Upstairsw toilet backs up in downstairs sink

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Mitch3

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I have an upstairs bathroom and downstairs bathroom in the front of the house. Both of these work fine. I have an upstairs bathroom and a kitchen directly below it in the back of the house. When I flush the toilet the kitchen sink gurgles and sometimes backs up slightly. The toilet does flush OK. This has been an ongoing problem for years. We have had several different plumbers here and they tell us we are using the wrong type of toilet paper which backs up the pipes. They clean out the line and it works fine for awhile. Another plumber told me the problem was that the drain pipe running across the basement to the main drain was running uphill and that was causing a blockage. He installed pipe supports and leveled the pipe. This worked for a few months now the problem is back. The bathtub in this bathroom drains OK, although a little slow, it does not affect the kitchen sink. This bathroom was remodeled a year ago with new toilet so I' am guessing the toilet is not the problem. Could the vent pipe coming out the roof be a problem? I'm running out of money calling plumbers without a permanent fix. Can someone out there help?
 

Jadnashua

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Gurgling in the kitchen sink sort of implies it is not vented properly. The falling waste can try to siphon that trap if there isn't a proper vent for it and a clog can make it worse which would allow the whole pipe to temporarily fill up. The slow bathtub is more an indication related to either the size of the drain pipe, or a clog, or the slope. In any drain system, each trap should be vented individually (with a few exceptions), and there can be NO level pipes or any that try to go back uphill - they all need at least 1/4"/foot slope, which isn't all that hard to check. A dip, or belly, in the line will tend to fill up and can even block the line entirely, and will do it again after cleaning, because the cause was not fixed.
 

Mitch3

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Gurgling in the kitchen sink sort of implies it is not vented properly. The falling waste can try to siphon that trap if there isn't a proper vent for it and a clog can make it worse which would allow the whole pipe to temporarily fill up. The slow bathtub is more an indication related to either the size of the drain pipe, or a clog, or the slope. In any drain system, each trap should be vented individually (with a few exceptions), and there can be NO level pipes or any that try to go back uphill - they all need at least 1/4"/foot slope, which isn't all that hard to check. A dip, or belly, in the line will tend to fill up and can even block the line entirely, and will do it again after cleaning, because the cause was not fixed.

Thanks Jim. I just called ROOTER-MAN who will be here Monday. Never tried them before so maybe they will have a fix.
 

Jadnashua

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FWIW, often, a good local plumber that doesn't have to pay a huge national advertising fee will do a better job for less money than the people you called. SOme of the franchisees are great, some are not so great. Be prepared for them to suggest lots of add-ons and keep in mind, most of them are not licensed plumbers...there may be one in the company, and the guy that comes may only have a few weeks or months on the job.
 
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