Hello Plumbing experts.

Please bear with me, I'll do my best to explain what's going on, but I'm not a plumber, I don't know what everything is called, I can only tell you what's going on.

We have two bathrooms in our house, one upstairs and one downstairs. The toilet in the downstairs bathroom is less than a year old, a high efficiency flusher. The toilet upstairs in around 16 years old.

It started with the toilet upstairs. We flush, and the water runs, it tries to go down, but it doesn't. The water, and whatever has been done in the toilet (don't want to go tmi) all just come back up. Some of it would go down, but only a tiny percent. It would take 5 more more flushes before the toilet bowl is clear of anything but water.

That lasted for a few months, then suddenly the toilet stopped doing even that. Now every time we flush, even if you're just doing number one, we have to use a plunger as the toilet starts to overflow.

We figured it was just an issue with the toilet, but now the basement toilet is doing the same thing.

My thought is that something is clogging the pipes, but my husband disagrees. Even if that is the issue, I have no idea how to fix it without calling a plumber, and I really can't afford to do that right now. On the other hand, the water bills are skyrocketing because of this, so that may be the cheaper of the two.

My husband is fairly handy with plumbing. If it's something easily fixed, he'll be able to do it, we just don't know where to start.

Any ideas?

I'm not a plumber either but it's pretty simple, really. Plumbing isn't that complicated - you put stuff down the drain, it goes through your house and out to the sewer, unless something is stopping it.

It sounds like your sewer main is blocked - either the stack pipe in the house, or the line out to the sewer in the street. Do your neighbors have the same problem? You could have tree roots that have broken into your pipes or other issues. If you have septic, maybe the tank needs to be emptied or serviced. Do your sink drains, tubs and showers drain properly, or are they slow, too?

Sometimes plumbing doesn't drain well because the system is not vented properly but I don't think this would explain what you are experiencing.

In any event, this does not sound like a do-it-yourself problem to fix, and will need to be fixed ASAP to prevent a major sewer backup in your house.

My take is you have a moving blockage, not a toilet issue. The blockage is somewhere after the downstairs toilet. It sounds like it was in the line from upstairs and now has moved down. Toy perhaps? If it is now backing into the basement toilet, remove it and, If your husband is handy, auger from there.

My thought is that something is clogging the pipes, but my husband disagrees.
I agree with you. Something was blocking the pipe to upstairs toilet and has now moved down and is blocking both.

Have Hubby rent a snake from tool rental place. Purchase a pair of leather gloves. Purchase a toilet wax ring.
Turn off water to downstairs toilet at valve on the wall underneath the toilet tank. Remove tank lid and place in safe place. Flush toilet, hold handle down until water in the tank has drained. Remove remaining water with a small cup and sponge. Plunge all the water out of the bowl that you can. Remove remaining water with cup and sponge. Remove nuts on toilet hold down bolts. Lift toilet up and sit on newspaper or card board.

Snake toilet pipe with snake, putting out all of the snake. Flush up stairs toilet to see if you have cleared pipe.

Remove old wax ring and install new one. Sit toilet back in place. Reinstall nuts on hold down bolts and snug them up equally. Sit down on toilet and take a break. When you sit toilet back in place you should feel some resistance as wax ring is compressed.

After you break, tighten the nuts on the hold down bolts equally. Do no over tighten, you can break toilet. Should be just tight enough to prevent toilet from twisting side to side.

Take Alty to dinner for saving you the cost of a plumber.

Since we have two toilets let's taken them one at a time. Let's call the upstairs potty "toilet #2 and the one down #!
When you flush #2 does it overflow on the floor or does it build up to the top of the bowl, swirl around and then slowly go down without taking anything with it? Does flushing #2 have any effect on #1? How old is your house? Do you own a closet auger? (see image) If not they work much better then a plunger.
You're doing just fine Alty, hang in there and we'll get those pottys back on line in no time. Back to you, Tom

Thanks everyone.

I'll let hubby read all of this and hopefully he'll have time to take care of it this weekend. I had a feeling that something was clogging the pipes, but hubby insisted that wasn't it. Maybe he's not as handy with plumbing as I thought. ;)

We have a snake thingy. I've used it on the sink when we've had a clog before. We may have a closet auger, that's hubby's department, I don't do plumbing, I work with wood. :)

Our sinks and other drains are draining fine, no issues there.

I love the "take Alty to dinner" part. That's advice that hubby definitely has to read.

Tom, to answer your questions. The upstairs toilet will raise to the top, and then swirl and slowly go down. If you flush a second time it does the same thing, or overflows completely. Flushing one toilet does nothing to the other.

Our house is 16 years old.

Last but not least, I'm Andrea, not Carol. :) >I edited his post. :) We'll talk about MY toilet next.<

Before you do all that snaking here's what I'd like you to try on toilet #2.
You will see a small hole in the bowl. This is called the jet, Take your finger and feel in the hole. Ugh! It should feel smooth and not rough or built up with minerals. If you find any mineral buildup take a old kitchen knife and put a bend in it to get past the curve in the bowl and chip and scrape it clear. Does it flush Ok Now?

Take Alty to dinner for saving you the cost of a plumber. But wash your hands first! Back to you, Tom

I have to agree with Tom here. This now sounds more like individual toilet issues. Clean the jet hole as suggested, and also take a metal coat hanger and use it to clear all the rim holes(located directly under the rim of the bowl, you can feel them more than you can see them, and they are normally not straight in, but slightly angled (all in the same direction)). Both the jet and the rim holes start the actual flushing action. If any of them are plugged up, the toilet will do what you are describing. Try this with the older #2 toilet first and let us know how things work out. Also, it may do wonders to run the actuall closet auger through the toilet. If neither of these two things seem to make a difference, we will take the next step. Good luck.

I think I'll wait for hubby to do this. I found gloves, I bent the knife, and damn, that's nasty work. I didn't feel anything to chip off with the knife though. I hope that's a good sign.

Hubby is on nights, so I'll get him to read this thread tomorrow before he heads off to work, and get him to try the things you all suggested. If I do it I'll probably end up flooding the house. I've already been there once, which is why we have a new toilet downstairs. ;)

I'll let you all know how hubby's handiwork works out. Thanks for all the suggestions. :)

Just to add, I finally saw the link you posted of the picture of a toilet auger. Yes, we have one of those. :)

Hello Alty,

You don't need to wait for your hubby for this we know you can do it, good luck.

John

John

Hello Alty,

You don't need to wait for your hubby for this we know you can do it, good luck.

John

John

LOL! Afaroo, I agree, I can do it. The thing is, I really don't want to. It's a bit gross. ;)

I can do it. The thing is, I really don't want to. It's a bit gross. I've always said. Working with stopped up drains and toilets is a dirty nasty job best left to us dirty nasty plumbers. However if you're willing to get your hands dirty we can walk you through the repair. Let me know what hubby finds, Good luck, Tom

I'm sorry guys. This last week has been hell. My husbands car died a slow painful death, which means we're sharing my car until the parts come in for his. In other words, the toilets have been the last thing on our minds.

He did look at this thread today, and he plans on doing what was suggested tomorrow while I'm at work. He'll be home than.

I'll let you guys know what happens tomorrow. If hubby doesn't do it, I guess I'll have to suck it up and give it a try. :)

Looking forward to hearing how things work out. Best of luck.

Looking forward to hearing how things work out. Best of luck.

You may be hearing a lot of curses, and a bit of sobbing, because I have a feeling I'm going to be the one doing this. I can honestly say that pluming interests me, but I'd really like to steer clear of toilets. Just saying. ;)

Heck toilets aren't so bad. My dogs drink out of mine all the time and they seem to be fine. It is a little disturbing when my girls forget to flush and I find one of the dogs drinking away, but even then they seem unfazed. Since they don't mind drinking it, Im betting we can get you to at least put your hands in there.

Heck toilets arent so bad. My dogs drink out of mine all the time and they seem to be fine. It is a little disturbing when my girls forget to flush and I find one of the dogs drinking away, but even then they seem unfazed. Since they dont mind drinking it, Im betting we can get you to at least put your hands in there.

LMAO! Mygirlsdad, your house sounds a lot like mine.

So hubby didn't have time, or didn't feel like doing the things on my list, so I asked him for the snake, and the other doohickey, and I went to town. I now officially hate toilets. At this point I'd rather have an outhouse, no flushing issues.

I got the snake down, and nothing really happened. Nothing came up with it when I pulled it back out, same with the other thingy (Why can't I remember what it's called?).

I checked to see if there was deposit, and there isn't, at least not as far as I can tell while wearing rubber gloves and wishing I was in Hawaii.

Is it possible that there's a clog that's just too deep for the snake or the other thing?

I'm debating on buying some drano. Will that help, or is that a very bad idea, especially considering that I also have dogs that drink out of the toilet on occasion?

Did I just do it wrong? That's possible.

Right now I'm looking in the phone book for plumbers that will work for beer and a good meal. Sigh. :(

We really need to get our arses in gear and move out of this money pit.

I'm debating on buying some drano. Will that help, or is that a very bad idea, As a repair plumber I have never recommended using harsh chemicals. In your drainage system. Besides they only seem to work in TV commercials and when you try to remove the water you could burn your hands or damage your eyes.
Please try what I suggested and get back with the results. Tom

Tom, I did try what was suggested.

Yesterday when I used the snake nothing came "up" so to speak, when I pulled it back out. But today the toilets are both flushing better.

Is it possible that whatever was stuck, if that was indeed the problem, got pushed down instead of being pulled up by the snake and auger thing?

I haven't had to use the plunger once today. I'm holding my breath hoping that the issue is fixed.

Thank you all for your time and patience. I think it's fixed, thanks to all of you. :)

Great! Let's hope that was it. See you around Alty, Cheers Tom

Great!! Let's hope that was it. See ya around Alty, Cheers Tom

I hope that's it. Every time I flush the toilet I hold my breath hoping that it doesn't start backing up again. But it's been flushing all day, I even got the flush sound back, and I haven't had that in a long time, since the toilet wasn't draining. It is now.

Hubby was very impressed by the way. :)

Glad to hear things have improved. Hope it stays that way. Did you ever try cleaning the little holes directly under the rim? I have to do mine and the jet about every six months.

Glad to hear things have improved. Hope it stays that way. Did you ever try cleaning the little holes directly under the rim? I have to do mine and the jet about every six months.

I didn't do that MGD (That's my new nickname for you). I think that this chore will be hubby's responsibility. I've gotten my hands dirty enough. ;)

So far so good though. I have to say, I'm pretty darn proud of myself. I'm actually thinking I could install the new faucet we bought for the kitchen. It's leaking. Badly. Badly enough that I have a huge section of drywall that fell off my ceiling in the basement. Huge section. It's all water damage, and hubby is certain it's due to the kitchen or bathroom faucet.

Like I said, this is a money pit. We have to get out of here.

We're glad your toilet problem's been resolved. What's next? Is there anything else we can help with? Just let us know. Tom

We're glad your toilet problem's been resolved. What's next? Is there anything else we can help with? Just let us know. Tom

If you know anything about patching up a ceiling I'd love to pick your ear. Actually, that part I can handle, it's solving the water damage issues before I patch it that's the issue. Hubby swears the water damage is because of the tap in the tub upstairs, or the tap in the kitchen. I don't see how a leaky tap could do that much damage downstairs. A section of drywall literally fell off the wall, it was that soaked.

What is directly above the damaged drywall, kitchen of bath? Any signs of water damage in the kitchen sink cabinets. With ceiling drywall down you should be able to see where the water is coming from.

What is directly above the damaged drywall, kitchen of bath? Any signs of water damage in the kitchen sink cabinets. With ceiling drywall down you should be able to see where the water is coming from.

We have a bi-level. Directly above the missing drywall is the kitchen. We did have a major leak a few months ago. Our dishwasher malfunctioned, and I came home to a lake in the kitchen. We had to pull up the laminate floors when that happened. But that's not when the drywall fell.

We replaced the dishwasher and all is fine now with that. I can't see a leak, all I see is yellow insulation and a big silver pipe. The insulation was soaked when the drywall fell. It has now dried out.

At first I thought this leak was because of the dishwasher issue, but sections around the missing drywall are now getting water spots, and another section for the downstairs roof is looking like it may fall. It's wet to the touch. So it must be something else that's still leaking, which could only be in the kitchen, or the bathroom which is only around 5 feet from the kitchen.

another section for the downstairs roof is looking like it may fall
You should remove that so that it doesn't fall on your head and so that you can see where the water is coming from. Any drywall that is that wet will have to be removed eventually anyway. Also remove any wet insulation. Put down a drop cloth and then just pull drywall down with your hands.

Is silver pipe metal, how big, 1" 2"?

Your most important job isn't the drywall. It's getting up in the ceiling and locating the source of the leak.
You're not even sure what room the leak's coming from. The first step in a repair like this is locating the source of the leak. And that's your job. Only then can we come back with a solution. Good luck and let us know, Tom

Was toilet upstairs that was previously backing up in that bath?

Was toilet upstairs that was previously backing up in that bath?

Yes.

Replace the wax ring under that toilet. No guarantee but that is a likely place for the leak to be occurring.

Have we determined which room the leak's coming from yet? Let me know, tom

Pretty sure Tom and I are thinking alike. Find the source of the leak first, or at the very least the general area up in the ceiling. If the cause of the toilet upstairs had been a stopped up toilet drain, I would agree that the wax ring may have been ruptured due to excessive pressure while backing up. However, I think you have your toilet problem solve, and it was merely a blockage in the toilet itself? Hard to say for sure. One way to find out would be to remove that sheetrock and insulation and flush the toilet a bunch of times. Just got to do a little detective work for us to help you take the next step, okay?