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Old house plumbing - Toilet Bubbles after Flushing
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Hi all!

A little backstory: My wife and I purchased an older, renovated house in October 2023. The house has one toilet, one shower, two sinks, a washing machine, and a dishwasher. We have a private septic tank and private well, so we are not on city water or sewage. The house was built in 1848 and when the plumbing was put in, the owners at the time opted to only use air admittance valves (5 total), rather than setting up any venting outside or through the roof. Prior to moving in, the septic tank was pumped, and the previous owners had a regular schedule of getting it pumped every two years, so the tank shouldn't be anywhere near full at this point.

The issue: As of about a week ago, the toilet bubbles each time we flush. Occasionally bubbling comes from the washing machine drainage pipe as well after the toilet is flushed. The toilet also will not flush at all when the shower is running or when the washing machine is draining.

What I've tried and various observations: I have since replaced all of the air admittance valves, thoroughly plunged the toilet, and run a snake through as many pipes as possible. The water level in the toilet bowl does not rise or fall when other water is being run. I have also noticed that the toilet flushes perfectly when almost any of the air admittance valves are removed, excluding the valve under the kitchen sink. When the air admittance valve under the kitchen sink is removed, there is little or no effect to how the toilet flushes, but I believe that might just be because its the furthest possible point from the toilet on our plumbing lines (but removing any of these valves obviously isn't a solution since noxious gas continually seeps into the house without the valve in place). As far as I'm aware, nothing was flushed or put down the drain that shouldn't be (just my wife and I live here, no kids).

So now I'm at a loss and reaching out for advice. I've attached pictures and tried to label relevant points as best as possible. As mentioned, we had no issues with this plumbing setup until about a week ago, and no major changes were made to the plumbing prior to the toilet bubbling after each flush.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Overview of the basement pipes. Two air admittance valves in the basement and three are upstairs behind/under appliances.

https://preview.redd.it/61hgwzre9ccd1.jpg?width=2528&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5c4b9449bfaacaa8d5590c992143f232a166d2e9

https://preview.redd.it/axbc38se9ccd1.jpg?width=3556&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=27ff651dd8a44827349d2b61bb84a951551f75fa

https://preview.redd.it/k1nf46se9ccd1.jpg?width=2528&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4cf960a0ae220c89859b77e4a6474bd242b26958

Behind the washing machine, located in the bathroom.

Below the bathroom sink.

Below the kitchen sink. The hoses off to the right lead to the dishwasher.

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Posted
5 months ago