Toilet Backup in condo - help

[thorne]

We've been having problems with our plumbing and are hoping for some opinions as to the cause.

We live in on the 3rd and 4th floor of a 4 story stack townhouse condo complex. We have neighbours below us and on all sides of our unit. Six months ago the powder room toilet (on the 3rd floor) starting gurgling and within a minute, sewer water starting spewing out of the toilet and flooded the entire floor. The water wouldn't stop overflowing until we shut off the water. The PM sent a plumber who snaked the drain, but did not find any clogs. There had been a heavy rainfall a couple of days before that and we asked whether that could have cause the backup, but he didn't say one way or another. We accepted it as a freak incident and let it go.

Fast forward to last Friday evening. While I was taking a shower (in the main bathroom on the 4th floor), my roommate said that the powder room toilet was gurgling. We tried flushing the toilet on the 4th floor and the 3rd floor one gurgled. By the time the PM sent the plumber over Saturday morning, we couldn't flush the 3rd floor toilet anymore as it was completely clogged and full of water. The same plumber came and snaked the drain again and pulled a plastic bag up. The water still wasn't draining away so he snaked it again and hit something. Whatever it was, it broke off and the water drained away completely.

Now tonight, while taking a shower, the 3rd floor toilet starting gurgling again. Now we're too afraid to use the toilet, take a shower, do the laundry or use the kitchen sink. What could be the problem? It appeared that the plumber unclogged the drain, but why are we having problems again? We definitely did not flush anything other than human waste and toilet paper.

I know we have never flushed any foreign objects such as plastic bags down the toilet so could it have come from other units or from the sewer? The plumber said that all units have their own branch of pipes that all go out to the main drain, but I would imagine our and our neighbours' pipes are somewhat connnected? He said that he was 99% sure that we were at fault, that we might have unknowingly dropped the bag in the toilet. We were adamant that we did no such thing, but he said that the clog was contained within our unit. I asked about whether it could have come up from the sewer, but he said that sewer drain is completely different and has nothing to do with the sanitary drain.

Can anyone shed some light as to what may be the real cause? This is stressing me out so much. I'm worried it could be a bigger problem than a simple clog because it were only a simple clog, I wouldn't be having this problem again less than a week later!

 

[Jadnashua]

It would be unusual for your drain to be separate all the way to the main sewer. Depending on what was used to snake the line and the skill of the operator, it is quite possible that it wasn't snaked far enough, or if a small diameter head was on it, it just poked a hole in the obstruction and didn't clean it and it quickly got reclogged. BTW, the last thing you want to do if a toilet is gurgling is to flush it! It just adds more water quickly into the drain line, and it'll overflow quicker. If nobody below you is having problems, it's between you and them, or, if in the off chance the guy is right and you have a dedicated line to the main somewhere down low, then the line needs to be snaked at least that far.

 

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[Jimbo]

There is only one place the water in your 3rd floor overflowing toilet can come from....the 4th floor! Is there another unit adjacent to you on the 4th floor? And of course the clog is below where the overflow is happening. It might be worthwhile to have a camera inspection to find out the status of the drain, and see where the pipes really are.

 

[thorne]

We did have our own plumber come in for a diagnostic the same day last week and he did say that all neighbouring units' pipes are interconnected because it'd be too expensive for builders to build dedicated pipes for each unit. That's not what the other plumber said. Our plumber suggested we deal directly with the condo's plumber since it should not be our responsibility.

There are units adjacent to us on the 4th floor. We did ask about a camera because it was suggested by our own plumber, but when we asked the condo plumber he it was too expensive and it would be up to the discretion of the PM.

 

[Jimbo]

In the condo where I live, the water supplies to all the units are separate. But the drains do come together. The HOA has a company on "retainer". A homeowner can call them anytime for a drain issue. He sends the bill to the HOA, with a description of what he did. If it is a trap cleanout or something else local, the HOA collects from the homeowner. If the plumber reports that the clog was in far enough that it it in common pipes, we ( the HOA ) absorb the cost.

Your 4 story building is more complicated, but at some point, someone has to figure out what's wrong!

 

[Kreemoweet]

You might want to have a good close look at your condo agreements. It should be spelled out clearly who is responsible for
maintaining the drains. At most condos I've dealt with, all in-wall plumbing is the responsibility of the condo association, no matter
what the exact arrangement of the pipes is. Do not expect the plumber to decide these things, you need to deal with management.
Sometimes it is necessary to be assertive to get management to fulfill its obligations!