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Seeing the water in your toilet bowl bubbling and gurgling up can be disconcerting. Most likely, you’ll want to know the cause of your gurgling toilet and want to fix it quickly so you don’t hear the bubbling noise again. Here you can find out the reasons for your toilet bubbling.
This article also contains how to fix toilet bubbles, common causes of blocked drains, signs of clogged drains and how to fix blocked drain issues. You can also learn if your gurgling toilet can fix itself and if you should call on a professional plumber.
Causes of gurgling toilets
If you have toilet bubbles or gurgles, you should try to solve them quickly before problems with your drain lines arise. One cause of your toilet gurgling is reduced airflow within sewer lines.
The toilet bowl will begin to bubble as air tries to escape, but there’s a blockage in the vent stacks or sewer lines. You keep hearing strange gurgling noises in your drain pipes. This can occur after toilet flushes or even at random intervals.
The causes of your toilet gurgling can include the following:
- Clogged toilets
- Blocked vent stacks or pipes
- Clogged sewer line, drain line or mainline
- Drainage issue in the municipal sewer main
Clogged toilet
In other words, clogged toilets are a significant cause of your toilet having gurgles or bubbles. In turn, your clogged toilets can be caused by a blocked vent pipe or a clogged sewer pipe.
Blocked vent stack/pipe
You may have noticed a vertical pipe that sticks above your roof line. Such pipes are called ventilation pipes, plumbing vents, or vent stacks. They help to take out sewer gas from the sewer drainage system. Each vent stack lets air escape as water flows through your sewer line.
When flushing the toilet, water is released, pushing the waste and toilet paper down the toilet bowl. Any blockage will cause negative pressure in the sewer lines preventing air pressure from going out the roof. Thus water begins to back up, and toilet gurgling occurs.
Air in the sewer lines cannot escape. A reverse suction or vapour lock will stop waste movement through the sewer lines and drain pipes. As a result, it creates plumbing issues like toilet gurgling sounds or gurgling noises in your sewer drain systems.
Clogged sewer line
Negative air pressure can also build when water flows through the sewer lines and is not free. Naturally, waste will also stop running smoothly through the municipal sewer. In this case, a clog in the sewer lines will eventually cause the negative air pressure to push air through the sewer drains and back into the toilet. This results in the toilet gurgling.
Municipal sewer line issue
This clog in the sewer lines can occur in the drain systems or the main sewer line connecting to the municipal sewer line. An associated cause of bubbling toilets is a broken sewer main. It can result in wastewater backing up into your toilets, showers, and tubs.
How to fix toilet bubbles
You can use the following expert tips and methods to fix toilet bubbles.
Using a sewer snake
You can fix your gurgling toilet with a sewer/drain snake. A drain snake can be purchased from your local hardware store, or alternatively, you can use a disassembled coat hanger that retains the original hook shape.
Before you start plunging the toilet, seal off the drain line that connects the tub, sink, and toilet. You can make use of duct tape. This way, water will be unable to escape into these drains.
This method is quite effective in removing small debris, such as hair. On the other hand, a sewer snake features a long cable and cutting blades for a head. The cutting blades can chop through tough clogs.
Using drain cleaners
Using drain cleaners is a good option for fixing drain clogs. You can rent a medium-sized one from home improvement stores.
Checking municipal sewer lines
It can be worthwhile to confirm if the cause of the gurgling toilets is a clog in the community sewer line. You can confirm with your neighbours if they also have toilet bubbles. If that is the case, you may invite your municipal sewer authority to check and take measures for fixing municipal sewer line clogs.
Drain snakes can help pull out main sewer drain line clogs. You can also use it to break up the drain blockages. Your options are to use a manual drain snake. It has an auger head and a metal line. You simply turn the auger crank and introduce the metal line into the drainpipe.
Alternatively, you can use a motorised drain snake if the clog is too deep. These drain snakes have a longer length that can reach the clog. However, it is preferable to invite a professional plumber as they may have more experience in using drain snakes.
Common causes of blocked drains
Some common causes of clogged drains include tree roots, food waste, grease and oils, wet wipes, and hair. Installing a drain catcher can help you to prevent clogged drains. Alternatively, you can resolve toilet gurgling or bubbling by removing flushable wipes that clog the city’s central sewer drain systems.
Signs of blocked drains
Apart from gurgling sounds, other common signs of blocked drains include the following:
- Slow draining speeds
- Bad odour/smells
- Gurgling sounds
Fixing blocked drain issues
Drain line blockages also result in negative air pressure and toilet bubbles. Here are some measures to take to fix the plumbing issue.
- You must get on the roof to check and clear your vent stacks.
- Use duct tape to attach a narrow flashlight to the end of a thin rope.
- Switch the flashlight on and place it into the uncapped pipe.
- You should be able to see clogs 2 to 3 metres or between 8 to 10 feet from the top of the pipe.
- Use a wire coat hanger that you have straightened out to remove the clogs.
- Alternatively, use running water from your garden hose to dislodge and wash the clog into the sewer.
Difference between mainline clogs and drain line clogs
Although drain line clogs and mainline clogs are capable of causing toilets to gurgle, there are still differences between them. Drain lines in plumbing systems channel water outside from the various fixtures in your house. On the other hand, the mainline channels the collective wastewater to the municipal connection.
Understandably, mainline clogs are more complicated and more expensive to fix. After all, accessing it requires extensive work digging outside your home. Mainline clogs also affect the entire house, whereas drain line clogs only affect a part of the house.
Will my gurgling toilet fix itself?
Sometimes, drain clogs can get cleared without an intervention. Other times, you may remove debris from vent stacks, and the gurgling sounds or toilet water bubbles will go away. However, you may have to invite professional plumbers if the issue is more serious or comes from the main sewer line. They can do the necessary plumbing repairs.
Should I call a professional plumber?
You do not need only to invite a professional plumber when you hear gurgling noises. You can watch out for the signs above and invite them for common plumbing issues. In addition, you can invite them for emergency plumbing repairs such as slab leaks, gas leaks, water leaks, faucet repairs, heating system issues, and issues with sump pumps.
Meanwhile, feel free to get some expert tips on plumbing maintenance from them. Besides, they will have the right specialised equipment to do tricky jobs. This can include mini cameras for vent stacks.
A plumbing company can help
After going through this piece, you no longer need to wonder why your toilet is bubbling. You also know to invite a professional plumber for a more guaranteed solution to fix issues with plumbing systems.
They can improve indoor air quality through their air duct sealing and cleaning services. You can also call them for leak detection, water heater repairs, toilet repairs, sewer repairs, and plumbing installation and replacement services.
