A live in a city row home. I have two bathrooms. One on the second floor the other in the basement. The problem is when the upstairs bathroom toilet flushes ,the basement toilet bubbles with air. What causes this? We run the dishwasher, washing machine and take baths with no problem. There is no back up. I think the water coming down from the first floor is forcing air back through the sewer pipe causing the bubbles, but the water is still going out to the main. Please give me a answer to solve this problem. Thank you.
Answer:
I think you hit the nail on the head. The issue most likely revolves around an air/water pressure differential. It may be advisable to turn your water off at the main and open up a faucet farthest from the main water cut off to bleed off the remaining water. Also try flushing toilets while water pressure is off. Then turn the water back on. There will be a sputtering of air coming out of your faucets for a few seconds which is normal. Check and see if the problem continues. If it does, the issue could be related to a partial clogged pipe at the source of the problem or a drain vent pipe that is obstructed.
Question:
There was recently a huge restoration project needed due to a leak which got the exterior walls of the house I rent wet.
What happened was there was a clog due to baby wipes in the pipe but the toilet never overflowed, so we were unaware of the toilet being clogged. Instead apparently the flange was installed below the tile floor which I hear is improper installation. It should be level with the tile, and water was leaking through the flange to the ceiling below.
My question is what is the cause of this leak occurring? Did the clog cause there to be a leak in the flange or was it improper installation of the flange which caused water to leak out when there was a clog?
Answer:
It is more likely that the original cause of the problem was the clogged up pipe, thus creating stress on the flange. This clog most likely acted as triggering mechanism to expose weakness associated withe flange installation.