Good morning,
1st time to this site. Answers seem very helpful. Here goes - I own a 2-story 1939 home. Question 1: It appears that the basement toilet and lav were added later and have their own separate vent outside -could this be correct? Basement toilet flushes fine. Question 2: 2nd floor toilet goes in and out of the problem of a very poor suction/flush. I recently replaced my old toilet w/a new 1.6 gal/flush model. Before that the old toilet would "seep" water every few months like it wouldn't seal with the wax ring. After replacing 3 or 4 wax rings in the course of 2 years I was tired of it and it was a very old model. Installed the new toilet 4 weeks ago, no problems until last night -- again now the suction is very poor but it worked fine for the 1st 4 weeks. My tub also drains very slow, has since we moved in. I've snaked the tub and sink drain in the past and I've also fished a small snake in the toilet drain toward the stack when I last pulled it to replace. I've read some other posts w/"venting" issues and this sounds like my case - could something be lodged in the vent so that the toilet worked perfectly for 4 weeks and now not as well as the tub drain being slower than usual some of the time? Would this explain why the basement works fine as well? We often hear "gurgling" sounds when the sinks drain and the tub drains - all due to a venting issue? Frustrated, looking for help and advice. Thanks - Woodrow.

BINGO! Right on! The gurgle you hear is the system attempting to vent through the fixtures traps instead of venting to the outside. This points to a blocked vent that must be snaked from the roof. Good luck, Tom

Thanks for the quick reply Tom,
I've got a 32' ladder at work that I can borrow to get to the roof. If I do see a large blockage, and rent a snake, will the snake "break" the blockage apart or pull it out toward the roof? If it breaks it apart, how can I be sure/best way to rinse or clear the vent so that the broken pieces of the clog do not obstruct the vent or drain further on down the line? Woodrow

If youcan see the blockage try to pull it back. If you can't see it then you must break it up and flush it out the house main. Rent a sewer machine with auger and spade tips. Try the auger first to auger into it and pull it back. If that fails change to a spade bit. Let out enough cable to reach the base and 20 feet more. After, flush the toilet a few times to move the mess out into the street main. Good luck and be careful up on the roof. Tom

I tried a few things this afternoon. 1) I got to the roof and over the vent pipe. Couldn't see anything with a powerful flash light - maybe 5-10'down max. Had an 8' length of 1" PVC and lowered inside - didn't feel any blockage. 2) Returned to basement, with help I was able to break loose a cleanout on the Y-flange at the lowest point in the basement vent stack. Didn't see anything or feel anything with a 5' snake going down, replaced cleanout cap. 3) Pulled toilet again on 2nd floor, checked underneath w/help for wax in case it was covering toilet flange - none. Wax ring on closet flange looked good, spread out a bit toward outside of opening so ready to reset when done. Ran 50' garden hose from slop sink in basement up to 2nd floor through laundry shoot and blasted water down waste pipe through closet flange opening - no backup occurred, drained as it should. Reset toilet. 4) Returned to roof with 25'+ of PVC (I glued together several spare lengths on the spot to make a long rod) and lowered entire length into vent - didn't feel any blockage or pull anything out when I removed PVC. 5) Tried toilet flush again on 2nd floor after cleaning up - working fine again, as it did after I replaced it w/new 4 weeks ago. Not complaining, but still not convinced as I still hear "gurgling" in the sink after the tub shower drains after use. No other tie-ins to vent stack except basement as I described earlier. Could I have pushed something "small and light" free when I ran the PVC down the vent or could there still be a blockage much further down the drain line? If still a blocked vent, not sure where as I don't have any other tie-in points. Final question tonight - could 2nd vent in ground outside basement (I assume this is for basement toilet, sink, and floor drain) be tied into main vent stack somehow? Took mushroom cap off - old, but looks clean. Thanks again for the advice. Woodrow