toilet water coming through the shower drain

princessdniez

Hey everyone
I have a problem and I am hoping that it is not a big one. I have toilet water coming up through the shower. Is there a in expensive way to fix this? I really want to try and fix this with out paying an arm and leg. My husband is military and I am a student and we just spent our whole saving on buying this house, we can not afford a large issue right now. If any one can help with some suggestions I would appreciate it.

MALCO.New.York

Snake out the Drain lines. GENTLY!

Mike Swearingen

Princess,
Before opening clean-out plugs and snaking the drain, you might try a good non-caustic enzyme-based drain cleaner like DrainCare first. You just run warm water, pour in the DrainCare, let it eat out the organic gunk overnight, and then flush it down with hot water. I usually start that with a kettle of boiling water. Sometimes this works.
If it doesn't, then you have to snake the drain.
Good luck!
Mike

faucetman886

to expound on MALCO's answer, sounds as if your main drain is clogged and is backing up to the lowest point in the system which apparently is your shower. You will need an auger or commonly called a snake, may be able to rent one and get some instructions on how it works from a tool rental store. More than likely the clog is down stream from the toilet, the toilet is just symptomatic of the problem so the snaking should be done from the clean out port on your drain. These are usually located in the basement or near an exterior wall of the house on the route to your septic system or sewer. Worse case scenario is that if you are on a septic system your tank may be full or the drain field may be clogging. If the latter is the case you will need a qualifed septic professional....hope its not this because that can be a complicated and expensive problem.
Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

princessdniez

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I think I am going to try the stuff drain care 1st, but can I buy it at like walmart or target. When I looked it up on line the website did not list any stores but it wanted me to buy online. I don't really have that kind of time.. After I use the drain care stuff and save up for a bit or if it doesn't work then I am going to call a plummer or something.

al's sewer

I would just go ahead and call a plumber before you pour anything down that drain. It is more than likely a stopped up main line and the best way to clear it is to run a snake through it. If you pour something in there make sure you tell the plumber about it before he runs his snake in there. Word of warning though the plumber is more than likely to be upset about it so expect an extra charge for working around chemicals.

toolbelt Tina

Let us know how it all turned out. You can rent or buy a snake. You won't need a plumber or roto rooter guy.

Good luck