[gabbenante]

I have a single level home on slab in Ventura County Ca. It's a ~1963 built 2 bathroom layout that's a mirror of each other (back to back)

Outside of house access hole ~4 feet from the ground*
__________________________________||_________
Bathtub | wall | Shower Stall

Toilet | wall | Toilet

Sink | wall | Sink

________________________
Hallway
________________________

Yesterday the shower stall started filling up with water and would not drain.
*I tried snaking through this access hole with motorized 25' x 5/16" cable but this didn't seem do anything to relieve the backed up water that was in both the tub and shower stall. Eventually what seemed to be earth (topsoil color) appeared in both the tub and the shower stall.
However both toilets are able to flush without any restriction whatsoever.

So it seems that the toilets drain to the main line separately from the tub/shower. I don't understand if this is correct or not and would like to know/understand how this works.
Thank you
Greg

[Milo Dolezal]

Hello from Woodland Hills,

The tub and shower connect to one common pipe, then continue under slab and connect into large sewer pipe past toilet connection. That common pipe is clogged somewhere before it connects with that toilet pipe. That's why toilet works, tub and shower don't. You need to keep snaking it until you push through the blockage...

See the attached sketch. I assume this is your bathrooms lay-out. If so, the blockage is somewhere in the green, common drain.

Let me know if you need professional help. I have very good friend, drain cleaning specialist based in Thousand Oaks, Ca. He is a honest guy with years of experience and his company has superior reputation in the area.

Back to you

Milo

[gabbenante]

Milo,Thank you for your explanation and sketch as well! I was able to get things flowing after some more snaking accompanied with drano.In relation to your sketch, the black line with the arrow at the end would be parallel to the street and the left side of the sketch the front of the house.So the main line in the front of the house to the street is oriented right to left (towards the street)The tub and shower are along the side wall of the house.Is it possible that toilets would go from right to left straight towards the front of the house, and that the shower and tub line parallels that to the front and that they join in the front of the house?The reason I ask is that I'm pretty sure that the pipes in/under the slab are metal, but in the front, the lines are terra cotta.Where the terra cotta meet and join (bath/toilets on side, laundry and kitchen sink on the other) to the main terra cotta that goes to the street, I had to have that connection replaced and a new line pulled through replacing the terra cotta due to excessive root invasion.But there still remains terra cotta between the end of the metal pipes (toilet and laundry side) and the new connection.So I was thinking maybe its root invasion on the remaining terra cotta on the toilet side of the front yard which is why I envisioned the blockage more toward the front of the house (street side) as opposed to close to the toilet which is all metal piping.I was wondering about this seeing the blockage seemed to be earth (topsoil in nature)Do you think that might be possible or could the blockage be so close as depicted in your sketch?Thank your for your sharing your experience, I appreciate your input.I would in fact like the number of your friend as I can see I have a leak somewhere under the shower pan and will need someone to fix or recommend what should be done.Thanks again!Greg