slow draining pipes, gurgling sounds, no venting? help

[Skiin' Ian]

i live in a really old house, its our first year here in northeastern WA, the shower and sinks are all connected to a seperate draining system than the toilet and everytime you drain the tub or use a sink it gurgles through the kitchen sink. i have investigated a little and i dont think there is any venting from this system. the septic connected to the toilet has a vent and i am wondering how many things i can vent through one vertical roof vent? do you have to connect each drain seperatly or can i just connect the closest drain to the existing vent? i do not want to risk messing up the toilet as it works fine. Now it has gotten pretty cold here and it seems that the draining is getting slower and slower, i first tried draino thinking it may be clogged that did nothing, i am thinking now it is frozen somewhere but it still drains, just very slowly. any ideas on how i may proceed? i dont have much $$ and would like to solve this myself, i have a feeling a plumber would cost a fortune! Not to mention probably not like the dual system this old house i using.

[marson]

You can tie other vents into your main stack. You won't hurt your toilent venting. If your toilet or whatever drains at all, it's not frozen, as the water would thaw any ice. Try running a bunch of hot water if you want to totally rule out that scenario. I haven't had a lot of luck with drano. One time, I had a slow running sink drain, and I used every drain cleaner known to man with no success. Finally ripped the thing out and about a 10 foot run of pipe was just packed with gunk. No way drano was going to touch that. So it could be something like that. Try a snake if you can.

I would suggest you go to a library and get a book or two on plumbing and try to gain an understanding of the basics of your drain-waste- vent system. There are also devices that are basically one way air admittance valves that can be used in lieu of real venting.

[JC]

Google "Oatey" and look into automatic vent valves. They are simple, quick and easy to install. No holes in the roof.