Help! Main floor drainage problems!

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cstewart09

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Hi there! Some background is that we just moved into this house about one month ago. We are renting it and it appears to be about 50-60 years old. I'm not sure if there is a name for it, but you walk through the front door at ground level and can walk up 8 stairs to the mainfloor or 8 stairs down to the basement which walks out to the backyard. The updates are visually appealing but there are key problems like it still runs on fuses and the furnace is old. The furnace motor has already been replaced since we moved in, an electrician had to come find out where the fault was that caused us to lose half the house power(turned out that an outlet wasn't connected properly and it blew), and now it's drainage problems. Things seemed okay before the cold snap, but since then we have to snake our toilet after each use, the tub holds water while you shower, the bathroom sink isn't draining properly and our dishwasher won't drain either (the sink the dishwasher is connected to drains fine)! We are so frustrated. The toilet overflowed when we all had the flu and caused a lot of damage in the basement. The basement bathroom, sinks, and washer work great. It's just the upstairs that is problematic. The main drain that the kitchen and bath are connected to run down the wall next to/in the brick work. So is it possible a line has froze? Everything is coincidental? Could it be the main line? The neighbour said he asked the owner how he vented the bathroom plumbing when he renovated but the owner didn't understand what he was asking, so I'm not sure if he touched the plumbing or left it as is. We are replacing the toilet tonight so I was thinking about running the auger we have down the pipe while it's open to see if we can feel a problem. Any other suggestions before the magical call to a plumber?
 

Cacher_Chick

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Without seeing how the DVW piping is installed in the house, it would be nothing more than a guess to try to answer your question.

Drains normally won't freeze as they are in a heated space and all liquids should gravity drain out of the home before there is any chance of freezing.
In the case of the main line going out, it should be installed in the ground below the frost line.

If you are on a septic system, it might need to be pumped, but that should effect all discharge from the house.
 
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hj

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quote; . We are replacing the toilet tonight so I was thinking about running the auger we have down the pipe while it's open to see if we can feel a problem. Any other suggestions before the magical call to a plumber?

1. Why would you replace the toilet before finding out WHAT the real problem is.
2. Ir is highly unlikely that you have a snake that would detect or clear any problem that could cause your symptoms
3. Call a plumber BEFORE you start spending, and probably wasting, money doing anything else.
4. If the basement is working "perfectly" you may have several small problems rather than one big one
5. Poor, or no, venting ONLY causes drainage problems when you also have additional conditions, not by itself.
 
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