Need some Toilet Help

[jamesosteen1984]

So this one has me a bit stumped....

Have a toilet in the master bath that has been acting up lately. Sometime it flushes and has no issues whatsoever. For instance, this morning. Woke up used it at least twice and flushed with no issues. Then I jump into the shower and within minutes you hear the toilet bubbling. If you try to flush it after that then the water just rises to the top of the bowl and then it takes a few minutes to slowly drain back down. It never actually flushes. If you let it sit a few hours then you can usually get one or two flushes again before it goes back to stopping up.

The other night I tried plunging it to no avail and then tried some dish soap and boiling water. When pouring a gallon of water into the bowl it flushed and cleaned everything out and then the toilet would flush again for a few more times until sure enough turn water on somewhere else and the toilet would start bubbling and then it wouldnt flush again. I tried the boiling water thing again this morning and no go this time. It just filled the bowl and then I had to wait about 2 min for it to slowly drain down.

In this past when the toilet has bubbled it ended up being a clog in our main line out in front of the house (tree root problem), but when that happened it backed up everything.....shower, sinks, toilets. The shower and sinks are working perfectly now and there are no drain problems other than this one toilet. So I'm guessing it's a more localized problem to the toilet and not the main line this time. I'm just confused as to why if it was a toilet clog, would running water elsewhere like sinks or showers cause it to bubble and not flush again?

I'm going to try snaking it this evening and see what happens there. About the only thing I have yet to do. Curious what others think the problem could be? Sound like a local issue to the toilet? Why does water running in other places make it stop flushing if it was isolated to the toilet? I attached a pic of my plumbing setup just for reference. The highlighted toilet is the one I'm messing with. It sits between the sink and tub in this bathroom.

Thanks!

 

[jamesosteen1984]

And from the picture you can see the tub comes before the toilet when going down the main line from the clean outs. I would think if the clog was in the main line then the tub would fill with water as well when the toilet was full and not draining, but it's not. In the past this is exactly what would happen. Water would build up in the main line and it would start seeping up into the tub and then toilets would not flush properly. This time though when the toilet wont flush and is full to the top and slowly begins to drain I'll turn the tub on full blast and the water is draining with no issue. Nothing is back draining into the tub either. So wouldnt that indicate the clog should be somewhere between the toilet and toilet at the very least? Hopefully my K6P 6 foot auger can get it if that's the case. Just hope it's a clog and not the toilet. I've read about jet problems, etc - but that doesnt seem to explain the bubbling - just lack of flushing. The bubbling does seem to indicate a clog I'm guessing.

 

[Geofd]

And from the picture you can see the tub comes before the toilet when going down the main line from the clean outs. I would think if the clog was in the main line then the tub would fill with water as well when the toilet was full and not draining, but it's not. In the past this is exactly what would happen. Water would build up in the main line and it would start seeping up into the tub and then toilets would not flush properly. This time though when the toilet wont flush and is full to the top and slowly begins to drain I'll turn the tub on full blast and the water is draining with no issue. Nothing is back draining into the tub either. So wouldnt that indicate the clog should be somewhere between the toilet and toilet at the very least? Hopefully my K6P 6 foot auger can get it if that's the case. Just hope it's a clog and not the toilet. I've read about jet problems, etc - but that doesnt seem to explain the bubbling - just lack of flushing. The bubbling does seem to indicate a clog I'm guessing.

Try the auger but I think your gonna snake the main drain you could vac out the water in the toilet remove it and snake from there, check another fixture close to the main drain or find a clean out cover and slowly back off the cover if you get water that means the main
Is clogged and needs to be snaked

 

[jamesosteen1984]

Clean outs are good and I can see water running through them if I look down the pipe with a flashlight. I dont understand how the main drain could be clogged and the bathtub or sink not have any backup. But I also dont know why the toilet would flush fine a few times and then start backing up again if it was just the toilet. Why I'm at a loss because nothing seems to be making sense. In the past the bathtub backing up with brownish water has always been the first sign when something has been clogged in the main line (tree roots from front tree). Just got home so lets see what happens with the auger. Fingers crossed.

 

[jamesosteen1984]

Yep youre right it's the main line. I let my tub just go for like 15 min and went and rechecked the cleanouts. Both full to the top now. I still dont understand why the tub is draining though and not backing up. I mean if the pipes are full where is the water going thats training in the tub???

The cleanout is full to the top too so that tells me the clog should be infront of the cleanouts (between the cleanout and the street - where my roto problem has been before). I mean if the clog was on my side (under the house) I wouldnt think the cleanouts would fill because it would be on the other side of the clog. Luckily where I live the city will come out and run their machine down the pipes from the cleanout to the street for free. So I guess thats the next step.

 

[Geofd]

Clean outs are good and I can see water running through them if I look down the pipe with a flashlight. I dont understand how the main drain could be clogged and the bathtub or sink not have any backup. But I also dont know why the toilet would flush fine a few times and then start backing up again if it was just the toilet. Why I'm at a loss because nothing seems to be making sense. In the past the bathtub backing up with brownish water has always been the first sign when something has been clogged in the main line (tree roots from front tree). Just got home so lets see what happens with the auger. Fingers crossed.

I re read part of your 1st post saying when you shower the toilet bubbles I think you need to pull the toilet,snake the drain thru the toilet pipe, I bet when you pull the toilet you will see watering the pipe

 

[jamesosteen1984]

City Services came out because they will snake from the cleanout to the sewer for free and sure enough freaking tree roots again. As soon as they broke through the roots boom all the water in the cleanouts went adios and the toilet flushes again. I just dont understand why the tub wasnt backing up like it did before if the main line was full of water.

 

[jamesosteen1984]

I use to be good at putting that foaming root killer down my pipes every 6 months, but got lax on it and havent done it in a few years. Guess that's why the roots came back.