We have a weird thing going on with the toilets at Chez Nina. When you flush, the water flow will abruptly stop for perhaps a second, then restart, then stop, restart. Sometimes it's just once, sometimes it will continue to cycle until the toilet has refilled. What the heck is going on?

Some other details which may or may not be relevant:

1. It appears to only affect the toilets, though once in awhile (like if the house has been empty for a few weeks) we'll also see air "explosions" from the faucets, but this is quite rare, whereas the toilet thing happens virtually every time we flush.

2. The toilets are low-flow Toto something-or-others.

3. As part of our remodel, we moved the washer/dryer from the downstairs combination powder room/laundry room upstairs to one of the bathrooms. Then we used the downstairs ex-laundry room as the site for a shower.

4. I'm not 100% sure, but the laundry relocation may have involved some new pipes upstairs.

5. At about the same time this started, the sound of the water going into the laundry and our dishwasher seemed to get noticeably louder... to the point where we now close the bathroom door when running laundry, or turn up the TV when running the dishwasher (it's in a "great room" where the TV area adjoins the kitchen).

6. It's getting more frequent.

7. When the toilet is doing it's start/stop thing, you can hear the pipes behind the washer/dryer complaining--not clanking, but not silent.

We brought a plumber out about two months ago when it wasn't quite so bad, and he agreed that "something" was going on, but was otherwise stumped. He said to call him back out if it gets worse, which we will do. But in the meantime, I thought I'd check my resident pixel experts!

Any thoughts? Are we haunted?

I wonder if you got some air in the pipes when the remodel was going on, which is kind of what your problem sounds like. The start/stop of the toilet is probably air in the line, as is the "explosion" from other faucets.

Have you tried turning on all of the faucets at about half, starting from the highest level of your house and working your way down? Let it run for like 10 minutes. Also flush toilets and turn on appliances that use water (dishwasher, washer, water dispenser in refrigerator).

If there's air in the system, it might help bleed it out.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/...-plumbing-25987.html

It seems likely that air is getting in somewhere, but the remodel is now 10 years old, so I don't think it was due to the remodel, directly--unless something wasn't done correctly and it's taken that long to appear....?

Have there been any water main repairs in the area? Or have you had your house water shut off for some reason and then turned back on?

Some years ago there was a water main break down the street from us. Air got in the municipal water line and when I went to flush the toilet in the middle of the night it sounded like a bomb going off as the pipes hammered and rattled. The system was full of air and the air bubble shot up from the basement to the second floor and had no place to go.

It's usually not as dramatic. Most people just notice some dirty water and sputtering after the main is repaired and things are back to normal.

Are you on city water or a well?

Do you have a pressure regulator where the water main enters the house?

Are any of your neighbors having the same problem?

The only question I can answer --

City water

As far as I know, none of the neighbors are having the same problem, though it hasn't exactly been a topic of conversation. Our conversations run more toward the weather or the uptick in catalytic converter thefts. I'm trying to find a way to insert it into conversation: "So, how the heck are your toilets doing, folks?"

Seriously, I will ask.

I'm embarrassed to admit I'm not sure where the water main enters the house, I just know where it is at the street.

I've been meaning to try to full-on water method, but we have a 3 story house and it's something I can't easily do myself. I'll set up a water army next time we have family visitors over.

Oh, hooray! Another plumbing Miss Marple mystery revolving around toilets!

(Not that I'm glad of your problem, of course, Nina. Just not to remain the toilet problem super-star of WTF.)

FWIW. I went through decades of serious toilet flushing problems so mysterious (and embarrassing) it had gotten to the point I pretty much had to ask guests what their intentions were when they needed to use the restroom, so as to determine which toilet to send them to.

(One couldn't reliably handle any real amount of solid waste - what Dave Barry became famous for calling "an act of Congress".)

Good luck! Ask PJ for a work of art while you're at it.

I think I’d put a call in to the water department and ask them to have a look. They may know something.

If they don’t have any ideas I’d ask a plumber to check/replace the pressure regulator if you have one.