[kaos26]

My toilet has not been giving me any problems before now. Night before last, the temperature got below freezing. When I went to bed in the evening, it flushed fine. The next morning, the line was blocked almost completely. When I would flush the toilet, the bowl would fill with water, then gradually flow through. It continued like this all day yesterday, and was still the same this morning. I flushed it intermittedly, with the same (lack of) results. Finally, this evening, I flushed it, the water acted as though it was going to do the same, then I heard a loud clunk in the line, and the water flowed out. I put hot water in the bowl, then flushed it again, and it is fine (although if freezing is the problem, then I suppose it could happen again tonight). I live in an apartment, and my manager says it is not possible for a waste line to freeze, saying I had to have been at fault (she says she has discussed the problem with a plumber who assured her of this). At no time since the onset of this blockage was there any waste in the toilet, or backup--the water has been clear. My apartment heat has been on. The pipes run underneath the floor, in a crawl space, between it and the ground. The crawl space has concrete walls, and is 2 to 3 feet tall. I live in Oregon, so although we do get freezing temps during the winter, especially at night, it is not like living in Alaska or Wyoming. Please tell me if a frozen waste line is a possibility, or, if not, what is likely to be the cause of the problem. I assumed the clunk I heard was ice breaking loose, or maybe even a pipe cracking. I cannot afford a plumber and need info to pass on to my apartment manager so she will call one if the need is there.

Thank you,
KRO

[letmetellu]

If you toilet drain line is expose to the cold air it is possible for it to block the pipe with ice. This is one way that it could happen, lets say that you have a small bit of water running through your commode constantly, if the weather is cold enough and the cold air gets to your pipe it can start to freeze and just like the icicles freeze coming off the edge of your house so can this water freeze in the pipe. It would not have to be completely blocked to cause you problems. It could have been just enough to cause the actions you described. Finally enough water went through the pipe to thaw the ice and it went down the drain