Anyone know plumbing?

Ok so I got up this morning and the crapper won't flush, the bathroom sink won't drain and the shower won't drain. Just great.

Here is the problem...I know less than zero about plumbing...I know that water flows through pipes and that is about it....I was told to get a snake so I did but I don't know where I should put it.....The guy at the store said I should run it down through the toilet but he was wearing a shirt that said "I am GaGa for Lady GaGa" so trusting his judgement is not something I am prepared to do. (Let me apologize upfront to all the Lady GaGa fans on the forum)

So any ideas would be extremely helpful.

A toilet snake isn't going to help. You either have a frozen or plugged trunk line.

I was a pipe fitter and worked on power plants...what he said is right...you run it down the toilet and twist it around and keep snaking it down. When it finds what is clogging the pipes it will rip it apart and will drain once again.

Now in another bathroom or even the kitchen is the sink or other drains working? If not you need to go outside to the outside ports...there will be to pipes out in front (close to the house) one will be close..that one goes to the city...the out away from your house goes to your house...run it to your house first and see if you feel any blockage...if none found then it could be on the city side and so you put it into the other port and do the same.

If you need more help just drop another line.

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Originally Posted by freonjoe

A toilet snake isn't going to help. You either have a frozen or plugged trunk line.

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Alrighty then...How does one go about unplugging or unfreezing a trunk line? And what is a trunk line? This is starting to sound much like a job for someone that has actual skill in this department.

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Originally Posted by easyrecycle

I was a pipe fitter and worked on power plants...what he said is right...you run it down the toilet and twist it around and keep snaking it down. When it finds what is clogging the pipes it will rip it apart and will drain once again.

Now in another bathroom or even the kitchen is the sink or other drains working? If not you need to go outside to the outside ports...there will be to pipes out in front (close to the house) one will be close..that one goes to the city...the out away from your house goes to your house...run it to your house first and see if you feel any blockage...if none found then it could be on the city side and so you put it into the other port and do the same.

If you need more help just drop another line.

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The kitchen works just fine, both the sink and the dishwasher....The washer will not drain but it is run right into the drain line for the bathroom sink so that is common sense.

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Originally Posted by freonjoe

A toilet snake isn't going to help. You either have a frozen or plugged trunk line.

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a toilet snake can help if the blockage is close.

The pipe being frozen is not very likely as when they are setting the lines they are put deep into the ground to prevent this. What happens more often is that a large tree sent larger roots into the piping system and blocked it up. So you would want a saw type snake.

All black lines will have roots in them unless its a new pipe line. This tho is not an issue half the time unless during a time with no rain...the trees will find water and will send larger roots that can brake and plug the lines up

Do you have any friends that do property maintainance? They might have a power snake you could borrow and walk you through using it. A trunk line feeds your main line. Is that the only bathroom you're having problems with?

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Originally Posted by ComputerScrapper

The kitchen works just fine, both the sink and the dishwasher....The washer will not drain but it is run right into the drain line for the bathroom sink so that is common sense.

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Then run it on the toilet and start from there. If you are unable to find where its plugged up you maybe able to go where the washer dumps in and see if you can find it there.

The dishwasher is piped into the kitchen sink..or should be.

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Originally Posted by injunjoe

Have you seen a cleanout outside the house? If you can find a cleanout you may be able to snake it out from there.

Is it gurgling when the sink tries to drain? If so it could be a vent clogged up.

Are you on sewer or septic? Septic may be full of solids and need pumped out. The baffle may have rotted allowing solids to back into the inlet or be blocking up leach field. Or worse case the leach field needs replaced.

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The other sinks are working so he should not need to go outside to the clean out ports.

Cant be a septic issue as other sinks will drain just fine..its just that one bathroom so it is a line that has a blockage. Question is if his snake can reach it or not.

I was typing when that was post so I removed my reply as the answers were answered!

Bad timing!

It could still be a roof vent!

Run the snake down the toilet to start (like Easy said) The pipe for the toilet is usually 4" so it has to go to a one of the trunks. Good chance something went down the toilet and is clogging things and if your snake is long enough it should bust thru. Take it slow and spin the snake as your trying to feed it thru the s-turn in the toilet.

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Originally Posted by injunjoe

I was typing when that was post so I removed my reply as the answers were answered!

Bad timing!

It could still be a roof vent!

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Roof vent could be something but I hardly have ever seen them plugged up...but then again I have not really worked on houses but power plants and what not.

Yea this thread JUMPED with alot of good posts that some where over lapping lmao

Okay update time....I ran the snake down the toilet and it came loose....That is the good news....The shower and the toilet now work...However, the bathroom sink is still not working and the water is coming up through the vent pipe when I run the bathroom sink....I know this because they ran the vent through the bathroom and there is a port on it and the water is pouring out. I have tried running the snake down through the bathroom sink drain line (I took off the trap before trying this to save snake line) and it comes to something and just stops...Does not feel like a plug and I have tried several different times to get it through and it just won't move any further....

What type of pipe do you have? Cast Iron, Copper, ABS, or PVC? If you want to use a chemical, the type of pipe you have will decide which type to use.

PVC is the pipe....Failed to mention that we tried the chemicals in it and they just poured out through the vent pipe....The guy with the Lady GaGa shirt said we should buy some of that as well.

There is a product called "Drain King". It uses your garden hose to put water pressure into the pipe and bust the stoppage loose. These are great tools, but you can not have any openings between it and the stoppage. Which means plugging one or two of the outlets. Plugging can be by means of a "Dollar Plug" or a threaded cap or plug.
Your vent....where does it vent to?

Run the snake up to that point and just keep turning it...push in and out and turning all at the same time...it should brake free.

p.s that sounds so wrong if you read that to your self...but trust me i was not trying to make it sound dirty lmao

It vents out through the crawl space.

Ok, So you have a crawl space....You should be able to see the pipe and with measurements, tell where your stoppage is. PVC is easy to repair. Cut it out with a saw and clean it out and put it back together with "Fernco" fittings.

Vent system sounds a little strange if venting in the crawl space and below the bathroom. Typical vent goes up thru the roof or a Studor vent is used in the area but both would be above pipes that are draining.

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Originally Posted by Divemaster920

Ok, So you have a crawl space....You should be able to see the pipe and with measurements, tell where your stoppage is. PVC is easy to repair. Cut it out with a saw and clean it out and put it back together with "Fernco" fittings.

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This could work but also note that you can have alot of....pretty things that will come out and it will be a tab smelly

Well water is once again flowing in our household....I took the slightly pornographic instructions from Easyrecycle (sorry Easy, could not resist:-) and got the snake running through the drain....It finally snagged something and popped it loose...Everything started flowing from there.

The vent issue is strange...When we bought this place the people before us had started a remodel and never finished. They were in the process of working on the bathroom when they decided to sell....The vent line comes up through the bathroom floor and then into the ceiling...They capped it off in the attic (they drywalled over the attic entrance) and then ran another pipe off the original vent pipe back down through the bathroom floor and then to one of the grates in the crawl space...A friend said that it would do for now but that we should have it redone to vent through the roof....So that is on the todo list for the nice weather.

Thanks for all the help on this matter. I knew I could count on everyone here and thanks for responding to my issues.

As far as getting into the crawl space that is generally a great suggestion but the opening that they have cut is not big enough to accomodate my shoulders or my gut for that matter lol...I have a couple skinny friends but they were busy.

If this on a mobile home or doublewide, I'll bet for frozen pipes with the weather we've been having. Probably from the bottom of the unit being open over near the bathroom and letting a pipe freeze. This warm spell today and tomorrow should thaw it out.

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Originally Posted by ComputerScrapper

Well water is once again flowing in our household....I took the slightly pornographic instructions from Easyrecycle (sorry Easy, could not resist:-) and got the snake running through the drain....It finally snagged something and popped it loose...Everything started flowing from there...........................

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Happy that its working and yea..it sounded very pornographic...could not think of a better way to type it with out making it sound worse...so I just left it very simple.

Some times you have to work the snake to brake blockage free...hair down in the drain can be a real pain as it will make a tight ball and not want to brake..so when you go in and out you are slowly ripping it apart and cutting into it...once you brake it apart it will flow once again =)

Glad you got it fixed. Definitely have the vent reworked so it is correct or you might have unwanted water coming out when you are not looking and cause problems.

Told a buddy already that I would like to have the vent worked on this coming week. Supposed to have a couple days of near 50 degree weather so it will be decent to work in. don't want to take a chance on this kind of thing happening again. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and it will get done. At least I can now say that I own a toilet snake....Don't know if I will ever use it again but who knows...Never a bad idea to have a spare tool lying around I guess.

Not only did you get a new tool that comes in handy, You saved at least $100 by not having to call someone.

LOL i got my first toilit snake at an auction I went to this summer. I paid 5 bucks for a box of crap and it it was 2 of them hand cranking snakes. That box was awesome. Glad you got it fixed.