<p>Our house has three 1993 toilets (not current low flush standards). They have worked pretty well. But one of the upstairs toilets sometimes has a sluggish flush. It never overflows and seems better after a quick plunge. The other upstairs toilet seems ok, but a flush cycle seems faster there (7 seconds vs 11). This week the downstairs toilet also had a similar problem.</p>
<p>The problem can happen even with just toilet tissue in the bowl, ie no real load. When it happens, there seems to be more swirl than suck. (At those time, the swirl at top bowl jets seems more noticeable). I’ve read some good hints online for testing whether problem is with toilet components or downstream / drain issue. But this problem is intermittent, so hard to analyse. It’s usually just the two of us and just a minor concern… I do some extra clear flushes now and then for good measure. But we have company coming soon.</p>
<p>The house is 20 years old, and we’ve never done the “snake to street” plumbing thing. I considered doing so proactively, but PowerRooter quoted $358 on the phone -yikes. Any other thoughts?</p>
<p>We have the EXACT same problem with the toilets in our 15-year-old house. A few weeks ago, I tried to get things moving with a new plunger. I was unsuccessful, but my H was able to resolve the problem very quickly. Apparently, I’m not using proper plunger technique. As you mentioned, this is an intermittent problem so hard to troubleshoot.</p>
<p>Coincidentally, I just noticed that our next door neighbors had their toilet replaced yesterday. I will have to check to see if they are having the same problem.</p>
<p>Clogged plumbing vents are pretty common, expecially in winter if you have snow blowing around. (Carefully) Get on the roof, pop off the vent cap and look down using a flashlight. I also use an old 2 oz. fishing sinker on the end of a string to feel for any blockage. You can usually blow things out with a garden hose.</p>
<p>Second most common is something flushed down the toilet that accumulates paper - legos, bath toys, a toothbrush. You will need to pull the toilet to check, but will need a new seal to reseat the toilet to the floor. Those 9 ft snakes cost under $10 if you want to try that first.</p>
<p>We live in an area where water is not plentiful, and to conserve water, I flush every 3-4 uses rather than with every use. That does create a build-up of toilet tissue. I read on another blog that using a small squirt of liquid detergent in the bowl before flushing helps, so I tried that. It really does help!! </p>
<p>If you are having guests, this may not be the way you want to go, but I thought I’d throw it out there! I get some cheap liquid detergent from our local 99cent store, and use that.</p>
<p>our basement toilet has that problem sometimes, probably partially from not being used often. We sometimes pour some bleach in it and let it sit for a day or so, then flush. That helps somewhat.</p>
<p>If your locale has a significant hard water problem (high mineral content which is common in many parts of the Rockies), the toilet will often develop mineral deposits in the trap which narrows the flush channel and makes it more and difficult to get a strong flush. The only way to fix this is to replace the toilet.</p>
<p>I had to replace my circa 1982 toilets 4 years ago and traps were about 85-90% filled with mineral deposits.</p>
<p>I never had problems with toilets flushing sluggishly when my to-the-street sewer line backed up and had to snaked.</p>
<p>Before you snake the trap, try lifting off the tank lid and watching as you flush. Is the flap lifting quickly or slowly? If it’s slow, shorten the chain. Is the tank actually filling all the way? Try changing the level of the float to see if it fills. It could even be the toilet lever you pull has bent inside the tank lid and it isn’t really releasing the water. Or it could mean you need a new $7-10 flowmaster. You know, the thing that sits in the tank with the arm and float, etc. Those are easy to replace: flush the tank, turn off the water, put a small bucket and towel under the opening, unscrew, replace.</p>
<p>Magnetron - I’ve thought about the vent, but our roof is tricky/dangerous. </p>
<p>aqua - It’s interesting that you mentioned your neighbor’s new toilet. I saw a plumber at a house near us and wondered if maybe our area is somehow having intermittent water pressure issues. </p>
<p>Lergnon - I took of the lid last night and noticed the water seems to fill an inch or two below the line. (We have verly little mineral in the water here, but there must some because the inside tank walls are discolored.) I’ll probably fill more by hand and see if the flush looks stronger. </p>
<p>The next step would probably be messing with flap, float etc. One of the reasons I started this thread is to understand if there is a typical “life span” on toilets.</p>
<p>As has been described, there are two way this can happen: water is coming in too slowly or water is leaving too slowly. The first is easily fixed by replacing the guts. You can buy that at any hardware store and diy. The second is more problematic: it could be an obstruction in the trap or it could be drain line itself. You can check the drain line partly by seeing if other things on the line drain slowly. So, if you have some faucets on that drain line, open them all the way, fill the sinks, then shut off and see if they drain at a sensible rate. If not, you may have a clog somewhere, of the kind that needs to be power snaked by a drain guy. I don’t know your house but drains often have very slight inclines so clogs can build up over time. We had the main drain line in our house augered out but our house is very old.</p>
<p>Every time I’ve replaced an old toilet with a new toilet, I’ve been pleased with the results. Really. You save a huge amount of water, and the new ones are much easier to clean, too.</p>
<p>“the new ones are much easier to clean, too.” - I like that part.</p>
<p>Water usage is a big deal in drought-prone Colorado, so a new toilet that uses less water is appealing. After 20 years, it may be time. (The master bath is due for a remodel in a few years, but I’ve already decided if we replaced the toilet now we could “demote” it to to the kids old bathroom if we decide on a different kind at remodel time.) BUT if the problem is relates to the drain somehow, I may be sorry. </p>
<p>Has anybody switched to a newer (lower water usage) toilet and been sorry?</p>
<p>Early low flow toilets didn’t function well. The problems have been solved. Problems included low pressure of flow so they didn’t clear the bowl and a small water area in the bowl to “use” - they have a name for that which I forget. </p>
<p>I have a few kinds of low flow Kohler toilets.</p>
<p>Lergnom - Thanks for the info. That helps. It seems there was a time we heard a lot of complaints from homeowners mandated to use the low flow toilets a while after our home was built. It sounds like that is not so much of a concern now.</p>
<p>Lergnom–do you know what dates the early low flush toilets were? We had three new ones installed in 1996 and they all block very easily. When we built a fourth bathroom in '99, we had a Toto power-assist flush installed, but it still blocks also. (We were tempted to go to a salvage yard to try to find an old toilet after our troubles with the three new ones, but it would not have met building code.)
Do you know if the dates I mentioned were considered ‘early’?</p>
<p>We had a similar problem with one of our toilets. I swear, it took ten minutes to finish the flush (and you couldn’t reflush until it was finished). Even if there was nothing in it, it just took forever. We replaced the toilet, and everything is perfect. Had nothing to do with the plumbing, just the old toilet!</p>
<p>Our toilets are pretty colors and are running slow. H does not like white toilets. So either we replace the 20 year old toilets $$, or we fix them. Brother pulled his slow toilet, inverted it, added degunk type cleaner, tipped and tipped so it soaked in many positions, reset the cleaned out toilet and now no longer has problems with slow flow. I have tried snaking ours, but that does not seem to help much. Push will come to shove on this problem pretty soon…</p>
<p>We can go a few weeks w/o problem. Still I’m trying to be proactive, hoping go never deal with a overflow (especially when company comes!). But intermittent problems can be tricky. </p>
<p>I see our hand-crank power auger is for sinks, not toilets. For good measure we’ll buy a snake this weekend. I recall using one years ago, but it was probably borrowed from a neigbhor. Maybe I’ll also buy another plunger - we have three (one at each toilet), but only one is the toilet style.</p>
<p>IF you want to get funky with the drain, go in the basement and check the line for a clean out plug. You can unscrew that and drive an auger in. A trick from an old pro drain guy: buy the really thick plastic garbage bags and have it open under any plumbing fixture, plug or value you open. They hold water and gunk.</p>
<p>One of our toilets wasn’t flushing well. I opened the lid, adjusted the float so it filled about a half-inch more full, and it’s been fine since.</p>
<p>I notice the Kohler website says that hard water can cause flushing to slow by leaving mineral deposits–they recommend deposit remover. I know my mother used to pour a can of Coke in the toilet once a month to remove mineral deposits (leave it soak overnight). Works quite well, sadly.</p>
<p>dmd - Funny you mentioned the float adjustment. Yesterday we removed the tank lid, so we can watch the mechanism for clues (especially when the problem reappears). DH did adjustments to make the water come up the extra inch, to the “water line”. </p>
<p>Coke - wow. This area does not have much hard water problems, but it probably can’t hurt to try it.</p>