When I flush the toilet, I hear bubbling in the tub drain. No water comes up the tub drain, but I hear bubbling. WHAT IS THIS?? Could this predict a future backup or something? ;)

Carole,
Seems like we met before. Let me explain about vents. When you flush a toilet or drain a bathtub a suction is created by the water rushing down the pipe. This suction is relieved by a open pipe that runs to the outside called a vent. When a vent's stopped up the suction has to relieve itself somewhere, in this case your tub. The noise you hear is air being pulled through the trap by suction. Go up on the roof and shine a light down the lavatory vent. I've seen birds nests, dead birds and critters caught down there and if you can't see anything you're going have to snake out the lavatory vent to your bath group. Let out enough cable to get to the base and then put out enough to get to the main house sewer. Good luck. Tom

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Originally Posted by speedball1

Carole,
Seems like we met before. Let me explain about vents. When you flush a toilet or drain a bathtub a suction is created by the water rushing down the pipe. This suction is relieved by a open pipe that runs to the outside called a vent. When a vent's stopped up the suction has to relieve itself somwhere, in this case your tub. The noise you hear is air being pulled through the trap by suction. Go up on the roof and shine a light down the lavatory vent. I've seen birds nests, dead birds and critters caught down there and if you can't see anything you're going have to snake out the lavatory vent to your bath group. Let out enough cable to get to the base and then put out enough to get to the main house sewer. Good luck. Tom

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Both my neighbor and myself live in a mobile home. Never thought about checking the vents on the roof for a dead animal or branches/leaves being stuck & blocking vent. I have a bubbling in my bathroom sink when the toilet is flushed and my neighbor has a bubbling in the toilet when the tub is draining. Will have to let her know what you said about taking a flashlight and checking the vents. Thanks for the great post-it sure will help both of us.

Hi! I saw your posting regarding cleaning the vent on the roof. There is no vent on my roof. Would you happen to know where else I might find such a vent? I can't find one anywhere.

Both the toilets in my house flush about every 4th or 5th time, partially the first few, then finally a complete flush. Whenever we flush either toilet you can hear it in both tubs and sinks. Please please help if you have any.

Alyce

There must be at least 2 vents on your roof... all indoor plumbings need vent to work properly

There are exactly 0 vents on my roof. A man built this house by hand apparently in 1968. You can't get into the attic either... no vents.

Alyce

I am sorry to hear that... welll you should put them in next time you renovate your bathroom... vent also vents out sewage gas

You may as well have vents added. When a house is sold, the seller is responsible for making it meet code. Code requires vents. Check the legal area here to see if it is too late to make who you bought it from pay to fix it. Let them know where the house is, and when you bought it. Otherwise, you may put up with the problem, and then pay to fix it after you sell. Tom, what about other options than running the vents to the roof?

If you only have to go up one story and can go through interior walls, it may not be too bad of a job. Access to the attic may not be that much of a job either. Cut a hole in the ceiling somewhere and frame around it with double joists. I am not sure if code requires access to the attic or not.

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Originally Posted by alyce13

There are exactly 0 vents on my roof. A man built this house by hand apparently in 1968. You can't get into the attic either.... no vents.
Alyce

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Hi Alyce,

Every fixture that has a trap MUST be vented. This is not only code but also protects you and your familys health. Draining a unvented fixture will lower the water seal in the trap through suction. This allows sewer gas to escape . Sewer gas is not only a health hazard but the methane content is explosive as well.
Let me explain about vents. The best example I can give in take a straw and place in a glass of water. Now put your thumb over the straw and pull it out of the water. Is it full of water? Now take your thumb off. You have just vented that straw. When you pull a plug or flush a toilet the water going down the pipe sets up a suction. This has to be relieved by outside air. Hence a pipe through your roof. If the vent is blocked by a birds nest, dead critter, or ice the water will pull suction through the nearest trap and you will hear a gurgle. It may be a fixture trap or the toilet may talk to you but you will hear it someplace. It is possible for the suction to pull enough water out of a trap to have sewer gas escape and if that happens you are gambling with your families health. For your families sake call out a plumber and have him check your plumbing system. Let me know how you make out. Regards, Tom

Please answer my question

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Originally Posted by carole

When I flush the toilet, I hear bubbling in the tub drain. No water comes up the tub drain, but I hear bubbling. WHAT IS THIS?????????? Could this predict a future backup or something? ;)

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Toilet flfush causes bubbling noise in tub

Bubbling indicates a partial blockage in the drain line. This is caused by the discharge hitting the blockage and bouncing back sending a bubble of sewer gas ahead of it. That's the bubbling sound that you hear. The solution would be to snake the drain line downstream from the toilet. This can usually be got at through the lavatory roof vent. Good luck, Tom

6 years late, but maybe this will help future readers... mobile homes (and some additions) choose to use internal vents, which are just pressure plugs on a pipe. They don't less gas in the house, but when the water tries to create a vacuum in the pipe, the plug opens and lets air in as needed. They're usually under sinks, and are suppose to be within 6 feet of plumbing fixtures, though mobile home 'code' isn't as strict as home building codes, so there may just be one at the 'end of the line'. I know that doesn't answer the question, so some other suggestions, how improbable, I donno, but could be there was a clog that someone plunged and forced the blockage toward the vent (if it was something that didn't happen before but does now). If it's ALWAYS done that, then chances are it just wasn't vented. To that, you can add one of the vents I just described...