We live in a two story town home. We've lived there for two and 1/2 years now and we bought it as new construction. In that time we've had the same reoccurring problem about once every two to three months.

Just to give you a lay of the land, we have two full baths plus the washer and dryer on the second floor. The first floor has a half bath plus the dishwasher.

The problem is as follows. Every once in a while when we are running the washer as well as draining a bath tub or flushing a toilet we begin to hear a gurgling noise in the toilet. When that happens, unless we immediately stop what is draining, the water begins to back up in the 2nd floor toilets and bath tubs. Sometimes it's just soap suds and water from the washer but other times it's sewage.

I'm not exactly sure if this happens every time we do a certain combination of things but due to how infrequent it is I'm guessing it's not every time we run the washer and flush a toilet at the same time. The only constant is it happens when or right after we run the washer but of course not every time we run the washer.

Normally this corrects itself after a while. If we let it sit we will begin hearing another gurgling sound then everything will drain at once. At that time the problem is normally fixed for a while.

Right after we moved in we had a leak in the ceiling above the living room and under the master bath. We had it fixed (at least we thought) and they patched it up. We didn't think the problems were related until last night when our problem happened again and then the ceiling starting leaking in the same place. The leak basically outlined the patch so we removed the patch last night and the pipe above has a coupling right over where it was dripping. By that time the toilets had drained and the leak had stopped so we couldn't tell where on the pipe it was coming from. My best guess on this is the seal wasn't done properly and when the pipe gets full it leaks out of the coupling.

The problem has to be somewhere between the first and second floor because when this occurs the first floor is still okay and we can flush the toilets etc. without incident.

If this was a blockage problem it would say to me that it would happen much more frequent then it does. Plunging doesn't help and seems to make the problem worse.

Any help would be greatly appreciated because we are afraid to shower until we fix this issue.

I think there is a problem in your water pipe lines. Have you tried calling for a plumber and have it check? Also look for a bathroom expert they will know if your toilet and bath tub (http://www.bathroomandkitchenguide.com/Bathubs/7-sleek-and-modern-bath-tubs.html) are properly installed, if not let them fix it for you, before it can cause so much damage in your home.

The problem is as follows. Every once in a while when we are running the washer as well as draining a bath tub or flushing a toilet we begin to hear a gurgling noise in the toilet. When that happens, unless we immediately stop what is draining, the water begins to back up in the 2nd floor toilets and bath tubs. Sometimes it's just soap suds and water from the washer but other times it's sewage.
I'm not exactly sure if this happens every time we do a certain combination of things but due to how infrequent it is I'm guessing it's not every time we run the washer and flush a toilet at the same time. The only constant is it happens when or right after we run the washer but of course not every time we run the washer. If this was a blockage problem it would say to me that it would happen much more frequent then it does. Plunging doesn't help and seems to make the problem worse.
You have a partial blockage. This will allow drainage up to a point where the volume's too great and it backs up. Your drains need to be snaked and cleared. Plus the coupling on the tub should be redone as well. Unless you're real handy I would call in outside help for this. Good luck, Tom

We found the problem. Since this was a problem since the beginning and they are still building these town homes in our neighborhood we decided to give the builder a call and he sent out a plumber. The plumber didn't find anything wrong with the pipe. He then checked the access point which is on a wall in the kitchen. Apparently when they test new plumbing they put in a plug to stop anything large from falling through. They never took it out.

The good news is the builder paid for the plumber and is fixing our ceiling. It also gave us some leverage to get some other stuff taken care of that they never did.

Anyway thanks for your help.

And we thank you for the update. Tom