Bubbling Toilet and Slow Tub Drain

[Tony1981]

Hello, and thank you in advance for any help. I did read through other threads before posting, but didn't find anything related to my issue.

After a long bout of rain a few weeks ago, I noticed my toilet bubbling when doing a load of laundry. The toilet bubbled a bit every time the washer would drain, and the water level doubled, then it would slowly drain to almost nothing. Some water even seeped up from the bathtub drain in the same bathroom. When I flushed during this episode, the water would simply rise a bit higher in the bowl, and more water would seep into the tub. The laundry area is further away from the bathroom, and the bathroom is closer to the main drain to the city sewer. No issues with other drains is present.

Everything was fine once I allowed the water to drain, and after the toilet bowl water level sunk to almost nothing. Flushing was powerful and no backup in tub. I could flush multiple times and the power was fine. However, the problem cropped up again the next morning when showering. The tub started bubbling again like before, so I left the water on in the shower as a test, and the shower backed up as well. Again, once everything drained in 30 minutes or so the water level in toilet would drop significantly, and then perform optimally after.

I figured this was a blockage in the bathroom area, so I snaked through the tub with my 25 foot snake. I also used enzyme treatments. I even decided to snake the laundry drain as well. The problem persisted for days so I checked the vents for the bathroom--no visual blockage was seen. There are three vents on the roof over the bathroom, and I started with one by running hose water through. My house mate said the toilet bubbled and water backed up into the tub, but with a "whoosh" everything drained. We tested the drains and all was fine for about two days (shower and washer draining caused no issues, and believe me we tested well), and then the problem re-occurred. I snaked the bathroom area well once again to no avail. I then snaked our main line with a 75' power snake--rented from Home Depot. I went through four times and barely felt resistance throughout, or pulled out anything. When I uncapped the main line access, lots of water was present, however.

This did nothing and the problem was unchanged. Frustrated I check the other vents on the roof, and found that one actually filled up with water when I used the hose. I snaked that vent pipe and kept hitting an unmovable force (not sure what it is, and cannot see from above. The water did drain from the pipe the next day, but our problem is still present.

Could this be a blockage in our main line--further down than the 75' snake could reach? Or could this be a venting issue since one of the bathroom vents filled with water when using the hose? The fact that clearing one of the vents helped is making me think I need to focus there. But any other suggestions or thoughts are greatly appreciated before I move forward.

 

[Reach4]

When I uncapped the main line access, lots of water was present, however.

Tell us more about that. Is that the big cleanout closest to the city sewer?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Tony1981]

Tell us more about that. Is that the big cleanout closest to the city sewer?

No, the clean-out point we have access to is not nearest the main sewer. The only access we could find in this home (built in 1943) was toward the back of the house under the laundry room area. We have a crawlspace under the house, and this was the only obvious access point. I snaked with the 75' auger from that point. From there to the street was about 68', so I though that 75' would be plenty. I cannot locate an access point any closer to the main sewer. Our neighbors didn't even know where their clean-outs were, so we're not sure if there's another at a closer point.

Should I have used the 75' snake in the bathroom area instead? That area would be much closer than the laundry area.

 

[MACPLUMB]

your main drain to the street is clogged, you need to dig up the main sewer in the yard outside house and use a electric power snake all the way to the middle of the street where city main typically is to clear blockage,

 

[MACPLUMB]

if on a septic tank then you need to dig up the tank lids and open to see if draining or if needs pumping

 

[Tony1981]

Thanks for helping with the plan of attack. It's been over two weeks dealing with this partial blockage, and I'm going to dig into this today and into the weekend (happy New Year for sure!). I'm also going to add a clean-out since I'm going to be digging up our main anyhow. Will make dealing with this problem easier in the future. Thanks again for helping me verify the issue at hand.