Why Is My Toilet Bubbling?
Simple Solutions from Professional Plumbers
Toilets can show a number of different strange behaviors that indicate a problem, and one of those behaviors is bubbling in your toilet bowl. Bubbling in your toilet may seem harmless enough, but it could indicate something bigger is going on. Even small symptoms could indicate a larger problem, and a bigger plumbing service is necessary to get it fixed, so you’ll want to tackle the issue right away. Here are a few of the most common plumbing issues that could lead to bubbling as well as gurgling noises coming from your toilet.
Clogged Drain or Sewer Line
A bubbling toilet usually indicates some sort of an issue going on in the drain line that connects your toilet to your sewer, usually in the form of a clog. When water can’t go down your drain as quickly as it needs to, then bubbles will sometimes form in air pockets or gaps in the pipe behind the drain clog, When these air gaps fill with water or liquid going down the drain, bubbles go back up the drain line, leading to the bubbling you see in your toilet.
Fixing this problem is a fairly routine plumbing procedure. It can be done by either snaking your drain, which involves using an auger to reach down into the drain and physically remove the clog to open the drain line. In other cases where the clog is located further down the drain line but is still accessible through an access cover, clogs can be cleared through a process known as “hydrojetting.”
Blocked Vent Stack
Have you ever tried to pour water or milk out of a gallon-size plastic jug too quickly? It never pours out smoothly or evenly. Instead, it usually sputters, sloshes, and speeds up and slows down intermittently until enough of the liquid is poured out. This phenomenon is caused by the liquid in the jug preventing air from being able to get into the space behind it that’s been vacated by the liquid, creating a natural vacuum.
That same phenomenon can happen in your plumbing, only it’s even harder for the air to get back through and alleviate the vacuum in these cases. This is why plumbing codes require that you have a vent stack that services every drain in your home. In many cases, several different drains are all serviced by the same vent stack. However, if this stack becomes blocked, then air can’t get through to alleviate the vacuum, leading to slow drains and a strange gurgling sound as the water drains away.
If your toilet is bubbling, have it inspected by our professional Simi Valley plumbers as soon as possible! Call Dutton Plumbing at (805) 849-0965 today.
