Thread: No toilets are flushing

What would cause all three toilets not to flush in a house? All the faucets work fine. Is this a venting issue?

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• Please stop flushing...

Could be a venting issue, or could be someone has adjusted to fill valve, or could be inferior toilets.

Fill a bucket with about 4 gallons of water
pour the water into the toilet bowls (4 gal each).
If they flush check the water fill adjustment.
If they don't flush, could be venting.

How about the main drain having blockage?

Rick, 4 gallons? I never see anything over 1.6 anymore unless its an old place.

Originally Posted by Paul Kondzich

Rick, 4 gallons? I never see anything over 1.6 anymore unless its an old place.

He does not say how old, but 4 gal will still make a newer toilet flush whereas 2 gal may not make an older toilet flush.

Are the water closets all on the same floor? If so can be a blocked sewer. If not, each one may have a blockage in them. I have seen this often. They clog the firdt one stop using it and leaving it clogged, use the second one till they clog it, and so on.

Was the home previously "winterized"? Perhaps not fully "de-winterized", i.e. a trap balloon/plug in the toilet's integral "S" trapway. Was the home ever occupied? perhaps the flange k.o. is still intact, and the w/c's are just set atop multiple wax rings for "show"? Another wild stab - are the stop cocks opened for the w/c water supply? Oh, one more, perhaps the handle chains aren't connected to the flapper or lifter.

"No toilets are flushing" is rather ambiguous.


"The faucets" working what is that supposed to mean? That you have water supply elsewhere but not at the toilets/water closets? Or were you trying to imply that the lavatories/sinks/fixtures DRAIN well?!?

A clog or obstruction is the first guess - you also didn't mention if city sewer or private sewage disposal system.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. Additional information is:
All sinks in the house drain fine.
Public service.
The house is in Upstate NY.
The house is 40 years old and this is the first time something like this has happened. All three toilets, which are all on same level are sluggish on the flush.

Thanks.
Michael

If it was me, I would pull the toilet furthest down stream and run a snake. Venting does not make sense to me as the toilets are meant to siphon by design. (JMHO)

There is a blockage in the drain line then. Get a plumber / drain cleaner out there to clear the stoppage.

Originally Posted by Michael Civisca

What would cause all three toilets not to flush in a house? All the faucets work fine. Is this a venting issue?

Is the house on a well ?
-----Silt may be reducing water flow around rim.

Calcium in water. Public and private water source.
------There may be a calcium buildup on/in the whole located in the bottom of the bowl that will restrict the flow and thus flushing? Cleaning out the whole may resolve the problem (wire bottle brush).

Are the toilets new and identical (all sequential production) ?
---- There may be a design/manufacturing flaw in the casting reducing flow.

Toys flushed down the toilet during the 40 years partially blocking the flow.

I agree with Ron Hasil. Home 40 yrs old, my first guess is tree roots. Esp true if owner noticed drains gradually slowing down over the last few years (roots growing larger). Is the sewer a cast iron system?

Originally Posted by Dennis Webber

I agree with Ron Hasil. Home 40 yrs old, my first guess is tree roots. Esp true if owner noticed drains gradually slowing down over the last few years (roots growing larger). Is the sewer a cast iron system?

More the question is it "Orangeburg pipe" that's about the right age!

vern

you would pull a toilet or a plumber

cvf

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

vern

you would pull a toilet or a plumber

cvf

How do you pull a plumber? By his belt or by his feet?

Billy, give us the picture.

Originally Posted by John Kogel

How do you pull a plumber? By his belt or by his feet?

Billy, give us the picture.

This is getting out of control. I want to poke a sharp stick in my minds eye

Originally Posted by Vern Heiler

More the question is it "Orangeburg pipe" that's about the right age!

I hadn't thought about that pipe. However I don't think that it was still being used in the 70's, was it?

Originally Posted by Dennis Webber

I hadn't thought about that pipe. However I don't think that it was still being used in the 70's, was it?

It was used through the 1970's. The last home I found with it was built in 1973.