I moved into a small house out in the country last summer. This is the first place I've lived with a septic tank (instead of city apartment sewer), but we're VERY careful not to flush anything but minimal TP, we never put food scraps down the sink, we don't use chemical pipe cleaners, etc. We've had frequent problems with the plumbing, and have had RotoRooter come out twice, and real plumbers twice also, over the past 8 months. I understand almost nothing about plumbing, but last time the toilets were overflowing, the plumber said we actually had a 90' pipe under the house that had simply come loose on both ends, and the toilets were just flushing out under the house (awful!) which he repaired (theoretically -- toilets stopped overflowing, but now one runs constantly so we must keep it turned off to avoid $250 monthly water bills, not an exaggeration!). The house is quite small, and the occupants are just me and my boyfriend. We do laundry only once a week. So there's my house's plumbing history, if that matters.

On to the current problem: For the past couple months, the sinks have gurgled when we've run the laundry machine. For a few weeks now, water has also begun splashing out of the sink drains when the gurgling starts -- not enough to overflow the sink by any means, but with enough splash-force to get the kitchen all wet. The water appears fairly clean, no debris or suds, but smells bad (a sort of sulfur, rotten eggy smell). Today, I ran the washer, and the sinks were quiet... but then the toilet (the one we do not have shut off) began to gurgle like crazy, and then some water came out around the base of the toilet. The bowl is dry, but the floor was all wet. (So weird! ) Now that it's not just the sink, I'm starting to think something major is wrong.

I'm not handy at all, so fixing it myself is a no-go. I've got a plumber coming in the morning. But after so many plumber visits etc. I am thinking I need to know SOMETHING specific to tell him to do, and I need to how to tell whether he's really fixing the problems or just taking me for a ride. Also, is it safe to use the toilet (either the one that leaked -- it has stopped now -- or the one that runs endlessly & is currently turned off) between now and when the plumber shows up?

Please advise!

Either your house sewer line is plugged, or your septic is full, or the drain field has failed. Basically, waste and water is getting stopped up somewhere and backing up into other fixtures. The toilet is leaking because of the extra pressure created by the back up has ruptured the wax seal under the toilet. Plain and simple, you have a plugged sewer, full septic tank, or drain field that is not dispersing water correctly. Ask the plumber to take his time, run lots and lots of water till the problem occures, and make sure he watches the level in the septic tank while doing this. Lots of options here, but a good plumber should be able to locate the problem. If the problem is in the septic tank, or drain field, the plumber will most likey suggest contacting a septic service company to have the tank pumped, or the drainfield inspected. If the problem is before the tank, the plumber should be able to take care of things. All depends on what is found. Main thing is to let them know you really need them to find the issue once and for all. Do know that it may be a simple fix, or it may run into a real spendy ordeal. Please let us know what they find.

Thank you so much for the input! I am waiting for the plumber right now. From reading other threads, I suspected it might a big problem like the sewer line or the septic tank and not just the washing machine causing havoc. While that's not exactly great news, I am really grateful to have advice on what to say to the plumber! Here's hoping for a simple fix... but above all, a fix that actually works.

Thanks again, I'll post back to let you know how it goes.

The plumber just left. You hit the nail right on the head, mygirlsdad77 -- my sewer line was plugged right before the septic tank. Happily, the plumber was able to snake it out, and that did it: no more gurgling or splashing anywhere when the washer runs. A good plumber (he said exactly what you did about what the problem could be I explained the symptoms to him, and he checked the septic tank and drain field before snaking the sewer line!), a simple fix, and now I can do laundry without fear. And it didn't cost me an arm and a leg, either!

Thank you so much for the support! I'm now a very happy camper :)

Thanks for the update. Glad things went smoothly for you. Take care.