We moved into a new (to us) house about 2 weeks ago. The toilets will randomly act like they are clogged when flushed. This usually happens when someone does #2. The first time it took me about 30 minutes of plunging to get it unstopped. Another toilet then did it and it flushed after one or two plunges. There have been a couple of times where I've gone back and flushed them 20-30 minutes later after being clogged and they've flushed fine.

There have been two other instances where I have smelled a faint sewage odor in different locations of the house. Both times it was enough for me to catch a wiff and it was quickly gone. The third issue is water pressure with the cold water. It seems somewhat low throughout the house. My wife says the hot water pressure has been low also but not as bad as the cold. I have not noticed issues with the hot water pressure. I've noticed it in the kitchen sink with cold water. Some times it will run fine but probably 85% of the time it will start off with regular pressure then drop down after about 5 seconds. The water is still usable, just a noticeable drop in the pressure.

My house has a basement and two floors- 1/2 bath on main floor and 2 full baths on 2nd floor. It was built in 2000 and is well built. We bought the house from a lady who's husband died a few months back and who's son is out of the house. I say because it's likely the one bathroom was not used much (not sure if going a while without being used would affect plumbing).

Does anybody know what I should do to fix this? I have no problem calling a plumber but would like to troubleshoot this and fix it myself if possible. Thanks in advnce for your help.

I forgot to add that we are on city sewer system and not a septic tank.

Have had similar problems in the past, called roto rooter and had them clean the lines (tree roots clogging the lines) have to do it every few years when we get a slow down.

RootX

There are no trees around that could get into the lines. I thought about that but don’t see how it’s possible.

Make sure the main shut off valve is completely open. It may account for the drop in pressure. Are you on sewer or septic? Sewer possibly roots, septic, check the tank outlet to the drain field for partial blockage.

You may have multiple issues.

Referring to the flush problem, one might be a vent issue. You might look at the vents through the roof, if they are the least bit restricted from whatever then you'll have weird issues. They should be snaked just as much as the underground lines.

Good luck to you.

Roto rooter can also run a camera tru your lines and look for any obstructions, broken pipes, etc.

One of my toilets has too small of a intersection to the main line and does like you've mentioned. I've been under there and saw the 3" Four way toilet, sinks & tubs :/ I've not replaced it yet. The other toilet had a 5" ...
I believe Repair Ppl took advantage of the older man that lived here & did bad work.

Obviously the water pressure and drain line are two separate issues.... drain and flushing could be a number of things... but I think the most prudent and best choice would be to call in a professional to see what is going on. I'm a do it yourselfer but somethings a pro is the best answer.

If you are on a water system then all you have is a main shut off. If it's a well then check the pressure gauge by the holding tank. That will tell you your high and low cut off points. You can adjust these up or down which is pretty easy to do. The holding tank itself may be defective. They have a bladder and it might have problems.

As far as the clogging problem, any hardware store will sell you a snake for not much money. I have had mixed results with those but it might be worth a shot. If it doesn't help I would call a plumber

As a plumber, I would guess that your issue may be the type of toilets used. When the Feds made them change the amount of water used from 3.5gal to 1.6gal a lot of companies failed miserably in their design.

First thing I would advise is to check your toilet paper. To do this, take a piece about a foot long, and dip it in the toilet bowl.

Good paper will fall apart easily (2-3 dips) This advise has helped a lot of my customers.

My current favorite is Sam's Club's Members Mark Ultra Premium toilet paper, soft but strong, absorbent, and falls apart with 1 dip.

As far as your water system, need to know if city or pump supplied.

Check your closing documents. Often home purchases include a year of warranty paid by the seller. Warranty companies are notoriously slow notifying the purchaser of the warranty, of course, the clock is ticking on the warranty while you are in the dark about it.

Ok, so I checked the main shut off for the house and it’s wide open. There is a pressure regulator right off of that. I turned it from 60 to 65psi and that has helped the water pressure some. I also did the toilet paper test. Angel soft- broke after one dip.

I have a friend coming to check the vents. If that doesn’t work then I’ll call in the professionals.

I overlooked that the house was unused for a time before your purchase. Many times roots have time to build-up in unused drains.

Sewage: My first thought was vents but I think it would be manifesting a bit differently than "a clog". When we had a clogged vent, the toilets would bubble.
In your basement there will be access points to the sewage line. if you've snaked all of the toilets in the house and you're comfortable that the clog is not in the house, the next step would be to open this and snake further down the line. But beware!

Water pressure: When you say you turned it up from 60 to 65psi, does the regulator have a display or did you hook up a pressure tester to a spigot? Your regulator might still be bad. When mine went bad, I'd turn up the pressure and over the course of a few minutes it would die down quite a bit. You can buy parts online to rebuild your regulator and it doesn't take that long. Also, 65psi can be high for a home. You should be around 45-50 psi. Check for drips starting at faucets or even your water heater.

Your hot water pressure probably goes low when it's trying to recover and is getting low water pressure from the line.

1. always , dye test the toilets.

What kind if system are you on?
Sewers? Septic tank and leaching field? Septic and cesspools?

If it's the up stairs toilets that are giving you trouble, it's a toilet issue. (or venting issue , but usually venting issues come with other things like making funny noises, glugs and gurgles).

If its a problem outside the house, like with the line or full tanks, the issue should only be downstairs. (If your line is blocked and you flush upstairs, upstairs won't clog, downstairs will over flow.)

I'd try bucket flushing it when it's acting up. 3-4 gallon bucket of water dumped in the bowl instead of the normal flush, see if that goes down okay.

If you are on a city sewer system, ask them to come out and take a look. If you are, even thought the city is not responsible for the lines on your property, they will usually send out a crew to send a camera down the line. It makes them look good to the customers. Many days I sent out crews to TV a line.

You have 2 different issues. On the toilets/drains, it sounds like you have a sagging drain pipe, or the pitch is wrong, or a joint in the drain pipe, that's causing solids to hang up and cause it to back up behind the obstruction. Camera ing it would probably find that.

On the supply pressure it sounds like either you have a slight blockage somewhere or could be a slight kink if you have pex or the pressure regulator is on it's way out.

I'd just call a professional plumber.