septic or clogged toilet

[fitwind]

My toilet is clogged but I'm not sure if it's my septic or just a clogged drain.
I tried a plunger and a auger when I plunge it clear water bubbles thru the sink. Whn the water does drain down after a while it will start to fill a little when I use the shower. HELP

Thanks everyone

[Alice In TX/MO]

That's starting to sound like you need your septic tank pumped out.

[KAK]

Also, it could be tree roots in your line to the septic. When my septic was full, it just came out of the top of the septic. When tree roots were clogging the drain (needed rotor-rooting), it backed up into the bath tub. Ok, I know it was gross, but at least I knew what had to be done.

[agmantoo]

Open the inspection lid on the septic tank and take a look to see if it is clogged at the inlet to the tank or if the tank is just full of solids.

[Selena]

We had backup problems also that were mainly caused by low water pressure. We replaced out toilets with power-assist flush toilets (not cheap but definitely better than what kept happening). After you eliminate any septic problems as noted in other posts, you might want to give some thought to replacing the toilet(s). If you have a plumber friend, he/she can probably get the toilet at a discount. They do sell them at big box stores but you will be limited to what is in stock unless you want to special order, pay through the nose, and wait.

[tobo6]

Most people have a inspection pipe outside of their house and then one down by their septic tank. First open the one closest to the house. If it is full of err..water, then most likely your septic tank is full. If it is empty, you probably have a clog in the septic line under your house. Look for a "T" or junction where your bath, toilet, sink lines connect to the main line to your tank. This is usually where we would find the clog, and it would back everything up into the tubs and sinks.

Use a long snake and go thru your toilet. Now we always have problems going thru the toilet because of the way the new one's are designed. You can go thru your insection pipe/sink, or even a vent pipe on your roof.

We haven't had this problem since switching over to scot's brand tp, before the double layer soft toilet paper would really cause problems, didn't help that we have the water saver toilet.

Hope this helps

[Shepherd]

We had something similar in our last house after we'd lived in it a month or two; the place had been vacant for 6 months so everything had just sat in the laterals and started to solidify. Once we'd started using the plumbing it just packed the sludge in the laterals tighter and we had to call a service out. They got it drilled out ok but nothing we did helped before they got there.

Good luck! Let us know what you find out.

[shellbug]

got any little kids??? my toilet is currently half stopped up due to my 2 yr old stuffing 4 large bath sponges and a bath scubbie down it - last nught i retrieved the scrubbie and plunged it - water eventually seeps thru, but it ain't right yet.....

[Ruby]

Also sounds like your vent pipe from the tolit may be clogged. That happened to us. Really slow draining. Tolit would flush but would seep out really slow. Unclogged the vent and no problem now.

[Selena]

One other plus of the power-assisted flush toilet is that it does not sweat in hot/humid weather. The only low flush toilet we've used that always succeeds on the first flush. And yes flushing anything besides toilet paper is not good, septic or sewer.

[foxtrapper]

If the sink flows, your septic isn't blocked. Especially if you're checking flow at a sink in a different area. It's not uncommon for the sink in the bathroom to gurgle and such when working on the toilet next to it. At the joint where their two lines come together, hair blockage can happen.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Sink may drain to different area than septic system. Our grey water doesn't go in the tank at all.