My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.

I should point out that the sewers on their street were replaced very
recently and you can see where they dug up the front lawn to attach
the sewer from the house to the new sewers. My dad and sister stop by the
house every now and then but I do not know if the toilet had been flushed
between the time the sewer work was done and when I flushed the toilet.
The assumption I made at the time was that the trap had been sucked
dry during the sewer work and once I refilled it, all was well.

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.

I should point out that the sewers on their street were replaced very
recently and you can see where they dug up the front lawn to attach
the sewer from the house to the new sewers. My dad and sister stop by the
house every now and then but I do not know if the toilet had been flushed
between the time the sewer work was done and when I flushed the toilet.
The assumption I made at the time was that the trap had been sucked
dry during the sewer work and once I refilled it, all was well.

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the drain during those times.

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:20:46 -0800 (PST), John G
wrote:

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the drain during those times.

High winds over the vent pipe? IIRC could create a vacuum and pull the
water out?

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 1:55:17 PM UTC-6, DerbyDad03 wrote:
My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.

I should point out that the sewers on their street were replaced very
recently and you can see where they dug up the front lawn to attach
the sewer from the house to the new sewers. My dad and sister stop by the
house every now and then but I do not know if the toilet had been flushed
between the time the sewer work was done and when I flushed the toilet.
The assumption I made at the time was that the trap had been sucked
dry during the sewer work and once I refilled it, all was well.

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)

I've seen wind blowing across the vent pipe creating a vacuum that pulls water out of the traps. It could be that when the house is occupied, enough water is run into the pipes on a regular basis to keep the traps full. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Trapped Monster

On 01/16/2016 2:20 PM, John G wrote:
My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. ...

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.
....

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
....

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been
empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the
drain during those times.

+1 as first choice if there's no visible leak

Although only a month to six weeks seems pretty quick, the water surface
level only has to below the bottom level of the U by a fraction for
there to be an air break so it's not like the trap has to be completely dry.

--

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:29:36 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:20:46 -0800 (PST), John G
wrote:

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the drain during those times.

High winds over the vent pipe? IIRC could create a vacuum and pull the
water out?
or just a bad vent, so when you flush the shower acts as the vent??

On 01/16/2016 2:49 PM, dpb wrote:
On 01/16/2016 2:20 PM, John G wrote:
.....

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been
empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the
drain during those times.

+1 as first choice if there's no visible leak

Although only a month to six weeks seems pretty quick, the water surface
level only has to below the bottom level of the U by a fraction for
there to be an air break so it's not like the trap has to be completely
dry.

Oh, meant to add --

If it's going to be vacant for a while again, after the shower has
drained so it's not flowing put a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil,
baby oil, or anything similar down the drain. That'll cover the surface
with a lower-rate evaporating film. If it doesn't then gurgle next
time, you'll have uncovered the culprit in all likelihood.

--

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 3:50:05 PM UTC-5, dpb wrote:
On 01/16/2016 2:20 PM, John G wrote:
My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. ...

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.
...

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
...

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been
empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the
drain during those times.

+1 as first choice if there's no visible leak

Although only a month to six weeks seems pretty quick, the water surface
level only has to below the bottom level of the U by a fraction for
there to be an air break so it's not like the trap has to be completely dry.


It's even shorter than that. 20 days since the last "holiday tenant" left the house.

It's a shower only fixture, so since there is no tub overflow, I'll suggest to my sister
that she figure out a way to seal the drain. (Rubber pad, pot full of water on top) and
see what happens.

That said, I have to assume that some of you have a guest shower that goes 20 days without being used. Are your traps empty after 3 weeks?

On 1/16/2016 3:49 PM, dpb wrote:
The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been
empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the
drain during those times.

+1 as first choice if there's no visible leak

Although only a month to six weeks seems pretty quick, the water surface
level only has to below the bottom level of the U by a fraction for
there to be an air break so it's not like the trap has to be completely
dry.


If it's evaporation, you may be able to keep
the water in by covering the drain with some
thing. Bit of rubber, duct tape, saran wrap.

I'm unsure if a couple drops of mineral oil
into the drain will coat the surface of the
water and help reduce evaporation. Maybe?

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 15:41:02 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:


That said, I have to assume that some of you have a guest shower that goes 20 days without being used. Are your traps empty after 3 weeks?

I have a shower that goes as much as 6 months without being used. I
use the toilet next to it every day. This is the toilet I posted
about months ago that makes metal-flapping noises (from somewhere) at
the end of the flush cycle, but it never makes gurgling noises from
the shower. I never smell anything either.

I think the last time I used the shower was April, the night and the
morning before surgery. They gave me two foil-wrapped sponges,
soaked in something, one for the night before and one for the morning
before, to wash my neck with (where the incision would be) and I
thought, or the instructions said, that a bath would not be clean
enough.

I didn't get an infection so I guess they worked.

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 1:55:17 PM UTC-6, DerbyDad03 wrote:
My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.

I should point out that the sewers on their street were replaced very
recently and you can see where they dug up the front lawn to attach
the sewer from the house to the new sewers. My dad and sister stop by the
house every now and then but I do not know if the toilet had been flushed
between the time the sewer work was done and when I flushed the toilet.
The assumption I made at the time was that the trap had been sucked
dry during the sewer work and once I refilled it, all was well.

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)

My janitorial company has cleaned a couple of buildings where the restroom floor drains emitted sewer gas if water wasn't poured in them at least once a week. I don't know what happens to the water in the trap. One building's restrooms were on the second floor, so a leak would be evident. The other was on a slab. Adding a non-evaporative chemical in the drain didn't help but for a short while.

On 1/16/2016 6:52 PM, Micky wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 15:41:02 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:


That said, I have to assume that some of you have a guest shower that goes 20 days without being used. Are your traps empty after 3 weeks?

I have a shower that goes as much as 6 months without being used. I
use the toilet next to it every day.

The above implies that you are full of sh*t but not very clean.

"IGot2P" wrote in message
...
On 1/16/2016 6:52 PM, Micky wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 15:41:02 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:


That said, I have to assume that some of you have a guest shower that
goes 20 days without being used. Are your traps empty after 3 weeks?

I have a shower that goes as much as 6 months without being used. I
use the toilet next to it every day.

The above implies that you are full of sh*t but not very clean.


It could be like my houe. Just me and the wife are here now. The main
bedroom and bath are on the first floor. On the second is a bath room. The
tub is seldom used, but I use the toilet up there almost every day. About
once a week if I think about it, I run some water in the tub just to keep
the trap full.

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 10:59:08 PM UTC-5, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"IGot2P" wrote in message
...
On 1/16/2016 6:52 PM, Micky wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 15:41:02 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:


That said, I have to assume that some of you have a guest shower that
goes 20 days without being used. Are your traps empty after 3 weeks?

I have a shower that goes as much as 6 months without being used. I
use the toilet next to it every day.

The above implies that you are full of sh*t but not very clean.


It could be like my houe. Just me and the wife are here now. The main
bedroom and bath are on the first floor. On the second is a bath room. The
tub is seldom used, but I use the toilet up there almost every day. About
once a week if I think about it, I run some water in the tub just to keep
the trap full.

But do you have to? Do you get the gurgling if you don't?

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
It could be like my houe. Just me and the wife are here now. The main
bedroom and bath are on the first floor. On the second is a bath room.
The
tub is seldom used, but I use the toilet up there almost every day.
About
once a week if I think about it, I run some water in the tub just to keep
the trap full.

But do you have to? Do you get the gurgling if you don't?

I don't know about the gurgling or if I have to. I just do run some water
in it to make sure the trap stays full so I don't get the smell if it would
go empty.

On 1/16/2016 11:00 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

It could be like my houe. Just me and the wife are here now. The main
bedroom and bath are on the first floor. On the second is a bath room. The
tub is seldom used, but I use the toilet up there almost every day. About
once a week if I think about it, I run some water in the tub just to keep
the trap full.



We have a few unused fixtures at work. Cooking oil solved the problem.

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 5:08:02 PM UTC-6, dpb wrote:
On 01/16/2016 2:49 PM, dpb wrote:
On 01/16/2016 2:20 PM, John G wrote:
....

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been
empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the
drain during those times.

+1 as first choice if there's no visible leak

Although only a month to six weeks seems pretty quick, the water surface
level only has to below the bottom level of the U by a fraction for
there to be an air break so it's not like the trap has to be completely
dry.

Oh, meant to add --

If it's going to be vacant for a while again, after the shower has
drained so it's not flowing put a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil,
baby oil, or anything similar down the drain. That'll cover the surface
with a lower-rate evaporating film. If it doesn't then gurgle next
time, you'll have uncovered the culprit in all likelihood.
--

What about that nontoxic blue stuff used in RV toilet systems and porta potties? I doubt it would evaporate like water and it wouldn't damage pipes. O_o

[8~{} Uncle Shower Monster

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.


Could be a blocked vent. I had gurgling once in my 2-flat. Didn't
ever localize it, but heard it when emptying the kitchen sink, so the
gurgling was probably coming from the sink trap.
It was pretty loud.
Got a plumber and he went right to the roof after hearing it, and
power rodded it. Pulled out a rubber ball slightly smaller than the
vent. Probably the work of my tenants, who went on the roof
occasionally.
Anyway, that solved it.
If the vent is accessible to squirrels, wouldn't surprise me if one
got in there and died.

On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 07:41:38 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.


Could be a blocked vent. I had gurgling once in my 2-flat. Didn't
ever localize it, but heard it when emptying the kitchen sink, so the
gurgling was probably coming from the sink trap.
It was pretty loud.
Got a plumber and he went right to the roof after hearing it, and
power rodded it. Pulled out a rubber ball slightly smaller than the
vent. Probably the work of my tenants, who went on the roof
occasionally.
Anyway, that solved it.
If the vent is accessible to squirrels, wouldn't surprise me if one
got in there and died.

I was getting ready to post the same thing. A blocked vent or lack of
a vent is the likely problem. Running water down a drain nearby
(emptying a sink or flushing a toilet) sucks the water right out of
the shower's trap. That's the first place to look.

On 1/16/2016 2:20 PM, John G wrote:
My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.

I should point out that the sewers on their street were replaced very
recently and you can see where they dug up the front lawn to attach
the sewer from the house to the new sewers. My dad and sister stop by the
house every now and then but I do not know if the toilet had been flushed
between the time the sewer work was done and when I flushed the toilet.
The assumption I made at the time was that the trap had been sucked
dry during the sewer work and once I refilled it, all was well.

Well, my sister just called and told me that she was at the house, flushed
the toilet (the first time since Christmas) and heard the gurgling in the
shower. She ran water in the shower, flush again and heard no more noise.
(She was not aware that I had had the same experience about 3 weeks ago.)

As best she could, she checked the trap in the basement and didn't see
any signs of leakage.

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)

The traps could be drying out by evaporation. The place has been empty in between gurgles, consequently no water was going down the drain during those times.

That is a good possibility. Where I worked in Florida in a
brand new building the traps in the floor of the HVAC equipment
room would dry out every few months. We could always tell by the
smell when we came in.

Bill

Slow leak P-trap, in my estimation.

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 9:07:37 AM UTC-5, Pat wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 07:41:38 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.


Could be a blocked vent. I had gurgling once in my 2-flat. Didn't
ever localize it, but heard it when emptying the kitchen sink, so the
gurgling was probably coming from the sink trap.
It was pretty loud.
Got a plumber and he went right to the roof after hearing it, and
power rodded it. Pulled out a rubber ball slightly smaller than the
vent. Probably the work of my tenants, who went on the roof
occasionally.
Anyway, that solved it.
If the vent is accessible to squirrels, wouldn't surprise me if one
got in there and died.

I was getting ready to post the same thing. A blocked vent or lack of
a vent is the likely problem. Running water down a drain nearby
(emptying a sink or flushing a toilet) sucks the water right out of
the shower's trap. That's the first place to look.


I'm not saying a vent isn't the problem, but your description of the issue doesn't fit
this situation. Based on your description, the shower trap should empty every time
we flush. From what we are seeing, the trap only empties after sitting for 3 weeks
or so.

Over the 4 day period that we were most recently there, the trap only appeared to be
empty we when first got there. Once it was refilled, it did not empty with every flush.

In addition, we don't recall this issue happening before the street sewers were replaced,
even after extended periods of non-use. As I said, we don't recall it happening, maybe
it did but it would depend on who flushed first. Some people, like my daughters, may
have heard the noise but never mentioned it. Then the shower gets used and the
problem is gone for the time being without me knowing that it had happened. Who knows.

If I lived closer, I could do some controlled experiments or at least keep track of when
it occurs.

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 9:35:59 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Slow leak P-trap, in my estimation.

Trap is accessible from below. According to my sister it is completely dry with no signs
of leakage anywhere in the area.

On 01/16/2016 5:41 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
....

That said, I have to assume that some of you have a guest shower that
goes 20 days without being used. Are your traps empty after 3 weeks?

It does seem a little short but much would have to do with the actual
conditions in the house as far as evaporation rate and what the actual
trap design is; they're various shapes and mayhaps this one is "more
flatter" than others. It's also possible there's some suction being
applied owing to venting but my bet would it's not the issue and might
as well eliminate the quickie, easy as the culprit first.

As for the question; not here, no, we don't in specfic. There was one
in the basement in the house in VA but it was a floor drain with full 2"
drain so the size of the trap was quite large compared to a fixture
drain so no comparison.

I'd still posit as my best guess it'd behaved the same way while the
house was occupied if the shower (and probably a shared lavatory?) were
_never_ touched but that it didn't occur owing to there being the
occasional use or even just routine cleaning, etc., that would freshen
the trap without your even thinking of it or recalling that such did
happen now as it was so routine.

But, yes it is possible there's a new phenomenon altho I'd really be
hard pressed to think of something outside the house; there being a
blocked vent from a bird nesting or somesuch would be higher on my list
than that (see above)...

Good luck...

--

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 8:41:41 AM UTC-5, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.


Could be a blocked vent. I had gurgling once in my 2-flat. Didn't
ever localize it, but heard it when emptying the kitchen sink, so the
gurgling was probably coming from the sink trap.
It was pretty loud.
Got a plumber and he went right to the roof after hearing it, and
power rodded it. Pulled out a rubber ball slightly smaller than the
vent.

I'm not familiar with power rodding. My brain goes to downward pressure
which makes me wonder how power rodding would *pull* a rubber ball out of
vent stack.

Please explain.

I am wont to believe there is a large T.U.R.D. partially obstructing the
shower trap.
Turds have a way of doing that.

On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 08:47:35 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:



I'm not familiar with power rodding. My brain goes to downward pressure
which makes me wonder how power rodding would *pull* a rubber ball out of
vent stack.

Please explain.

He tried a snake first and the ball stopped it. The power rodder (fed
by electrical power) dug into the ball and was attached to the spring
end when he extracted it. Probably took a lucky bite.

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)


The Sewer Rats were disturbed when the sewer work was done and they are
escaping by going into smaller private pipes. Your shower trap is
perfect for their escape. They just splash thru that small amount of
water and they are inside your house and free. Rats hide well, so you
rarely see them. Look for rat droppings under cabinets and such places.

On Monday, January 18, 2016 at 8:37:18 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

Since the house was empty for a few months before the sewer work was done,
and we don't recall the gurgling happening prior to that, I'm wondering
if the issue is related to that work. Could they have done something to the
sewers at the street that is causing a pressure related situation
and sucking the trap dry? Is a descendant of Daniel Bernoulli squatting in
the house when we are not there? ;-)


The Sewer Rats were disturbed when the sewer work was done and they are
escaping by going into smaller private pipes. Your shower trap is
perfect for their escape. They just splash thru that small amount of
water and they are inside your house and free. Rats hide well, so you
rarely see them. Look for rat droppings under cabinets and such places.

How do I tell the difference between the Sewer Rats and the rats that were
already there?

Oh wait...I know! The Sewer Rats will be sliced up into little round cylinders
caused by squeezing through the holes in the drain cover.

On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 09:07:28 -0500, Pat wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 07:41:38 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.


Could be a blocked vent. I had gurgling once in my 2-flat. Didn't
ever localize it, but heard it when emptying the kitchen sink, so the
gurgling was probably coming from the sink trap.
It was pretty loud.
Got a plumber and he went right to the roof after hearing it, and
power rodded it. Pulled out a rubber ball slightly smaller than the
vent. Probably the work of my tenants, who went on the roof
occasionally.
Anyway, that solved it.
If the vent is accessible to squirrels, wouldn't surprise me if one
got in there and died.

I was getting ready to post the same thing. A blocked vent or lack of
a vent is the likely problem. Running water down a drain nearby
(emptying a sink or flushing a toilet) sucks the water right out of
the shower's trap. That's the first place to look.


This^. Clogged vent which causes the flushed toilet to pull a vacuum
which sucks the water out of the shower trap. Chech the vent pipe on
the roof to see if some critter made a nest in it.

On Sunday, January 24, 2016 at 2:46:49 PM UTC-5, Dana F Bonnett wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 09:07:28 -0500, Pat wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jan 2016 07:41:38 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jan 2016 11:55:10 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:

My family owns a single story house that no one has lived in for a few
months. It will be put on the market in the spring. In the meantime,
we've run into a strange issue. The house is 300 miles from where I live,
so I'm troubleshooting this from afar.

I stayed at the house during the holiday season and noticed that the first
time I flushed the toilet, the shower drain gurgled. I know that that can
happen if the trap is empty, so I ran water in the shower and then flushed
the toilet again. No more noise for the rest of the 4 day stay.


Could be a blocked vent. I had gurgling once in my 2-flat. Didn't
ever localize it, but heard it when emptying the kitchen sink, so the
gurgling was probably coming from the sink trap.
It was pretty loud.
Got a plumber and he went right to the roof after hearing it, and
power rodded it. Pulled out a rubber ball slightly smaller than the
vent. Probably the work of my tenants, who went on the roof
occasionally.
Anyway, that solved it.
If the vent is accessible to squirrels, wouldn't surprise me if one
got in there and died.

I was getting ready to post the same thing. A blocked vent or lack of
a vent is the likely problem. Running water down a drain nearby
(emptying a sink or flushing a toilet) sucks the water right out of
the shower's trap. That's the first place to look.


This^. Clogged vent which causes the flushed toilet to pull a vacuum
which sucks the water out of the shower trap. Chech the vent pipe on
the roof to see if some critter made a nest in it.

The vent was checked a few days ago. It is clear.

The DPW doesn't think it's anything they did when they replaced the sewers in the
street. They also suggested having the vent checked which was done. The search for
the cause continues.