We have city sewer and live in a 4-yr old 2-story house with a garage underneath. We have a 15-yr old Maytag W/D on the top floor. When the laundry drains, the downstairs toilet bubbles (alot). This has been happening since we moved in to the new house. Recently, we have noticed a foul smell (sewer gas?) at the same time coming from our kitchen sink (also on the main floor). For this reason, we are trying to get the problem solved. The plumber was here today for alomost 5 hrs. He snaked all lines and checked pitch and vents, etc... $500 he is totally perplexed. The problem persists. He recommended trying a different laundry detergent. Seriously! What should we do? AND should we be liable for all the service that did not help at all?

Let me explain about bubbles and gurgles. When your fixtures begain to talk back to you they do it in two ways. They "gurgle" atcha or they "bubble" atcha. The "gurgle" is caused by vacuum caused by a blocked vent. The "bubble" is caused by back pressure that could be due to a number of things. Since you say you have a bubble, indicating air being forced back up the sewer line by the sudden backup of the washer discharging. This bubble comprises sewer gas and that's where the smell cfomes into play. I don't care what the plumber told you, back pressure, (bubbles) are caused by a partial clog downstream from the fixture that's doing the bubbling**or** a drain line that's just not large enough to carry the volume away**or** a faulty plumbing design, perhaps a 90 degree ell that impedes the flow and sets up a backpressure when the washer discharge hits it. This gives your plumber 3 doors to choose from. Which door do you think he''ll pick? Good luck, Tom

In response to which door the plumber chose, he suggests the house is not vented properly. He says the main vent that runs up into the attic should run vertically through the roof but instead takes a 90 degree turn and runs horizontally for about 12 feet, then up. He thinks this placement was done for aesthetics to avoid seeing the vent from the front of the house. In addition, there are (studor?) vents for the powder room WC and the kitchen sink. (The 2 trouble spots) He feels these vents may also be inadequate. Your thoughts?

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Originally Posted by Christy Strother

In response to which door the plumber chose, he suggests the house is not vented properly. He says the main vent that runs up into the attic should run vertically through the roof but instead takes a 90 degree turn and runs horizontally for about 12 feet, then up. He thinks this placement was done for aesthetics to avoid seeing the vent from the front of the house. In addition, there are (studor?) vents for the powder room WC and the kitchen sink. (The 2 trouble spots) He feels these vents may also be inadequate. Your thoughts??

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Tippty-tap tippty-tap-tap anna soft shoe slide. I just love watching plumbers attempt to tapdance there way out of a problem they can't explain. And your plumber didn't pick any of the doors I provided. Instead he blamed the vents. Unbelievable!

Your plumber didn't pick up on what I was laying down about bubbles and gurgles.
His theory fails in two places. (1) It doesn't make the slightest bit of difference how many twists and turns a vent takes before it exits the roof.
We're talking air, not liquid drainage. Bends, twists, horizontal runs, none of which will impede the flow of air in a venting system.
(2) If this were a venting problem you would hear the system attempting to vent through the traps or the toilet. This producing a gurgle not a bubble. B ubbles are produced by back pressure in the drainage system, not the venting system. In short your plumber focused on the wrong system.

I could agree on a plumbing design flaw in the drainage, undersized piping, some 90's in the drainage that might impede flow and set up backpressure. But that would mean the problem was ongoing from the trime the house was built.
If you've been the only tenets has this been a problem since day one? Talk to me, Tom