What could cause this bizarre plumbing problem?
On Friday the the unknowledgable superintendent, who happens to be the landlord's son, was here "fixing" the fourth-floor's clogged kitchen sink.
Today the third floor people came home from a weekend trip and found "food" backed up into their toilet, clogging it to the point that they cannot plunge the problem away.
It seems that the clogged sink must have had something to do with this.
Did the super really screw up? We live on the first floor. Do we need to worry that this might have messed up the plumbing for the whole building?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Answers:
Well if the plumbing was done correct this would not happen but in older buildings this could happen
When you run a snake in a line you push the food down the line into the main line if it goes down the main from the 4th to the 3rd well really in between the 2nd and 3rd floor what would happen is when the 4th floor uses the water it will go into the 3rd and when the 3rd uses water it will come back into there app- now for the 2nd and 1st your ok for now.
more then likely the weight of the water alone will push it right past you and you wont have any problems.(I Hope)
The problem with the 1st floor if the main line backs un in a building it goes into the 1st floor and the 2nd3rdand 4th all go into the 1st floor since it has no where else to go.
Now like I said in new buildings they are not plumbed like this so its not a worry.
I have been a plumber for 20yrs and there is a good chance that he caused this but then again he might not have. Rule of thumb when you do a app- and run (snake) a line on the 4th floor you make sure and go to the 3rd and make sure its ok and go to the 1st and make sure also. This way there is no doubt in your mind everything is ok
GoodLuck
I Had to edit this and say I love some of the answers people gave you. Just to let everyone know this can happen and it does happen alot. Most citys have changed there codes and how things are plumbed but some still let this happen so even now and then it will happen. This is a landlord that tryed to do the correct thing and just did not know what he was doing and what to do to make sure it was correct.
And the cost for only 4 floors running from the roof if you could get to it would be about 200.bucks or it will be about 150 to run from the main in the 4thfloor. Unless you have it HP washed (High Pressure) then It will be 300plus This is the best way and it will clean the pipe like it was new again.
Other answers:
Your people have probably been pouring grease down the drain.
Your people have probably been pouring grease down the drain.
Waste-water pipes operate under force of gravity; there is no pressure (as in fresh-water pipes).The clogged food would have had to travel down the pipe from the fourth floor, *past* the third-floor tenant's toilet, and somehow enter the run-out pipe for that toilet and make its way up into the toilet itself. I do not know how this could possibly happen, unless the third-floor tenant flushed the toilet at a critical moment and somehow caused some sort of vacuum to form, pulling the clog up. (Possible? Don't know.)
I cannot find anything in the diagrams of toilets and drains in my Home Repair Book to indicate that this could happen, but it doesn't say it couldn't, either.
Or perhaps your super had a grudge against the third-floor tenant, and thought that their toilet would be a handy dumping ground for the gunk he pulled out of the fourth-floor tenant's sink. In that case, you probably have more to worry about from the super than from the drains.
have the landlord pay to have the sewer jet sprayed that will clean out every thing out side,also have him clean the vent on the roof. don't put greese in the sink the trap under the sink gets clogged must take it off plunger won't work...
Possibly the fourth floor clog moved (or was pushed) down below the third floor's "Y" drain entry, and stuck there. This would give the appearance from the fourth floor that the drain was cleared, but water poured into the fourth floor's drains would come up in the third floor's bathtub and toilet, possibly overflowing.
You really need to call a professional who will run a "line" down the air vent(s) on the roof, through all four floors and all the way out to the sewer, to be sure the clog does not reform lower down. This requires a very long snake, and at least two strong men (who don't mind getting very dirty) to handle it. Expect to pay them a kilobuck.
It would be helpful if I could know it this is city sewer or septic. Once your septic is full, all sh breaks loose. When troubleshooting it is a great help to know what one is dealing with. You know that, smart-pants.