switch while I put together snake and feed down drain. Wife is in basement looking for blockage so I don't have to push all the way to the street. Instructed to bang on pipe when she sees something. It's hot, I frustrated, snake coils around my arm, husband doesn't let off switch quickly enough. Almost breaks my arm.

Suddenly there is banging on pipe. Husband goes down to see what's going on. Hear husband laughing and calling me. Now, I'm in no mood for levity, can't imagine what could be funny at this point. I go to basement, husband and wife laughing like they just heard the funniest joke of their life. Tell me to look in hole. There, grinning back at me, is a clowns face. Seem to be saying "I gotcha"

The infants hair brush, with a clown on the back, had fallen or was thrown in the toilet, made it through the turns and had gotten wedged in the pipe. My small snake would clear the paper and solids but went past the brush. Some how it got positioned just exactly right for the clowns face to be staring back at me through the hole.

Even I, had to laugh.

Harold, remember those wooden blocks with the numbers and letters on the sides? Found one of those in a shower trap. It is going to be something like that for Jarhead I'm sure.