Toilet Help

[DOUBLE-Z]

So I’ve been in my home (built in 1947) for a year. I was told the septic was replaced sometime near 2013. And since then the home was also vacant about 6 years.

I have one of my two toilets that occasionally backs up and won’t flush, when it backs up it will slowly subside. The other one has worked fine. This toilet will flush no problem about half the time or even more. I doubt there is an issue with the system even down the line. I’m not sure if it’s the toilet or the guts, or what… any idea?

I of course have put a plunger on it several times. I’ve run a snake down the toilet a couple times and found no issues. Though I don’t feel I got very far.
Any help or someone who’s experienced the same thing?


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[Hogmauler]

I haven’t experienced that personally. It at our hospital we were having backup’s. So we called in folks to run a camera down it and found the problem.

[60 Deluxe]

If it is one of the early low water consumption toilets, it is junk. Buy a new toilet. An easy way to get an idea is by the shape. If the bowl is pretty round, it is probably an old toilet. If it is elongated and exhibits frequent clogging, it may be one of the early low water use toilets. We had three of them installed in our home when we built it twenty-six years ago. I have since replaced two of the three just because of all the plunging needed to keep them flowing.

Have you checked your septic tank for a heavy solids build-up? If it has been more than a couple of years, it is time to have it pumped. What happens is the toilet paper will build a dam in the discharge elbow when the solids are too high. You can break the dam with plunging or even by rodding out the pipe, but it will happen again soon.

Septic tanks are not out of sight out of mind types of things. You have to set up some sort of tickler system to remind yourself to have them serviced. My septic tank guy says every year or eighteen months. I've been doing about every two years and getting by with no problems.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I'm assuming it is a conventional septic system and not an aerobic system... It is possible, even likely if the toilet is a low water usage toilet, it's just not providing enough flush water each time you flush it to take the waste all the way to your septic tank, so the waste builds up over time, then plugs at some point... Try plunging in out real good, then each time you flush, hold the flush valve open and allow extra water to run through the toilet/line to aid in moving the waste all the way to the tank... You need enough water to float the waste to the tank.


Edit to add:

Few other considerations:
Is the operational toilet the same type/kind as the troublesome one? If they are different, this could suggest a possible solution...
If the toilet is old, it could be that the flushing port (little holes under the edge of the rim of the toilet are just plugged up with mineral build up from years of operation and will need to be replaced.
Is the operational toilet closer to the septic tank, and are both toilets on the ground floor or is one elevated and one not? All of these things are considerations as to what a possible solution may be.

[Goldeneagle]

About ten years ago I put a new toilet in. Durn thing wouldn't flush for crap. I discovered that it was manufactured in S. America. It was designed for the water to swirl the opposite direction because of being south of the equator.

[S-3 Ranch]

Check the toilet vent.
Bad vent = slow system, and clogging
Use some top quality septic tank treatment monthly ( rid-X is garbage

We have a water saver toilet and it’s garbage like said above

[SaltwaterSlick]

Water saver toilets and septic system are NO BUENO!!
And YES!! Make sure the Vent is clear!

[flywise]

vent issue possibly

[Hogmauler]

There ya go!

[Scubasteveo]

One thing I have seen is if it only back ups after toilet paper is flushed, is someone flushed a Q-Tip and it somehow manages to catch on the flange of the wax ring and lays across it. The toilet paper will catch on it and back it up, but the water will eventually get past. Seen it multiple times at rental properties my dad hass.

[Pstraw]

Also, use only t-paper recommended for septic systems. I had to learn this the hard way.
Don't use any chemicals that kill bacteria, as that is what makes the system work.

[Paycheck]

If you have not already, run the snake from the vent on roof above the toilet. Sounds like you have a blockage somewhere in the line before it reaches the other toilet and maybe a sink or other wastewater source is filling the line sometimes and letting it drain down when not in uses.

[dclifton]

Is it the toilet farthest from the septic tanks?

If so it’s probably exactly what saltwater slick said. It’s not flushing enough water down and TP etc is making its halfway down the trunk line and stopping then you get a backup. We have same problem with our house. In master it’s farthest away. I have started using a septic treatment And my wife and I have made it a habit to flush it randomly daily as we walk by to help it flush out.

So far we haven’t had anymore problems.

[Briar Friar]

1947 eh?
Cast iron lines or pvc? Ill wager pier and beam foundation so you should be able to crawl underneath and check. Got satchel?

Could be break in line. Might simply a belly in the line that needs strapping. Could be farking terra cotta 3 foot poop pipe sections that need replacing. Tree roots love terra cotta poop pipe sections.