Basement toilet/bathroom overflow occasionally

[zendalex]

Hi,

I have a toilet and a nearby shower stall in my basement. Both of them overflow occasionally. It seems to be happening once ever few weeks, seemingly during the weekends when we apparently use more water.
In the most latest episode, it was Saturday evening and I flushed the basement toilet. Then it started to fill with water, nearly simultaneously the adjacent bathroom also filled with water. I used the plunger in the toilet and flushed again, the water continued to rise in the shower. Then I turn off the toilet water supply, plunged the toilet - the water pretty much migrated to the shower stall. I then went to plunge the shower stall. The water seemed to just stand there, but when I used the plunger it would go down the drain and then would seem to just bounce back and create a small fountain like effect. That day the only thing out of the ordinary was that we used more washer than any weekday - my wife does the laundry on the weekends. Also, while plunging the shower I saw the water that "bounced back" actually was soapy type, so that makes me more or less sure that it was the water produced by the washer. At the time that the episode was happening, everything was already long time off (i.e. nobody showered or use any other water supplies).

In about 5 mins the water disappeared completely. I turned on the shower water and it was going through with completely no back up at all. I turned on the toilet supply, flushed it and no back up was occurring.

To me this overall situation is a conundrum as I cannot seemingly put a cause to why this is happening at all.
I already used main line cleaner, like 4 times but to no avail. My concern is that the main line is still blocked somewhere really far down (my house is on a hill, so there is long main line pipe leading to the sewer). So I would imagine it takes time to fill up the piping system until it starts overflowing into the basement toilet/shower.

Any advice on the situation would be great. Sure I called a plumber but was quoted with $500 to put in camera and do the rooting. Yes I can do that, but would rather try and avoid it, especially given the problem could be recurring.

 

[Reach4]

To me this overall situation is a conundrum as I cannot seemingly put a cause to why this is happening at all.
I already used main line cleaner, like 4 times but to no avail. My concern is that the main line is still blocked somewhere really far down (my house is on a hill, so there is long main line pipe leading to the sewer). So I would imagine it takes time to fill up the piping system until it starts overflowing into the basement toilet/shower.

What is a main line cleaner? If you are talking chemical, that is not what you need. You should call a drain cleaning specialist who can rod out all of the way to the city sewer. That will involve a big dangerous machine.

I would tend to go with somebody who is experienced and would tend away from a franchise. Some franchisees may be good, but not all.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[zendalex]

What is a main line cleaner? If you are talking chemical, that is not what you need. You should call a drain cleaning specialist who can rod out all of the way to the city sewer. That will involve a big dangerous machine.

I would tend to go with somebody who is experienced and would tend away from a franchise. Some franchisees may be good, but not all.

Yes main line cleaner is the chemical product. I used 2 different ones but they seem to not help.
Sure I can invite a profy to root it but it costs $$$. This is what I am trying to avoid if there is a simpler solution. Or maybe somebody had a similar situation and can suggest a most probably cause.

 

[Reach4]

Your $500 quote for rooting plus camera seems cheap as that tends to go. Some will charge that for just the camera work. However without the camera, you can get it done cheaper. The experienced person can tell a lot by feel.

If you are in NE NJ, that may be a loss leader to put the hard sell on you for sewer work. If you are in a less expensive area of NJ, that may be a legit thing. Click Inbox above.

You might want to raise this to a higher priority, and go to fewer restaurants for a while to make up for it.

 

[midcity plumbers]

Are you aware of how new your home is? usually there is something called a sump pump which recent home owners are adopting. A sump pump is often found in newer homes, or in basements where flooding or overflowing is a common occurrence. These pumps are usually activated automatically when water reaches a certain level. Unfortunately, in the event of a power loss, or a simple malfunction, your sump pump can fail to activate, leaving nothing to stop water from rising above the ground in your basement and flooding across the floor. Maybe you can find out about this or you can still try to contact other plumbing contractors in your area. I would suggest broadening your search to give you more options.

 

[Plumbs]

You have a clog in your sewer line. Sewage will come out in the lowest point behind the clog, that's why it comes out of the shower. From your description what's probably happening is that toilet paper and feces is getting caught at some point downstream, clogs the line and over time breaks down which allows the water to drain again. If you run the shower it won't clog because it's just water.
Around here $500 is cheap for a snaking and camera. I usually recommend a video inspection if the problem has been reoccurring like yours. They're probably giving you a discount to do both services at the same time.
Do you have a cleanout outside? It will be a 3 or 4 inch diameter pipe sticking out of the ground with a cap on it. You can remove the cap and check if it's full of sewage next time it clogs. If so, that's where it would be snaked from. You can rent a machine to snake it yourself and possibly save some money. I say possibly because I've gone to many jobs where people have tried snaking the line and ended up getting the cable stuck or breaking it in the line. Then I charge extra to remove their cable and they have to pay for the damage to the rental company. It's all about knowing the limitations of your handiness.

 

[WorthFlorida]

........Any advice on the situation would be great. Sure I called a plumber but was quoted with $500 to put in camera and do the rooting. Yes I can do that, but would rather try and avoid it, especially given the problem could be recurring.

A cheap fix will give you cheap results like it reoccurs four times a year. One or all four things is the probable cause and a camera will definitely tell the story. 1) tree roots are blocking the way, 2) the pipe has collapsed causing blockage, 3) there is a dip in the pipe causing water and solids not to drain. 4) A plain old blockage at a pipe seam.

You didn’t mention the pipe type but each one, clay, cast iron or PVC have there own common failures. Save your money and do not buy any chemical drain cleaners, they just don’t work but the cost of them try to save a $500 bill weights heavily.