Constantly clogging toilet?

Question

I have two toilets on the second floor of my house. One sometimes drains slowly. The other (closer to the discharge) can also be slow, but it also clogs a lot. This is the one my son uses. Sometimes he clogs it with too much paper, but it also just seems to clog up for no apparent reason.

I replaced the whole toilet assembly, and it's better, but there's still a problem.

Would a partially blocked stack vent account for this? Because of the weather I haven't been able to climb up and check. And if it is the vent, and I manage to clear it, what's the best way to prevent it from happening again (presuming the vent is currently not screened off or anything). Are there stack vent covers available?

Answer 1

All toilets SHOULD be vented to the main stack and if your toilets on the first floor are working,then vacuum(venting) isn't the problem.It is probably a blockage between the floors.Is it iron drain pipe?If so--almost 100% pipe blockage.Covers are available for any size pipe,by the way.Run a snake down thru the main and see if it don't fix it.

Answer 2

I doubt that a blocked vent would do this unless it's completely blocked. Then again, I'm not a plumber, only a home owner.

When you say you "replaced the whole toilet assembly", do you mean the mechanism in the tank, or the whole porcelain or plastic toilet itself?

If you had the toilet up off the floor so that the drain was open, did you run a drain snake down the pipe to clear any obstacles? It's possible that something that wasn't supposed to be flushed got flushed any way, and is lodged in the pipe. This might be a toy, although I know one guy who found his missing pager this way.

If you didn't take the toilet up, try it. FIRST THING - turn the water supply to the toilet off. Then flush, bail what water you can out of the bowl, disconnect the water, disconnect the bolts that hold the toilet down, and lift the whole assembly up and set it aside on a big piece of cardboard. Get a big piece - there's a wax seal underneath the toilet that will make a nasty mess on the floor otherwise.

Look in the drain for any foreign matter (toys, pagers, etc). Look inside the bottom of the toilet, too. Run a drain snake down the pipe to see if it's clear. Remove any obstructions, clean all the old wax that you can off the toilet and drain pipe, install a new wax ring, reseat the toilet, connect the bolts and water supply, turn the water on, and try it.

It's common for water valves that don't get used often to leak a bit when they're turned on or off. Put a cup or bowl under it for a day, or at least a rag. That will catch drips, and prevent a water stain on the floor.

Answer 3

this can't be answered correctly without more information. Age of toilet, brand name, age of house, what is the plumbing pipe made of, and most important, how is your drain system designed.

Rebuilding tanks doesn't always work, kits are universal in regards to they will fit, it doesn't mean they will give you correct operation. The way the water is dumped into the bowl does affect toilet performance. I don't believe you have a vent problem if your other fixtures are working correctly. You could have an old toilet with a small trap which is more likely to clog. The clogging for no apparent reason is probably from the last flush that looked like it disappeared, but only ended up stuck in the toilet trap itself. The next flush reveals the clog.

If it is an old toilet, the best fix would be to update it, technology has changed alot over the years for toilets, newer ones have alot better design.

Toilet traps vary in size, look at the back of the bowl, see the snake looking curve? that's the toilet trap. A good toilet will have a 2 1/2" trap a cheap one or an older one may only be 2". Everything you flush has to go through this. Once it makes it through the toilet, it drops into either a 3" or 4" pipe. If it makes it through the toilet, chances are it will keep flowing.

But as I said this question cannot be accurately answered without more info or actually seeing it.

Answer 4

You might want to try snaking the drain. You said he uses too much paper sometimes, that paper can get clogged very deep into the pipes with other items that can fall in my mistake (hair, toys etc). Snaking will yank up everything that can be causing it to clog. If that doesn't help, try the vent theory or call a plumber. I think they're on the same pipe line and somethings hung in there.

Answer 5

If the upstairs toilets are on opposite sides of the house they may use different vent lines. A toilet will not flush properly if the vent lines are clogged. Easy fix may be going on the roof and making sure it isnt clogged. If everything seems fine here, then you have something lodged in your drain line. In regards to the posts about low water consumption toilets--hold down the flush lever till the water in the tank completely empties. If it flushes fine then it is the toilet. You may be able to raise the float lever so more water empties with each flush.

Answer 6

i don't think it is the pipe vent because the plumbing works on the other floors right? ok so what i would do is to try running a snake down the clean-out pipe. if there is one, if not you will have to pull the toilet up from the floor and run the snake down that hole in the floor. More than likely that is where the problem is. good luck

Answer 7

If it is the vent, make sure it has enough length coming out of the roof, & glue a street 90 to a regular 90, glue to the vent pipe & screen the open end.
I would al so get some drain cleaner that also "widens" pipes, that should help,

Answer 8

My toilets were doing the same thing and I finally discovered that my SEPTIC SYSTEM was FULL and too many flushes in a row without a lot of time inbetween them literally caused a backup of water in the main line to the septic tank. Solution was to repair the septic field.

Answer 9

Don't know about the clogging, but there are wire net covers you can put over your stack vent. I saw them at Lowe's near gutters and downspouts.

Answer 10

TRY SWITCHING TO A CHEAPER TOILET PAPER