Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

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LisaS
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Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by LisaS »

Hi, wondering if anyone can help with a plumbing/drainage issue?
My ground floor toilet keeps getting blocked but I have a feeling it’s something to do with the washing machine in the garage.

From what I can see the share the same waste. Sometimes it’s fine but most times the water in the toilet will bubble and get sucked out completely when the washer is on. It will also gurgle when the washer is pumping out and spinning, after which the toilet bowl fills up when it’s flushed, or gets completely blocked.

Eventually it will clear, and be ok for a few days and then the problem comes back, normally when the washing machine is being used again. Any ideas would be a great help. Drains have been checked (camera put down) and cleared of any blockages by dynarod but it hasn’t solved the problem.

Thanks
fin
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Re: Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by fin »

cant see how that would affect the drains.

have you a picture of the plumbing?

also things like wet wipes etc dont get flushed down the toilet do they? ive been building an extension on a house in my town. one of the people that lives at the house has dementia. one day i flushed the toilet and thetoilet water kept going up and down in the pan and making sucking noises. turned out the old lady had not been able to find toilet roll so used wonder wipes instead. and ya deffo dont flush them down the bog :lol: i ended up filling a big barrel with water and pouring it down the toilet and it dislodged a load of wonder wipes
LisaS
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Re: Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by LisaS »

Thanks for replying. I don’t have a picture at the moment, need to pull it all out to get a good look. There’s definitely not been wipes etc put down there and anything that was blocking it was cleared in October and have been very careful since. I can’t help feeling that the drains weren’t the problem at all and that it’s a blockage or just bad plumbing where the waste for the toilet and washer meets. I’ve been googling too and wonder if it’s a venting issue? It’s a minefield and don’t know what to try first!
dewaltdisney
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Re: Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by dewaltdisney »

The first thing that occurred to me was a vent pipe issue. Normally as the the toilet is flushed a vacuum cannot build up as it sucks air down the vent pipe to equalise pressure on both sides of the flow. In this instance it sounds like the washing machine draining is sucking water from the toilet bowl rather than air from the vent pipe and an air trap could be causing this. Is it an open vent stack pipe or is there an air admittance valve?. If the AAV is jammed or the soil pipe above the drain level is blocked this could be causing it.

Some photos could help see posting-pictures-t14693.html

DWD
dewaltdisney
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Re: Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by dewaltdisney »

Is it an internal soil stack then? If you go up to the loft where the pipe will terminate there will be a cap on there which is usually a push fit with baffles. See if you can take this off and see if it cures the problem. These valves are cheap to replace https://www.toolstation.com/search?q=ai ... ce%20valve

Do not leave it off permanently as smells will fill your loft. :thumbleft:

DWD
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Re: Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by fin »

ive just done a repair on drains. the floor had rotted and dropped by about 20mm and the kitchen units also obv dropped the same amount. this then tipped the waste pipe the wrong wayso it was permanently filling with water and neither the washer or the dishwasher could empty properly.

when i disturbed all the water the smell was horrendous... my back teeth were floating :lol: :lol: :lol: once id repaired it and renewed the waste pipe and all fittings i reconnected both machines and turned them on. then the smell came back when both machines emptied out :lol: thankfully it soon went away though
LisaS
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Re: Toilet blocking/washing machine issue

Post by LisaS »

Hi all, just an update on this. Haven’t had time to resolve yet due to Christmas etc. However I can’t find where the stack pipe ends in the loft, and I know it isn’t externally vented as I can’t see anything above the roof. Sat here today and the downstairs loo started gurgling all on its own then the upstairs one started too. All of a sudden the downstairs loo flushed away fine. Very odd, although sure it’ll happen again soon as it has a habit of doing so!
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