Glub Glub went the plumbing?

[chickens4jojo]

Maybe the Draino worked between the time you poured it in and the plumber arrived? So sorry about that bill. I am sure it feels like "Money Down the Drain!" For Sure.

 

[maplesky7]

Good evening,
I just wanted to add....very likely the vent tube could have been filled with debris. A hose taken up and run to flush it is what was done for mine. Also some kind of wire gauze or mesh can be placed over it or stuffed in it...to allow the air to escape but discourage squirrels from trying to store nuts or build homes in them. As my guy said he's found a number of squirrel carcasses in them who were trapped and could not get out....causing the blockage...

One vent tube of mine is really odd. When a handyman came out once, I had him look at it. I gave him a long metal pole to jab down there and he came to a point where he could not with all his strength pound through some sort of barrier and when he rose the pole out...it seemed like there was some grit, sandy sort of blockage. Well, this house ALWAYS bubbled since I lived here as a young girl....especially when the laundry drains, the shower, sink, and toilet of the the bathroom in the next room? He was so perplexed that he even asked if my father or I had any enemies that would put some kind of masonary or such? kind of compound down there on purpose. That was a new one for me. I didn't think so. At anyrate...to this day, I still live with that gurgle noise every time my laundry drains. But after reading the above statement from our byc plumber...I may have to look into those chemicals and see if it doesn't help.



And of course it should be common knowledge that feminine products are not flushed. Despite thinking it is common knowledge I often run into this problem at public restrooms...so if you have visitors....sometimes you just don't know.


Hope your problem has resolved itself and does not reoccur. But I would suggest some of the wire gauze stuffed into the vent tube to keep leaves and critters out.


me,
g

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Baldie- thanks for the tips! The house is old and screwy. The bathroom plumbing was a retrofit back in the 50s or 60s. The house originally had an outhouse. When I moved in the kitchen sink drained out into the middle of the backyard. When that clogged up and the dogs dug up the other end, I had the plumbers come and connect it to the septic system. I know some of the piping underneath is PVC and some is cast iron. I need to replace the cast iron. That's also on The List. The vent pipe sticks up about a foot. The plumber did mention that it was small (1.5" diameter?) and seemed bothered that there was only one vent for the entire system. We had some really cold weather last week (below freezing in the mornings), but for the most part it has been getting up to the mid-70s. We don't have much trouble with extended freezing periods.

Home Depot had a product that said it was to dissolve hair. It was a tall, black bottle in a plastic bag. I think it said it was made of lye. The warnings were pretty drastic. I can't remember the name. I wonder if it's what you're talking about. That may be my next attempt. The drains are still making some noise.
I told the plumber guy that I had used the Drano. He wasn't terribly happy about it, but totally understood why I had used it. I hate using chemicals in my system, but I hate not having a working toilet more!

It's entirely possible that there was a dual problem going on. I shed when I was my hair and I bath the dogs in the tub periodically. There are handfuls of fur after that process. I'm sure some makes it down the drain in spite of my best efforts to block it. I've also had a dirt daubber problem all summer. Perhaps something got washed away in today's rainstorm. Dunno. The plumber said they wouldn't charge a service call if I had to have them back out this month to work on it again. I thought it was nice that he gave me the time to think about it and he didn't pressure me into something today.


Thanks to all for the support!

 

[baldie]

hi that sounds like a mess. i wish i could see this. i have seen some bad plumbing jobs over the years,but this is something i would like to see. I use to maintain a plaza with a dogwash and restaurant. the people in the dogwash use to take the strainers out of the drains. so all the dog hair would go down and get stuck in the grease. i was out there atleast once or twice a week. you think they would have put them back in the drain. good money for me though. they do sell special strainer for dog hair for the tub. as far as the pipe through the roof. it maybe to small. here it has to be two or three inch. but then again the next state over you don't have to go through the roof at all. every state is different. i just happen to live in the most strict state. it is very hard to pass inspections around here. not such a bad thing though. atleast you know that when your buying a new house all the work is done right.