Plumbing/Drain problem

masterK

The toilet in my downstairs bathroom keeps filling up with water when it is flushed as if it is blocked, I've put my hand down and also tried a drain cleaning kit to no avail. When I put the drain cleaning piece down I couldn't feel any blockage the cleaning kit pipe was 5 metres long.

Tonight we had the washing machine on when I noticed water guzzling up the sink in bathroom downstairs.

We've only recently had quite a substantial amount of building work done which involved a lot of plumbing.

Any ideas what the problem could be or what to do next?

ircoha

Some questions/ comments in bold

masterK wrote:

The toilet in my downstairs bathroom keeps filling up with water when it is flushed as if it is blocked,I presume it drains away slowly and does not just sit there?
I've put my hand down [wild man! ] and also tried a drain cleaning kit to no avail. When I put the drain cleaning piece down I couldn't feel any blockage the cleaning kit pipe was 5 metres long.Do u mean that u passied a 5m long very thin springy wire thingy around the bend and onwards for 5m? If so this kit is useless for the problem at hand

Tonight we had the washing machine on when I noticed water guzzling up the sink in bathroom downstairs.I presume the w/m is in the kitchen at the same level. the symptoms u describe suggest the w/m is connecting into the same waste pipe as the sink in the bathroom by way of a sealed connection as opposed to the U bend in the waste pipe just hanging into a vertical waste pipe. I further presume that the water did not actually come up into the sink, u just heard itsubsided again. also is this a new feature?, post the new work

We've only recently had quite a substantial amount of building work done which involved a lot of plumbing. Can u give us some idea what was done here pls

Any ideas what the problem could be or what to do next?

Do u have any mini manholes outside the house that u can open?
If so u should see a blockage which should be possible to move with proper sewer rods

Can u see where the waste pipe from the bathroom/kitchen enter the drainage system: perhaps there is a gully or 2 out side the house: if u have a few pics it would help.

the pic at this link may help u
http://pdf.hunterplastics.co.uk/pdf/underground/ugt8.pdf

masterK

The water in the toilet just drains away slowly.

I heard the water guzzling but there were also a few splashes that came up.

The washing machine is in a newly built utility room next to the bathroom, both are downstairs.

The washing machine is on an external wall with a gully the other side of the wall, the bathroom sink is the opposite side of the washing machine away from the external wall.

There are a couple of manhole shores in the back garden. I'll open it when I get home and have a look.

I can't see where the pipes enter the drainage system, since the bathroom is not on any external wall I'm guessing it goes under the floors.

Thanks for your

10-10-20

Mine does the same, but I lothe to rod it...
I think a stray toilet freshner got caught up in the bend and was followed down by a nappy... Blitzing it with chemicals has not had an effect.

ircoha

masterK wrote:

The water in the toilet just drains away slowly.

I heard the water guzzling but there were also a few splashes that came up.

The washing machine is in a newly built utility room next to the bathroom, both are downstairs.

The washing machine is on an external wall with a gully the other side of the wall, the bathroom sink is the opposite side of the washing machine away from the external wall.

There are a couple of manhole shores in the back garden. I'll open it when I get home and have a look.

I can't see where the pipes enter the drainage system, since the bathroom is not on any external wall I'm guessing it goes under the floors.

Thanks for your

Its possible that the waste from w/m and whb enter the gully below ground level, if the UR and the corresponding gully is new then they prolly did that.

It seems to be more common now and means there are no external pipes on the wall as per tghe pic link I posted yday

To see what is what once u open the mini manholes u can use some of that blue stuff for loos to get some color in the water from whb.

My guess is that there is a blockage in the sewer and that the wm/whb issue is separate but not a problem.

What follows is open to correction by others on the forum.
It is generally not a good idea to have a shower and a whb on the same waste pipe as u run the rsik of the S bend of one being emptied by the flow from the other, leaving the risk of sewer gases coming back, depending on how it is plumbed.

In your case it may be better to shoot the wm out the wall over the gully: ref to pic link I posted yday to see what it would look like and seal off the existing: that will stop the gurgling issue in the whb.

311

If your basin is beside a toilet ,it's probably connected to the soil pipe.

If you are having trouble with your basin waste ,you can get a special trap that needs no water.

Is the toilet an existing one ?

smashey

I've encountered this problem before. Sewer rods or a powerful jet of water from the manhole tbh.

masterK

One more query, I was talking to the builder who did my work and he told me that the downstairs toiler, wash basin sink and washing machine all exit by the same drain. I would of thought the toilet should not be connected to anything else. Can anybody clarify?

GreeBo

masterK wrote:

One more query, I was talking to the builder who did my work and he told me that the downstairs toiler, wash basin sink and washing machine all exit by the same drain. I would of thought the toilet should not be connected to anything else. Can anybody clarify?

well if they are all going to the soil pipe I guess its ok (as long as all your traps stay full!)
but the toilet waste shouldnt be going into the ground water (none of the should really)

311

The only thing that normally pulls traps (water getting sucked out of traps) is when there is a big fall.
I.E. If the basin was connected to the soil pipe upstairs ,then the water would suck the trap dry, when it travels the ten foot drop.
Thats why the black pipe goes all the way up your wall .

Downstairs should be fine ,but sometimes you can get unlucky

There are special traps available for this scenario ,most plumbing places sell them.

ircoha

masterK wrote:

One more query, I was talking to the builder who did my work and he told me that the downstairs toiler, wash basin sink and washing machine all exit by the same drain. I would of thought the toilet should not be connected to anything else. Can anybody clarify?

Did u open the manholes yet?

Brian

_Brian_ wrote:

There are special traps available for this scenario ,most plumbing places sell them.

What are they called please? Thanks

masterK

ircoha wrote:

Did u open the manholes yet?

Brian


What are they called please? Thanks

Yes, and solved the problem, there were pieces of building blocks down one of the new manholes.

ircoha

masterK wrote:

Yes, and solved the problem, there were pieces of building blocks down one of the new manholes.

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what the end result was.
keep well.

311

http://www.hunterplastics.co.uk/plumbing/plumbersbits/default.html

They don't name the paticular trap ,it's the one on the bottom and in the middle of the photo.

It's got a whoppee cushion type flap inside ,that only opens when the water passes it. It doesn't rely on anything special to work.