Recently out toilet has started to repeatedly block. First thing we tried was the warm water method, which worked at first.
When that stopped working, and problem came back, we used caustic soda. This solution worked for a good couple of weeks, but the problem has again come back.
This morning, as I was clearing the toilet is preparation to use the the caustic soda techniques, I noticed a glugging coming from outside the bathroom. I went outside, to see my dirty toilet water being spilled over the patio. An unpleasant site so early in the morning, I think you'll agree.
Other symptoms that may help someone diagnose are that the all the waste pipes, from the kitchen and bathroom, seem to make the toilet glug at times, and this is usually a sign that the toilet is about to start slowing down.
Any ideas on what the problem is or what I can do about it? Should I use caustic soda on the outside drain?
Best Answer
Your first step should be to try to divine where in (or outside of) your house the blockage is. If your outside drain is overflowing you know the blockage is downstream of that, so if that drain is teed off the main waste line coming out of your house, you know you've got a block between the drain and the sewer or septic tank. If that's the case the most likely culprit is tree roots growing into the pipe, a problem that's not uncommon if your pipe is old and made of clay. If your house is newer you may find a cleanout port outside you can snake to try to clear any blockage.
If the outside drain is plumbed into your basement or crawlspace then you should look for cleanout ports down there too. However if all the drains in your house work slowly at the same time, then your problem is likely still outside the house.
Given the seeming interconnectedness of your issues, my gut tells me you've got a blockage that's outside the house, and it's affecting everything. Your toilet is probably stopping up because of the low water flow -- if the liquid's not flowing out of the toilet quickly enough there's not enough force to effectively push the solids out, and you get a block.