Drain noise after toilet flush?

[Kendalmayer]

I have a two story house. When my upper main bath toilet flushes.....I get a gurgling noise from the drains in that same bathroom. Any ideas what may be causing this?? And what do I need to do to stop the noise?

 

[Zanne]

I'm no expert, but I've found that when the other drains gurgle that there is usually a clog at some point after those drains but before it leaves the home. When my septic line backed up, I had the same problem.

Perhaps you can do a test and see if it gurgles in other bathrooms or areas with plumbing or if it is just that one bathroom.

If it is a clog you need to clear it. Use a plumbing snake in the drains and see if it clears up.

If other fixtures gurgle then its possibly something further down.

My guess is going to be that hair went down the drain and clogged it. People here have said to avoid the Draino and chemical stuff for clearing clogs as it doesn't work very well and can become a hazard for anyone who tries to fix the plumbing and gets splashed

Some of the reasons for clogs are:
improper incline of the waste pipes
improper venting (this usually comes with an odor coming up through the drains)
something was just too big to go down
something in the pipes is catching things (tree roots, joint that is not quite right so it creates a lip)

Hopefully one of the plumbers here can answer for you and let me know if I'm wrong on anything.

 

[Kendalmayer]

Zanne,

Thank you for your response. I've checked.....all drains seem to be functioning normally and my noise is confined to just the one bathroom. I'm wondering if it is my main vent?? Temperatures here have been sub-zero for over a week. Prior to low temps we had rain that turned into freezing rain that turned into a foot of snow.

 

[phishfood]

It is possible for a clogged vent to cause other drains to gurgle when one of them is discharged. If you have not noticed this problem until now, just run a small amount of water into each of the other fixtures to keep the traps filled, and see if the problem clears up when the weather warms. I know that it is standard to increase the vent size to at least 3" as it approaches the roof deck in areas prone to frost closure.

 

[Zanne]

No problem, Kendalmayer. I've had the same problems with my pipes for various reasons so I know how frustrating it is.

I hope that you can resolve the issue soon.

 

[countryboy26047]

I fought with a very similar problem recently.. I live in a 1 1/2 story 1 bath ranch.. Only when we would flush the toilet would we get that god-awful gurgling.. After trying a few different drain cleaning products on the market to no avail., I got out my old drum snake, ran all 25' of it into the drain pipe (was replacing the toilet so it was an opportune time) and found nothing at all.. Well, after dealing with the sound getting worse, it all came to a head one night when I went into my basement to find a small pond around the drain in the floor.. After spending about 5 1/2hrs myself trying to snake out the main line going to my septic tank, I called in an 'expert'.... after they proceeded to break off about 6' of their snake, they gave me the nice $200 bill and left.. I ended up renting a big auger style setup... turned out, about 2' from the septic tank dump (the end of a 45' main line) there was a compound similar to concrete.. after repeatedly driving the cutting head into it, it finally broke loose.. I never guessed that is where the problem would have been considering the only time it gurgled was when we flushed the toilet but in the midst of my frustration and about to dig up the entire septic line, that was my last resort and I got lucky...

I know, long story there, but considering my situation was so similar, I figured maybe, just maybe I could help save you all the frustration and tylenol that I went through...