Hello,

I was fortunate to be told by my girlfriend just as I was about to fall asleep that our toilet was clogged. After about 30 min. Using a closet auger (rotating as I slowly pushed it down the drain), the clog has not budged, nor can I really feel it when I'm augering. I ran the shower for five minutes and, other than draining slightly slowly (which it usually does), there doesn't appear to be a clog. Also, a couple of days ago I noticed the toilet bubbling when I was using the bathroom sink, but I guess I thought it was a fluke because it did not do that more than the one time. Am I missing something or am I using the auger incorrectly? Would pulling the toilet be the next step? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

No mystery here. How long was the auger you used ? What size of auger did you use ? What opening did you use to insert the auger through ?

Did you say "closet auger" ? Closet auger is 5' long ? You probably have never reached the blockage in first place...

Rent a drain snake with cable not smaller than 1/2", with good cutting point attachment and at least 35' long. You can reach the blockage through the roof using 3" or 4" stack or see if you have clean out behind the toilet. If positive than use the clean out. If nothing else works, remove the toilet and insert snake through toilet opening in the floor... Let us know how you did... Back to you. Milo

I'm with Milon with this. I don'think a closet auger's going to get it. Bubbling= back pressure, and that tells me that the blockage's past the toilet. Nothing backing up out of the shower? Do as Milo suggested and pull the toilet. I'm begaining to wonder what was flushed down the toilet.
Any children around with a toy? A baby with diapers? Kotex or Tampex? I'd be interested in hearing what you find. Good luck, Tom

Thanks guys.

Milo -- I used the closet auger in the toilet. No cleanout behind the toilet. So, I'll give the vent a shot.

Tom -- No children; just dogs. I'm kind of curious as to what I'll find to.

I'll let you know what I find. Thanks again for the tips.



Well, I ended up just pulling the toilet in the hopes that I might have missed the clog with the closet auger and also hopes that I didn't have to shell out more $. I, of course, was wrong, the drain/trap on the toilet looked beautiful (relatively speaking) and I noticed water in the closet bend. I brain farted and thought that it was just water in the trap and then I remembered that the trap is part of the toilet. So, I got a 50', 1/2 inch snake, and quickly realized that that was going to be a lot of work and felt as though I wouldn't be able to budge the clog since it was a cheapo model. However, I still had the closet auger auger handy and after a few hem and haws and busted the clog. I still have no idea what it was, unfortunately. I threw a bunch of toilet paper into the drain and ran water from the toilet supply down it and it works. So, I'm guessing the d=clog was somewhere in the closet bend? Isn't that unusual? Is it because I bought lower end toilet? Thanks again for the help; I have a lot of respect for what you guys do.

The cost of your toilet had nothing to do with the clog. The drain line or what got flushed had a great deal to do with it. Keep your fingers crossed and flush a lot for several days, praying that the "clog" completely flushes out to the riser.

Coingrats and kudos! Follow Bobs advice and keep checking to see if the clog wasn't pushed farther down the line, Good luck, Tom

It has to be the pipes then, since there are only two of us here and the only thing that goes down the toilet is toilet paper. The pipes are close to 70 years old and cast iron which I'm sure doesn't help the situation.

I just can't buy that a 4" cast iron pipe would hang up on just Ka-ka and TP. Got to be a better answer.
Cheers, Tom

Could it be sand from tools that I've washed in the sink? That's all I can thing of. But, still that would be the sink and not the toilet. If/when "it" comes back, I'll see if I can snag it and/or rent something with a camera.

Tom, I've seen a lot of old cast iron, and that stuff really liked to build up the junk over the decades. It just didn't have the smooth interior surface that the plastics do. Much of the old, and I mean really old cast, wasn't sloped much, and clogs directly after the closet bend seem to be a normal thing, (at least what I see when I tear it out to replace it with pvc). The new low flush toilets don't help this matter much, as the liquids outrun the solids. Any pipes after 70 years, even pvc are bound to clog up. Just the nature of the beast.



Bergs. There is a good chance that your sink drain ties into your toilet vent. Therfore, anything that goes down the sink, goes past the toilet. So yes, excessive sand going down the sink could very well have caused the issue. Sand is heavy, and doesn't flush well with normal water usage, so it will set in the bottom of the pipe and other materials (poo, toilet paper) will hang up on it.

Another thought I had is that it could be a tree root, but based on where I think the clog was, it seems unlikely. Also, I thought that tree roots usually affected clay pipe.

Tree roots can get inside even a cast pipe. If you have a root issue a plumber can run down a camera to verify and/or look for cracks and low spots, bellies. Once confirmed then you can look at various fixes. For now, fill your tub with hot water to the brim and then let it drain. If it all rains quickly you may be in the clear for awhile.

I will definitely fill the tub up and keep my fingers crossed. If that pipe does need to come up, the location (crawlspace) is going to be a pain for digging.

If its tree roots chances are great it will be away from the home. A SeeSnake (RIDGID Professional Tools Plumbing Pipe Pressing Locating Hand Woodworking Power Diagnostic Tools (http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/SeeSnake)can)) tell the exact distance down the drain line IF this even turns out to be the issue.

Congrat's getting it fixed on your own ! Milo

Thanks. I think next time this happens it's going to be time to call a plumber based on what everyone has said.

Therfore, anything that goes down the sink, goes past the toilet. It's not often I disagree with MGD but this is got to be one of them. Dad, it's the other way around,(see image) The toilet is the main branch with the lavatory as the secondary branch. So the toilet goes past the sink. As far as tree roots go, as a rule, tree roots will affect the entire drainage system and do not affect a single fixture and you don' clear out a growth of tree roots with a small hand held and a closet auger,
Besides, since the OP stated his sink was working those roots would have to be pretty selective to bypass the sink and focus on the toilet.
Going along with that I still think, since he caught the clog between the toilet and the sink, that something went down that toilet that didn't belong there. Just my take on it. Cheers, Tom

Well, I guess the title "mystery" was appropriate after all :)

Right you are Tom. I mispoke with the phrase, goes past the toilet. Should have said, goes in directly downstream of toilet Good catch.

It's back. I posted a picture this time in hopes that it will help for visualizing the situation. Today, I plan to pull the toilet again and snake as I did last time which I hope will buy time 'till the weekend when I (or a plumber) can fix it for good.

I have a couple questions, though. I'm hoping to make this repair as painless as possible. To give you a lay of the land -- the horizontal pipe on the right is coming from the vanity which feeds into the black (vertical tee). The top connection on the tee goes to the toilet / vanity vent. The bottom connection goes to the main sewer line and the middle connection goes to the 90 which handles the toilet. I'm assuming the clog is in the 90 based on the fact that the vanity has not backed up. If this is the case, I'm wondering if there is any way to just replace the 90. I'm assuming the joints are lead oakum and was thinking of using a snap cutter where the pipe enters the top of the 90 and somehow removing the bottom of the 90 by banging on it. Is this realistic? Do I have any other options? Thanks in advance.

Update -- I now believe the clog is at the bottom of the tee. I say this because, although the sink hasn't backed up yet, with the toilet off and the sink running, I can see the water in the toilet drain rising, yet with the shower/tub running the water doesn't rise. I'm guessing you're going to tell me that I need to replace the tee?