Back in Feb/Mar 2023, we had our en suite bathroom renovated. The first step in that process was stripping out all the old bathroom fittings, tiles etc. (https://rhondabracey.com/2023/02/13/bathroom-renos-day-1/), and as part of that process, the now-open pipework was capped or covered to prevent things falling down it or smells coming up from it.
Fast forward to September and I started to notice some occasional issues with the en suite toilet and hand basin—the water in the toilet would rise almost to the rim on flushing, then disappear fairly quickly, coming to rest at a lower level than usual in the pan. And while this happened, the hand basin would gurgle and occasionally spit up water from the trap (it smelt of toothpaste!). It was disconcerting to say the least but it only happened a couple of times. But over the next few weeks, it became more regular. So it was time to call the plumbers.
I’d pretty much diagnosed that the issue was somewhere in the line from the en suite to the main line to the septic tank (we’re not on sewerage here). No other areas of the house had flushing or water dispersal issues, and nor did the shower in the en suite—no gurgling from there. When I looked at the house plans (which only had rudimentary and indicative markings for the plumbing), it appeared that the en suite shower was on a different line, which fit with my layperson’s assessment of where the problem was,because there seemed to be no issue with the shower.
The plumbers tried many things to free the blockage on their first visit—plunging the toilet and putting an acid down the pipes to be left for 24 hours. They told me that if that didn’t fix it, they may have to cut out part of the concrete path outside or remove the (new) toilet pan. These sounded like drastic measures! Putting a drain snake down from the toilet wasn’t really an option as it’s motorised and thus very powerful and could smash the toilet or damage the floor tiles. This did not sound like a good option. After 24 hours, I flushed the toilet 3 times and had the hand basin running at the same time—all appeared to be well. Until I had to flush solid matter, and the problem resurfaced.
On the second visit, the plumber they sent (Bryce) was fantastic in trying to diagnose the issue—he tested one variable at a time and tested multiple times to emulate the problem. At one point he removed the trap from under the hand basin and suddenly everything seemed to work well. He thought it was a venting issue because as soon as he put that trap back on, the issue returned. He installed a new trap with a vent on it, but that made NO difference. The problem remained. He asked me about the renos and what was done—I showed him the pictures I took each day, which proved that the strip-out guys and the renovation company had capped all pipe openings and put a large sponge into the toilet water pipe. I doubted it was a problem that stemmed from the renos because the reno had happened more than 6 months ago, and surely any issue would’ve made itself known long before now. Bryce was as baffled as me.
He decided to look for the inspection opening (IO) outside the bathroom window. But there wasn’t one! We discovered that ALL 6 IOs that were on the house plan I had from the previous owners (who built the house) were ALL under the concrete path! Who does that???? I contacted the building company to see if they had better plumbing drawings, but they didn’t. They also confirmed they did none of the concreting/paving etc. around the house—it was all done by the original owner (and he was in the construction industry contractor so I’m pretty sure he did it all himself). I also contacted the Shire to see what they had—they found a 7 page document from the septic tank installers, which had a bit more detail than the house plans, but not a lot. I also spoke with the manager of the reno company—he was as baffled as me and the plumber, especially with the time since the reno—we all agreed it couldn’t possibly be as a result of that.
The weekend came and I continued to use the other bathroom as I’d been doing for nearly a week. First thing Monday morning, the reno manager called and asked if he come and take a look (he’s an ex-plumber) because it had been nagging at him all weekend. He also did various things to try to dislodge whatever was blocking the line (BTW a mop is a handy thing to use to plunge the toilet if the water is fresh), and we talked at length about the possibilities. He confirmed that everything had been capped, and I agreed—I’d watched every step of the process and had photos to confirm this. We both agreed that it was extremely unlikely to be a result of the renos, but as I don’t have kids, grandkids, or pets, there was no way anything else could have got into the pipework other than the usual toilet paper and solid and liquid waste. Also, the toilet is a ‘smart’ one, with bidet functions, so toilet paper usage is far less than for a standard toilet (https://rhondabracey.com/2023/04/02/using-a-smart-toilet-for-the-first-time/). Looking at the plans and using his knowledge, we identified where we thought the pipe exited the house and thus where the IO was likely to be. He said he COULD remove the toilet pan, but was reluctant to do so, except as a last resort, and I agreed.
Meantime, the plumbing company arranged for Bryce to come out again on Wednesday (I was away on Tuesday, and on Monday I was still waiting on plans from the Shire etc.). I showed him the newer plans I had and where the reno manager and I had calculated the pipe exited the house. So he cut a square of concrete out of that section of the path and started digging. And digging and digging. He went down >500 mm and under the sides almost a similar amount (he had to be careful as there was a heavy heat pump for the hot water system [HWS] sitting right next to the hole and he didn’t want to undermine the structural integrity of that piece of concrete). Nothing. No pipe, and you really can’t miss a 100 mm pipe! And because no pipe, no IO. Where was it??? There was no point going deeper as he was already level with or below the level of the opening into the septic tank, and the pipe would have to be higher than that to have the appropriate fall to the septic. He and I were baffled as to where the pipe could be.
Digging the first hole, but nothing found
I came inside and related this to my husband. He said it would be great if there was geophys (ground-penetrating radar) they could use to find pipes underground. And then it came to me—why not listen for the sound of water flushing through the pipe? I suggested this to Bryce and he was willing to try, because he was rapidly running our of options and I was despairing that we’d never find it and get the blockage cleared. He lowered half his body into the pit he’d dug and I flushed the toilet. He couldn’t hear the water (too much ambient traffic noise from the highway) but got me to do it again. This time he put his hand on the sand and felt the vibration of the gurgling! It was about 500 mm to the right of where he’d already dug and certainly NOT where the plans indicated it would be.
Bryce cut another hole in the concrete further along (past the dry floor waste opening and a rainwater downpipe) and found the pipe and the IO! The IO was partially covered by the downpipe’s pipework (who does that??), but that pipe (40 mm?) was flexible enough to be gently moved aside. As soon as he took the IO cap off, he came inside to get me to show what he’d found. There was matter clogging up to the top of the IO—yuck. So he donned a chemical glove and started to remove it. A couple of minutes later he called me outside again—he’d found the culprit! It was a piece of curved and broken off ceramic that looked like it had come from a toilet. And so it was (as confirmed by the reno manager when I sent him the photos). After clearing everything out, we test flushed the toilet many times, along with filling the hand basin to confirm that everything was now flowing as it should.
IO and angles of the pipework where the blockage was
Blocked pipe
We think what happened was that when the strip out was being done, the toilet pan had broken and a piece (not small—it was about 140 mm long) had fallen into the toilet waste pipe before it was capped. The strip-out guys wouldn’t have heard it fall (it was the noisiest time of the whole reno) or seen it in the pipe, and then they capped the pipe, which was later further blocked off with the sponge and then the new toilet was installed over the top of the pipe. It likely lay in situ for a while, gradually moving down the pipe until it hit the (small) angled bend and could go no further. It took 6+ months to do this. Meantime, because of its shape, most waste had gone past it without a problem. Until it didn’t. Once it got to the bend (where the IO was), it lodged there, and while some waste passed it by, not everything did, so there were times when it was fully blocked and so the water backed up the pipework, causing the gurgling and spitting in the basin and toilet. And then it would drain away, to a degree.
The sense of relief at finding the cause was palpable and Bryce revealed that he was at a complete loss as to what to do next if he hadn’t found the IO and that piece of ceramic. My sense of relief was equally as great as his!
I sent photos off to the reno manager—he’d asked me to keep him in the loop. And he and the strip-out people agreed to pay a third each of the bill (I paid the other third because had the previous owners done the right thing, all the IOs would have been accessible).
Bryce filled in the hole where nothing was found and concreted it over again, and put in a cast iron IO box above the IO and pipe, with a removable lid, and concreted around it so at least one of the IOs is now accessible if there are any future problems with that pipe.
You can see from the photos below why he couldn’t just extend the hole he’d already dug (the one on the left)—there was too much immovable infrastructure around it (HWS heat pump on the left, electrical wiring in the metal box, dry floor waste opening, downpipe, electrical outlet, and then the HWS itself. Oh, and we think, based on where this IO was, that the one for the shower is likely UNDER the HWS. Great…
Bonus: I now know more about plumbing, and specifically this house’s plumbing, than ever before!
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 