Help with Drainage/Plumbing

Paulscot

New Member
Afternoon all, I don’t really have much knowledge of drainage/plumbing so need some advice.

My house is a 4 bed detached house with 1 downstairs toilet. 2 upstairs en-suite shower rooms and 1 family bathroom. It is 12 years old and we bought it new.

As it has only being 3 of us living in the house the family bathroom hasn’t been used that much (mainly guests on a few occasions and intermittent use by ourselves)

A few weeks ago we had someone stay and the toilet wouldn’t drain. This had also happened previously. It did clear itself but by this time I had asked a local drainage company to come out. He looked down the manhole got me to flush toilets etc and said that it was a plumbing problem inside. He wasn’t very helpful!

Since then I have flushed the toilet on numerous occasions and it drains away ok. I’ve put some toilet paper down and this also drains ok. I haven’t actual used the toilet again as wanted to check it without human waste incase it blocked. The water is currently draining fine and is running through the pipe behind the toilet and then I can hear it running down the vertical pipe stack into my kitchen. Where it goes from there I have no idea.

Im now worried that it is the pipe under the ground floor that has been laid incorrectly and as we haven’t really used this toilet it’s always been a problem.

I should also add that we have no problems with the rest of the toilets in the house.

Any advice would be helpful.
 
I would try a handful of paper , flush and check it passes through the chamber. You mention trying paper and that it drains ok. Did you see it go through . If all good and issues remain then a camera survey would hopefully locate any issue. Insurance including any emergency cover may cover this if called upon during an issue preventing use.
 
I would try a handful of paper , flush and check it passes through the chamber. You mention trying paper and that it drains ok. Did you see it go through . If all good and issues remain then a camera survey would hopefully locate any issue. Insurance including any emergency cover may cover this if called upon during an issue preventing use.
 
I would try a handful of paper , flush and check it passes through the chamber. You mention trying paper and that it drains ok. Did you see it go through . If all good and issues remain then a camera survey would hopefully locate any issue. Insurance including any emergency cover may cover this if called upon during an issue preventing use.

Thank you. Do you mean open the manhole in the garden and see if it passes through there?
 
Is it just the one toilet that connects to that soil pipe or do the others? Photo of setup might be wise. Do you kno if anything might have been flushed down that shouldn’t, eg a rim block? Could be an issue with the pan connector too.
 
Is it just the one toilet that connects to that soil pipe or do the others? Photo of setup might be wise. Do you kno if anything might have been flushed down that shouldn’t, eg a rim block? Could be an issue with the pan connector too.

Thank you for your response. I don’t know if any other toilets connect to this soil pipe. There are 2 manhole covers in our garden.i think the bath and the sink in the same room do as I can hear the flow in the same down stack. I have filled the bath and it empty’s ok.

We definitely haven’t flushed anything down as we hardly use this toilet,

My worry comes from the drainage guy who looked down the manhole and said you have a plumbing problem!! He wasn’t very helpful.
 
If you’ve flushed it since, and it drains away, could be something simple as too much toilet paper. If it happens again, call a plumber or drain specialist.
 
I had a similar issue with an old bathroom where it would drain slowly or block up, and it turned out to be a combination of a partial clog and some misalignment in the pipes. Sometimes even minor blockages or issues with pipe angles can cause intermittent problems.
 
If your local drainage guy wasn’t too helpful, you might want to get a second opinion, especially if you’re worried about the pipes under the ground floor. I’ve heard good things about Plumbing and HVAC services in Mount Pleasant. They have experience with tricky plumbing issues and might be able to give you a clearer idea of what’s going on. For HVAC repair Mount Pleasant sc, they’re also well-reviewed if you ever need that kind of service. It might be worth giving them a call just to get a professional take on your situation.
 
Wild guess there is a dip in the outlet pipe somewhere that is full with water but allows flow through it which eventually gets blocked with debris and causes flow issues. A good flush clears it and then the cycle repeats
 
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