Toilets, Sinks, Showers, Tubs and Disposals - Drain Backup
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LJC1966
05-22-06, 08:09 PM
PLEASE HELP ! We have a toilet nightmare again,
For the entire 40 years of my life, I have flushed the toilet at my parents house (while saying a prayer) and waited to see if it was going to overflow onto the floor.
All of the houses in our town have small holding tanks and continue to overflow to underneath the next home below them on the hill until eventually they dump into mine shafts, and eventually into the river as raw sewage.
We are the first house at the top of the hill, and it's still been a nightmare of backups.
We use all of the preventative measures of enzymes and have had to destroy our landscaping to dig up the caps to pump it out 20 years ago.
There is a floor drain in the basement where all of the gray water meets there and goes out of the wall approximately 2 feet from the only toilet in the house.
There have been times when everything including the dye from the toilet have backed up through that drain into the basement.
This time, like many others, its just the toilet overflowing.
We have plunged, drained toilet, and attempted unsuccessfully to get a snake into the trap.
Please tell me each step I should take before having to call a plumber.
If we have to dig again, we will destroy a beautiful wall of mountain laurels that are higher than our 2 story house and in full bloom.
That would break my parents spirits.
PLEASE HELP A.S.A.P. !!!
Thank You !
LJC1966
For the entire 40 years of my life, I have flushed the toilet at my parents house (while saying a prayer) and waited to see if it was going to overflow onto the floor.
All of the houses in our town have small holding tanks and continue to overflow to underneath the next home below them on the hill until eventually they dump into mine shafts, and eventually into the river as raw sewage.
We are the first house at the top of the hill, and it's still been a nightmare of backups.
We use all of the preventative measures of enzymes and have had to destroy our landscaping to dig up the caps to pump it out 20 years ago.
There is a floor drain in the basement where all of the gray water meets there and goes out of the wall approximately 2 feet from the only toilet in the house.
There have been times when everything including the dye from the toilet have backed up through that drain into the basement.
This time, like many others, its just the toilet overflowing.
We have plunged, drained toilet, and attempted unsuccessfully to get a snake into the trap.
Please tell me each step I should take before having to call a plumber.
If we have to dig again, we will destroy a beautiful wall of mountain laurels that are higher than our 2 story house and in full bloom.
That would break my parents spirits.
PLEASE HELP A.S.A.P. !!!
Thank You !
LJC1966
chandler
05-22-06, 08:38 PM
Not a good idea to post your email address on the forum. First pull the toilet and check to see if one of your toys from the 1950's is lodged in the pipe or up in the toilet itself. Now is the time to go ahead and run a snake to clear the main drain line from the toilet to the cleanout caps you uncovered 20 years ago. Also, the vent pipe on top of the house is probably stopped up, and you are enjoying the "soda straw" effect. Air has to go down the vent pipe in order for everything to exit the building.