Soca
Member
I have a single level slab home in Southern California ( built in 1985 ). My hall toilet sits back-to-back with the toilet in the back bedroom. Recently, the hall toilet has not been flushing correctly. No overflow but the bowl will fill then slowly empties. Oftentimes the emptying isn't complete. I ran a 3 foot toilet auger down the toilet and pulled out a small clump of tree roots. These roots look like the tree roots from a palm tree that is planted in the backyard, close to the house and near these bathrooms. The bedroom toilet works fine as does the clothes washer, sinks and tubs. No backup of water noticed anywhere. The only corrective measure that I've tried so far ( earlier this week ) is a hall toilet application of copper sulfate ( Roebic brand ) and two days later Roebic's root kill product ( dichlobenil ). No improvement yet, although I'm aware that the roots will still be there for some time even if they've been killed. BTW, there is a circular cover plate on the wall next to the bedroom toilet. Is this a clean-out ? I unscrewed the cover plate and there is a big black plastic cap with a large slot. It's a tight fit in the wall opening so I can't see where it goes from the wall or what it is. What type of ( root ) blockage does this sound like and what options do I have to fix this ? Thank you very much for any input.