I am finishing up a basement that has been plumbed for a full bath. After having the shower, toilet and sink hooked up I am finding that the toilet clogs up a bit easier than the others in the house and I'm not sure why.
So, it occured to me last night that since we have not yet used the shower that the water in the trap might be evaporating and that might have an effect. I think the line from the shower connects in to the toilet line at some point. Could that be a cause of am I completely missing something else? Thanks in advance for any help.
Trap should have no ill effect. Pour a bucket of water into the shower drain to fill the trap, JIC.
Clogging can be caused by the brand/model of toilet. Or, could be wax ring spread too far into flange opening. Something fell into the toilet. Even the brand of toilet paper can affect it. The modern super-soft papers are much more prone to "clumping" in the bowl passages.
To see if the drain from the toilet works properly, line up a couple of large buckets of water. Dump them rapidly right into the bowl. If water goes right down with no sign of overflow, the drain/vent is OK.
No water in the shower trap should have no effect on the toilet situation. As a matter of fact, if the water evaporated in the trap, you should be getting a foul sewer gas smell through out the place. Some possibilities that come to mind are a lack of fall on the toilet drain line when installed, possible debris that may have fallen into the pipe before the fixture was set (floor tile, grout, paper, etc.) Some plumbers will put a wad of plastic into the opening after they make their tie-in to keep this trash out. Sometimes the stuff gets pushed down into the pipe. Hell, I've even pulled pieces of 2 x 4's out before setting a commode. One common problem is the wax ring. If the wax ring wasn't set down properly (on the ring and not the bowl) it could have smeared to one side. It would still hold a water tight seal, but it could cause the opening to be partially blocked. I'd pull the bowl, check the seal, and run a hose down into the drain pipe. See if it takes it. If so, then fill up a 5 gallon bucket of water and pour it as quickly as you can down the pipe. This will simulate the flushing of a toilet that you can't get from a garden hose. Your line should be a minimum of 3" (but I've always preferred 4" - even with the new low consumption bowls.) Hope this helps.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.