I don't know what to make of this....

We've had record cold temps for many days straight. The house is 5 years old. When flushing the toilet in the master bath, the tub and sinks gurgle. This is new since the cold weather. This morning I ran some hot water through the sinks, shower and tub. The gurgling stopped. But tonight it's back even worse. A sewer smell accompanies the the gurgle.

I checked it out and that bathroom has its own vent stack. There's not a lot of snow on the roof so I doubt it's clogged up there. We're on a warming trend now. Do I worry or just wait and see if it clears up?

 

It's possible you have ice blocking a vent or it may be an old fashioned clog.

 

I've lived here 30 years and the other day was the first time it has happened, flush the toilet and the tub gurgled. I never had the sewer smell but I did notice the level in the trap was a little lower.

We are having a warm up (coming your way )and it quit. I still can't figure out why, maybe the cold with very little snow? No idea but it should quit.

 

Very possible that your vent(s) is/are frozen or snow covered. How much snow is on your roof, and can you see your vent(s)? I've seen ones that froze, and our hasn't, but has been snow covered a number of times, so any time we get even just a gurgle in the winter that's the first place I look, and it doesn't happen regularly, maybe every 5 years or so that they're covered, so I have to go up there and dig them out. If you're not comfortable going up there, don't! Call a local roofing company; a lot of them around here anyway stay pretty busy with just roof snow removal during the winter. But you do want to get it resolved pretty soon because a little slowdown will lead to blockages.

 

Thanks all for the replies. I sent my drone up there this morning to check it out. Sure enough the vent stack is clogged with ice/snow. I didn't think to check the one to the left of it, which appears to be for the kitchen. The kitchen drains seem okay though.

https://youtu.be/aDEvOL8RgyM

It will be above freezing for the next few days so it should resolve itself. I'm thankful for an easy answer!

 

HA, that's a nice way to look up there, did it clear up yet? It never went above freezing here, just a little sun did it for me.

On my vents there is no cap or anything, just a bunch of small nails driven in around the top of the pipe so nothing can fall in there. I'm guessing frost for some reason stuck to the nails and blocked it?

Yours could be the same, take another peek when it opens up? Just curious.

 

It's almost back to normal. I hear something just a little different than normal from the tub when we flush. It's just an open pipe - no cap, nails or anything. When the snow storm moved through it was crazy windy. I guess it somehow got packed with snow and ice. It was too windy later in the day yesterday to bring the drone back up and check it out again (actually I did and crashed it into my truck - cost me $18 in prop blades). I do want to get it back up there and see if I can "look" down into that pipe. That bathroom toilet's water level has always been significantly higher than the rest in the house. I hadn't given it much thought until now.

 

Okay it's finally back to normal. Here's the video. I was too lazy to edit it. The vent pipe footage starts at 1:20.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjTElT610QU

 

WTH that's my place dude!!

Firstly around 1:06 in the 2nd video do I see a dropped down spout ?

Cold cold temps can do lots of funky things. I'm wondering if a little moisture vapour is coming up through and then freezing to the inside of the portion that is outside. Up here in Canada our stink pipes are black.

I had gurgling a couple winters ago, but it was due to a clogged effluent filter I had installed. My wife and I had assumed it was the stunk pipe clogged with snow. I knew something was wrong when spring came and the issue was still there. I couldn't get a consistent answer as to how often I should be cleaning the filter. So after checking it a few times I kinda got complacent. Anyway it clogged up, not with poo or sludge, but with bacteria scum, and as a result my tank filled up to the top. I discovered this when I had my tank pumped (perfect timing it was due that spring). Now I clean it twice a year, middle November, and around May.

 

You scared me for a minute. What looks like a dropped downspout is a wooden pole painted white. I have them in buckets of concrete to hang the lights from. Though my gutters do need cleaned. Need to fashion an attachment for the drone

I think it probably was vapor getting up there and freezing in the extreme cold. I think that one was particularly vulnerable because it was at the very end of the house and the pipe ran up an outside wall.