Leaking and stopped up commode

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

We just got water into our house in the last couple of weeks. We put in a septic system which seemed to be working fine until the last couple of days. Now the toilet won't flush, it fills up with water and slowly goes down. I see water in front of the commode underneath.

The only thing different is that we have now attached the kitchen sink plumbing to the line. My husband seems to think that it may have raised the pipe a little. Does anyone know if this would cause this problem?

Also, we don't have great water pressure...we think it's because of the filters coming from the cistern. Those we'll change today and see if that helps that situation..but do you think lack of pressure would cause the toilet problem?

Idaho Cher

-- Cher Rovang (mtnlady@micron.net), July 20, 2000

Answers

Water pressure shouldn't effect anything except how long it takes for the tank to refill between flushes. The pitch of the pipe could be the problem - if it was changed somewhere along the line. I forget off hand what the pitch should be...

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), July 20, 2000.

Cher:

Did you put in the commode and septic system yourself? I'll make the assumption someone didn't flush a diaper or toy down the commode. It sounds to me like water/waste has filled the tank and it is not getting adequate drainage through the line field, such as if just pipes were laid without a bed a gravel under them. Since water cannot enter the tank, it is backing up in the lines. Test this by filling the kitchen sink as full as possible and then releasing the water. If it drains OK, problem is probably between the tank and the commode. Attaching the kitchen sink shouldn't have created a problem unless the commode's drain line was raised several inches. A plumber can probably isolate the problem for you.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 20, 2000.


i agree with ken the first thing you need to do is to determine if the sinks drain ok. if they do it is a problem only with the commode. check with a plumber if you have moved your commode's drain to see if your angle is right or you could check plumbing books at your library. might be worth a search on the net. is the commode still tight at the bottom and did you use a new wax seal when you put the commode in? might be worth it to shut off the water to the commode and unhook it and check for blockage in it. the water around the commode sounds like it isn't sealed properly. used to work in aplace where we did drug testing so got to take alot of commodes up and check for plugs i always replaced the wax seal just to make sure. one good thing about my bucket is i don't have that problem. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef123@hotmail.com), July 20, 2000.

Thanks for the info.

Well, we did the kitchen sink drain. Filled the sink with water and let it drain. It drained just fine. The bathroom sink drains fine. So, it must be between the tank and the commode.

We don't have any small children, so no soap or toys could be in there. Yes, we did put it in ourselves and used a 1" drop for each 4' of pipe to the tank. That turned out to be 5" as it was 20' to the tank from the house. 10' is code, but we might build out, so we thought better to be safe than sorry.

I flushed the toilet this morning and it went down just fine. I waited and flushed it a second time and it filled up again, like it was plugged up. The first time it didn't leak on the outside front of the commode, but the second time it did. We are going into town today (hate that long trip) and will pick up a new wax seal and see if that is the problem.

As of now we are back to using the outhouse and the bucket for nighttime trips to the potty. Sigh...

Cher

-- Cher Rovang (mtnlady@micron.net), July 21, 2000.


Hi Cher,

I can think of a couple of things that might be causing your problem. But first, I agree that your water pressure should have nothing to do with this. And second, your pitch sounds good. So the next question is: did you connect a vent pipe. If not , there could be a vacuum preventing the stool water from draining. If that's not the problem, sometimes a portion of the wax ring will fall into the pipe and clog things up. It sounds as though there might be something a ways down into your pipe. That would account for the first flush going down but not the second. Best of luck.

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), July 21, 2000.



It does sound like the commode wasn't properly sealed to the fitting. It also sounds like you might have purchased one of those new 'wonderful - government imposed' low water flush commodes. The ones where it often takes two flushes to complete what one use to do. Mine does something similar to me on occasion - just doesn't flush properly. Water fills fine, but it swirels in bowl and nothing happens. Try this: Raise the water level in the tank to about 1/4" from the top of the overfill pipe. When flushing hold the lever down until all possible water has left the tank. This normally works for me as it adds extra water to the flush.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 21, 2000.

We redid our bathrooms a couple of years ago and could only get those new fangled government mandated water saving toilets. Ugh. Consequently, ours does not flush well everytime either. We keep a plumber's helper beside both toilets and use them when needed. But we don't have any water leaking unless we flush too often when it is not going down and then it just overflows the top of the toilet. It is possible that you have one of those yucky toilets AND a leaking seal. Changing the seal may solve the leaking problem but you may be stuck with using a plunger like we do. Once we use the plunger, it lets go and goes down like it should. We have been doing it this way for a couple of years and are not having any other problems. It is just inconvenient.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 22, 2000.

Those government-mandated low-flow toilets are one of the reasons that when we build we will have a composting toilet -- the outside, two-chambered Irish-type privy kind. Another reason is that our handicapped daughter can't seem to learn when to stop with the paper, sigh. She stops our toilet up every few days, and I get so tired of it!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), July 22, 2000.

Canada doesn't have that silly-ass (pardon my French) low-water usage commode law. I understand people from the northern tier of states drive into Canada and smuggle their version in. Check with people who do home remodeling. They may let you haul off an old- style commode, but color may be a problem.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 23, 2000.

Hooray!!!

We have pressure back! Want to know how?

We changed the filters that filtered the water coming into the house...an immdiate response! HOORAY!!

We also bought a new seal and Mike is going to install it, altho the leakign seems to have stopped.

Thanks for all your responses! They are much appreciated!

Idaho Cher

-- Cher Rovang (mtnlady@micron.net), July 24, 2000.



Thanks for the update, Cher. I always wonder how these things turn out. I still don't understand how water pressure can affect the flushing though. It should only affect how fast the tank fills, not how fast the water goes down..? Anyhow, I'm glad things are working again. Plumbing IS nice, isn't it?

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), July 24, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ