I was sitting in my house watching TV when I suddenly heard a loud "whoosh" noise coming from the bathroom. I checked and noticed that all three of the toilets in the house had no water in the bowl. It looks like they all suddenly drained and did not refill. What could cause this??
I did use the bathroom about five or ten minutes earlier, but it flushed and refilled like normal. Ten minutes later, all of the toilets suddenly drained simultaneously!
2007-09-18 04:57:25 · 5 answers · asked by Max 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Your house (or apartment) is probably inadequately vented leaving it vulnerable to suction or negative pressure on the drain side.
2007-09-18 05:06:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have a vent problem. If this just happened, it is probably something that has fallen into the pipe where it exits the roof. I have seen squirrels fall into vent pipes and block them. If safe, go onto the roof with a flashlight and look down the vent pipe. Remove anything you can by hand and flush the pipe with a garden hose. This method is not recommended if you see an animal in the pipe. It will just back-up. The carcass needs to be removed.
2007-09-18 06:03:50 · answer #2 · answered by sensible_man 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This happened to me also. I have a flush up system in the finished basement. When it's full, a plunger type float triggers it to evacuate....that's when it happens. also when the washer goes through it's spin cycle it causes that loud noise in the upstairs toilets. You need to install these very inexpensive little black screw cap vents in the vent pipes under your sinks and in the laundry room. You can get them at HEPs or any plumbing store. these allow air to be drawn into the venting system ( relieving and preventing the extra suction) but no air or sewer gas can escape. You need to buy couplings with screw threads and you will have to hacksaw and glue them into you vent pipes at various locations. Probably 2 or 3 will do the trick, one up stair and one downstairs and maybe in the laundry room.
good luck!
John
2007-09-18 05:26:40 · answer #3 · answered by shooter_18831 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The utility people are working on a main in your neighborhood.
2007-09-18 05:02:57 · answer #4 · answered by New Nana 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
attack of the gremlins
2007-09-18 05:05:32 · answer #5 · answered by Badger 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋