another slow draining toilet

[kr123v]

Hi all, i have been reading about the old threads related to slow draining toilet, and i guess Andy would immediately say that this is a blocked manhole - but i have a few questions related to it, please.

A newly refurb old building (pre war) so i suppose the plumbing works are only superficially upgraded? 5-floor, and i am on the ground floor, i have asked other neighbours and none seem to have any issues.

there are 2 bath/toilets.

The main toilet/bath has no issues at all.

the other smaller bathroom is the issue. when i flush, water will fill up to the brim (or thereabouts) and would take 2-3minutes to drain.

I have tried chemicals, plunger (normal & luigi), a 1.3m snake and all doesnt help.
I have tried filling the sink full of water, opening the plug and flushing at the same time - the sink would get blocked this way.

When i plunge the toilet, i can see water shooting up from the sink. so i have tried to close the sink hole+overflow, but still air would force itself through the sink/overflow.

i then tried to plunge the sink/overflow and i can see air would shoot from the toilet bowl instead.

so it looks like that the issue/block is after toilet and sink joins.

A plumber came to visit earlier today and they suggested to remove the toilet in full, which i refused giving them my reasons above.

I then suggested that it could be the manhole - but it totally baffles me why my neighbours and the main bathroom has no issue!

we can see suspected manhole in the garden, but it is still currently locked (different story) so i will try to get the key tomorrow.

any other diagnosis/checks that i can do to solve this please? and i really want to know why the neighbours and main bathroom has no issue - any one have any ideas, please?

very many thanks in advance!!

Best,
kr123

 

[HERTS P&D]

I agree with Andy, blocked manhole.

Andy

 

[Madrab]

If your the only one that is experiencing the problem and @ just one one outlet and the drain/sewer is shared, then it has to be between that toilet/basin and the join to the main sewer/manhole that is specific to you.

Of course the first place to look would be the man hole/chamber and dye both toilets to see what's coming from where and go from there. Chances are the chamber will be clear if everyone else is ok and it will be within your soil pipework. Then it would be back to trace the basin waste to the toilet soil pipe and then look downstream of that. That could be as simple as jetting but the toilet would probably need to be lifted anyway.

 

[kr123v]

Thank you Andy and Rob. I am still waiting access to the manhole - i can see a few manholes in the area, is there some sort of convention to the manhole? square is rain? circle is foul? or something like that?

Next door neighbour is only saying they are having slight issue with sink, but not the toilet. it doesnt make much sense to me... does it to you?

many thanks again!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

No convention to covers, all depends on what was specified at the time of building. You can usually tell by lifting the cover, what is going through the chamber, (rainwater doesn't smell...)

Have to concur with the others, you have a blockage somewhere, being ground floor and from your description, chances are your Bathroom is on it's on drain run, hence why others arent reporting problems. (You're better off like that, times I've seen the results when all the Bathrooms in a tower block are on a communal stack, the drain blocks and the upper floors wont stop flushing......)

 

[RandomGrinch]

It probably wouldn't achieve a lot; but would there be any worth in disconnecting the sink waste, properly bunging it, and having another go with the plunger?

 

[Madrab]

If the main soil pipe or the drain is restricted then no, plunging the basin wouldn't have much effect on the 110mm pipe, I wouldn't think.

 

[kr123v]

hi all, just a quick update - i went to the nearest manhole that i can see from my flat, but there was nothing suspicious (smell, etc)

Then i went to throw my trash on the OTHER SIDE of the block, and i started smelling something bad and i can see overflowned manhole!!!

i guess the good thing is that i now know where the offending manhole is, but a bit puzzled why is it on the other side of the block - i guess i will never know, unless any of you have any idea?

Again, many thanks to Andy and Rob (other threads, and this threads)

should be a quick job to fix

best!

 

[HERTS P&D]

Contact the block management to sort it out.

Andy

 

[Madrab]

Another thought is if it a shared drain/sewer then it could be the council that would deal with it.

And yet another thought, if you are on that shared drain, then I'm surprised that there isn't a pile of Sh#t ending up int your bathroom. Usually when a chamber on a shared run like that blocks then when the upper floors flush the toilet it end up in the lowest property, as alluded to by @Hugh Jaleak

 

[RandomGrinch]

if you are on that shared drain, then I'm surprised that there isn't a pile of Sh#t ending up int your bathroom. Usually when a chamber on a shared run like that blocks then when the upper floors flush the toilet it end up in the lowest property

I once worked in a very large pub, with an even larger nightclub above. Stolen purses/handbags would often be flushed down the loos, with us downstairs facing the inevitable consequences!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

@Madrab I can only assume, (dangerous I know), that the OP's bathroom goes directly to the chamber, and the upper floors join that chamber via a separate drain. Hence why the OP had issues, (which the full/blocked chamber would cause), yet upstairs were able to continue flushing without issue. Their waste was exiting the system via the manhole rather than the ground floor WC.

Flats, especially when there are a number of storeys, always cause dread when a call comes in there's an issue....

 

[Madrab]

@Madrab I can only assume, (dangerous I know), that the OP's bathroom goes directly to the chamber

Yeah for sure @Hugh Jaleak, hopefully the OP's bathroom goes to the empty chamber. The other chamber being blocked is just a red herring. I think that was what I was try to say

@kr123v the fact that the other chamber is blocked may have nothing to do with your issue. If it did then you would probably know all about it by now and you'd be cleaning your bathroom out constantly.