When toilets produce a gurgling sound, many homeowners often find themselves wondering whether the gurgling sound is a cry for help from their drainage or it’s just a typical sound. Unfortunately, it’s the former.
When you encounter a rumbling, weird sound randomly or after you’ve flushed the toilet, it often means that there’s an underlying problem in your plumbing system that you need to handle. In many cases, it can be hard to determine whether it’s a minor situation or it’ll require plenty of plumbing work.
So, what causes that irritating gurgling sound? This post will discuss what makes your toilet produce that sound and how you can fix it.
What Causes Your Toilet to Gurgle?
A gurgling toilet often indicates one major problem: there is a blocked line. The clog produces negative air pressure and instead of atmospheric air flowing through their respective lines, the air is pushed back, producing that gurgling sound.
There are three main reasons why your toilet produces a gurgling sound:
- The toilet has a clog starting up
- The vent stacks for the drains are blocked
- There is a problem with the sewer main
1. A Clogged Toilet
A clogged toilet is usually the easiest problem to manage. If your toilet is clogged, you will notice shredded papers and other things stuck or floating on the toilet. If you have small kids, especially, they can stuff big items like toys into the toilet. Since these can’t dissolve in the toilet, they will eventually be stuck in the bowl.
When you experience this problem, the first step you should undertake is to clear everything that’s floating on the toilet water. Here, you can use a running garden hose to dislodge a clog down your toilet bowl. You can also unclog the toilet using a plunger. If the plunger fails to solve your problem, it means that the underlying problem could be worse. This is the recommended time to call in the professionals.
2. Blocked Vent Stacks
The main role of the vent stack is to emit sewer gas and air from the toilet and equalize the air pressure. If this pipe is blocked, it causes negative air pressure which in turn produces a gurgling sound.
To solve this problem, assess where the blockage is and unblock it yourself. If there is anything further down the vent stack, get in touch with plumbing professionals and have it handled immediately.
3. The Sewer Main Has a Problem
If you’re unsuccessful with the aforementioned fixes, it means that there is a high likelihood that the sewer main has a problem. If this is the case, then you cannot fix the problem on your own. This is the responsibility of the town, not yours.
What causes this problem is the same as the other two: negative air pressure. Negative pressure returns air from the channel it came from: thus, causing gurgles.
The Bottom Line
When your toilet produces gurgling sounds, it often indicates that there is an underlying problem that needs to be handled. If you cannot fix the problem yourself, don’t hesitate to get in touch with professional plumbers.
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