[TheWonderer]

We have just recently moved into a 1400 sq ft apartment in Raleigh North Carolina. Both toilets started giving us trouble right away. They would flush paper OK but not poo and both toilets bubbled, something we have never seen before. We called the apartment office and maintenance has been in to 'fix' them 5 times. They ran a short snake down both, raised the floater balls a bit to allow for more water to go with each flush hoping to give the toilets a bit more power. And even took one of the toilets completely off the floor to look up in the bottom and down the floor. They have found no clogs and are stumped. They don't seem to think the bubble is anything to be concerned about.

They finally called in a "real plumber". But all he did was watch each toilet flush and run a short handheld snake (about 3 foot) down each and declared that both toilets looked fine to him. :rolleyes: I asked him what was with the bubble and he said it meant that the ventilation in the apartment was really good. That there is a pipe that leads up to the roof and it was clearly giving the toilets plenty of air. :confused:

This is exactly what happens when we flush either toilet:
As soon as we press the lever a large bubble comes out of the small hole that's inside the larger hole. Only about half the water in the back tank empties out as it flushes. But the bowl fully empties. It refills fine until it's almost done then we get a few small bubbles that come in as it finishes filling.

But if someone has had a bowel movement then the bubble comes out, things start to go down but the poo doesn't get very far down before it all pretty much stops. The water will slow in draining and then stops. Nothing has left the bowl and it's already 'clogged'. It takes a lot of plunging and several flushes to get it all gone.

The water pressure in the apartment isn't very good either. If water is running anywhere then the water will run very poorly anywhere else. So we try to only run one thing at a time. There are only two toilets here and the are at opposite ends of the apartment from each other. But the toilets work poorly even if nobody else is running any water.

Sorry for such a long post but wanted to make sure I gave as much info as possible. I feel like I'm surrounded by idiots, or am I the idiot?

[speedball1]

A bubble out of your toilets indicates a blockage downstream from the fixture that's doing the bubbling. Any experienced plumber should know that. Just running a closet auger down the toilet and peeking down a open closet bend is just wasted time. The drain lines will have to be snaked, with a real sewer snake, and cleared. This can be done from a roof vent or from a open closet bend.
As for your low water pressure when more then one fixture makes a draw that indicates (1) Undersized pipes **or** (2) old galvanized pipes that have minerals built up in the pipe walls constricting the flow. My bet's on door number two. Good luck, Tom

[TheWonderer]

Thanks so much for such a quick reply Speedball. I just got a call today from the apartment office, apparently they plan to install an industrial toilet in one of the bathrooms to see it that will help. They said if it does help then they will install a second one in the other bathroom too. I figure I will let them install it. Why not get a new better toilet out of this mess. But if what you say is true then it won't matter and the bubbles will still be there. Then I will show them what you said and see if I can get them to run a longer snake. The toilet is supposed to be installed sometime tomorrow, so will see soon if it makes any difference or not.