Horrble plumbing problem in bathroom!!!!?

Question

OK, here's the deal. We bought a circa early-1940s home earlier this year and had a bunch of work done by sort of a "jack of all trades" that wasn't too great, come to find out. Anyway, we had been having problems getting the brm sink to drain, sometimes it wouldn't drain at all. So we tried a bottle of draino, that didn't help much....it got to the point that it didn't drain at all, so we used 80oz of Liquid Plumber. That got the sink working great - so now, tonight, when I went to use the bathtub, it won't drain. It drained great before I fixed the sink. Then I flush the toilet. At first I think it is stopped up, so I plunge it, and notice as I plunge the water from the toilet is coming up through the bathrub drain!!! Now when I flush the toilet it comes to the top, and all of the water slowly drains out and it starts bubbling up through the tub. This is really strange and since this is our only bathroom I need some guidance! Was the toilet not installed properly?

Thanks

Answer 1

It sounds like you just moved the plug from the sink down into the drain beyond the tub. STOP with the chemicals! Get a snake and open up the trap (the U-shaped thing under the sink). Run the snake as far as you can get it, well past the tub drain. Keep that up for a while. If that doesn't open it up, make up a gallon of BIZ solution and let it stand in the tub, etc., overnight.

Answer 2

There is something plugging the sewer line,after the tub hooks in but before the sink line hooks in. A "snake" might help..... but be careful old plumbing can be quit fragile. You don't say what kind of flooring you have. if it's a concrete slab you are in for some work and expense..if it's a wood floor with a crawl space/basement then it won't be so bad. It's not that hard to change over to PVC.....

Answer 3

may have a clogged roof vent

Answer 4

I agree with Gymnosphere, and stop with the chemicals, as well as the clog moving. If you choose to snake it yourself, you will need at a minimum of a 75ft. snake which you can rent at Depot, but being the age of the house, your sewage drain system is most likely old iron pipe, which with age becomes rust lined, and very sensitive. In this case, I would just call Rotorooter or a similar company and bight the bullet rather than s***w with it. It will be worth your $$$. Don't call a local plumber for this, you will get ripped off. This is a situation where large plumbing companies are a good thing.

Answer 5

Everything in your bathroom is connected together at some point.  At this point, or past it, you have something blocking the drain.  Each time you connect all of the pieces of a bath to a drain the drain itself looks like you are looking at a fork from the pointy ends.  The reason that the sink seems to work well is that the amount of water and its pressure is not great enough to be slowed by this clog.  However, the toilet and tub drain at a much greater rate.  This allows the water to build up, back up, and become a problem.

I would rent a plumbers power snake and run it through the drain to help clean it out.  If you don't want to do this yourself, call a GOOD plumber.  Keep in mind that the clog if somewhere between your tub drain and the main sewer line.

Here's that bad part.  If you are using a septic system, you might have septic tank failure,  You could also have tree roots that have grown into your waste line.  This could be true with either a sewer OR a septic line.

More than likely, your bath and all of the fixtures were installed correctly.  Just sounds like sewer line blockage.

Good luck!!

Answer 6

the bathtub, it won't drain. It drained great before I fixed the sink. Then I flush the toilet. At first I think it is stopped up, so I plunge it, and notice as I plunge the water from the toilet is coming up through the bathrub drain!!! Now when I flush the toilet it comes to the top, and all of the water slowly drains out and it starts bubbling up through the tub.

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accurate description

classic symptons

your main sewerline is backed up.  you need to call a rooter company.  you have a mainline stoppage.