Originally Posted By: jday This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I did a house with 3 toilets that were acting up and I was wondering if anyone can tell me what might be going on.
There is a master bathroom, a half bath in one of the bedrooms and a full bath in the hallway. When you flush the master it fills up to the rim and takes forever to go down-the toilet in the half bath does the same. The hallway bath does just fine when it is flushed. The two slow ones will also gurgle when they finally do go all the way down. Would this be something wrong with the toilets or something with the plumbing?
Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Could be several different issues. Clogged line, bad venting, etc. Being the weenie that I am, I would state the problem in the report, and recommend further evaluation and repairs by a qualified licensed plumbing contractor.
Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeff,
Blaine said it to a tee.
Good advise Blaine! Observe & Report.
Do yourself a favor. If you find defects on your inspection that need to be corrected...always advise your client to have it repaired by a professional of that particular component.
Originally Posted By: rking This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jeff,
If it were just one toilet my opinion would be that it was clogged pretty good. Now if it is two, they are both clogged pretty good or else they are on the same trunk line awfully close together and ones problem is affecting the other.
It could also be that there is no venting for these toilets at all, how did the other fixtures in these baths drain?
If there is no vent I would tell my clients that the fixtures are not vented and as such cannot function as intended and recommend a qualified plumber be consulted for further evaluation.
If there is venting visible, I would tell my clients that it is impossible to know for sure exactly what the problem is without doing some investigating which then becomes technically exhaustive and is beyond the scope of a standard home inspection. And again recommend a qualified plumber for further evaluation.
-- Muskoka Home Inspections
"Wisdom is the Anticipation of the Consequences"
Steering Committee Member At Large
Originally Posted By: arosenbaum This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
If something isn’t vented right… it will still drain… I see S-traps all the time… but it takes forever for them to drain and they gurgle…(a sink with an S trap will gurgle pretty nicely)
Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
One way to find out where the stoppage is (to a point) is to remove the main sewer clean out outside the house. (yes, this is beyond the inspection, but this is for learning purposes)
If the toilets and all are draining slowly, slowly remove the clean out, if it is blocked to the street, water will come out as the cap is removed (if you have a big back up, be careful, you'll have a big mess), however, if the cap comes off and the line is dry, the stoppage is inside.
As stated, a clogged vent will still allow it to drain, slower, but still drain.
Originally Posted By: rhinck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
I had this problem a couple times- once a squirrel had gone down the roof vent , got stuck, and died. The second time the house had cast iron drains and had corroded on the top of the pipe and allowed it to suck air- hence toilet would not flush.
Originally Posted By: Mike Parks This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Sometimes the plumbers leave the test cap on the main stack. You can see this from the ground, if it is on top. There are two different types. One is in the pipe one is on top of the pipe.