Hello everyone,

I live in a war-time 60yr old home.
When we use the shower, the water drains very slow or takes a very long time to even start draining.
When it does eventually drain, it will suck the water out of the toilet and also the 2 sinks in the house will make sounds too when the water is draining.
AND when flushing the toilet, if you flush it twice right away, it will refill with water but drain itself right away and not refill (you can again hear the glugging sounds in the sinks and tub)

6months ago I had the same problem with the toilet bowl not holding the water... I would pour more water in and it would go down right away, so I went in the crawl space to find out the T-pipe (cast iron) had a 1-inch hole in it, so I put on a resin tape repair kit which seems to have resolved the issue until now but now the shower is taking a while to drain,.
Does anyone think the issue is the cracked pipe, OR is it a clog or blockage in the vent stack going out the attic...
Any ideas or tips would be great

I am thinking about replacing the T-pipe but its a lot of work and may have to hire a plumber (trying to cut back costs, in case that won't even fix the issue)

Thanks!

Shawn

Sounds to me like a vent stack blockage or partial blockage creating a vacuum and sucking water from the traps in the process of relieving the vacuum at the points of least resistance.

do you think its possible for the crack in the T cast iron pipe to be causing any issue in this equation?

-Shawn

I assume that is the point the drain meets the waste stack? Personally... I don't think so, but there will be additional input from far more experienced plumbers soon.

Edit... I re-read this.


I think you might have a partial blockage in the drain as well... you have symptoms that indicate both might be taking place... but keep in mind... part of what is a drain upstairs is also part of the vent downstairs...

If you visualise a stick tree with the branches as drains and the top center being the roof vent and the trunk as the main drain...

If the blockage is at the main part of the drain you will block anything from draining at that point... but also block air from lower drains that would releave the natural suction created from the draining process that would cause it to pull air through the P traps at the other lower points.

When we use the shower, the water drains very slow or takes a very long time to even start draining.
When it does eventually drain, it will suck the water out of the toilet and also the 2 sinks in the house will make sounds too when the water is draining.
AND when flushing the toilet, if you flush it twice right away, it will refill with water but drain itself right away and not refill (you can again hear the glugging sounds in the sinks and tub)
What you have described is a classic blocked vent problem. The crack in the tee has nothing to do with it. Pure and simple. There may be a partial clog, I don't know, but first things first. The lavatory roof vent must be snaked and cleared. Put out enough snake to reach the base and 20 feet more. Good luck, Tom

Thanks for the tips and ideas both of you, looks like my next step is to clean out the roof vent.


Thanks!