At our home, we are having a sewage backup problem. Quite often, when a toilet is flushed, the washing machine is on a drain cycle, or water is being run in a bathroom sink, the toilets will gurgle. If a toilet gets backed up, which usually happens within a couple of hours of running the garbage disposal, sometimes sewage will actually back up into the bathtubs! All of our plumbing (washer, kitchen, and both bathrooms) are adjacent in one wall. We initially tried drain cleaner. Didn't do a thing. Next, we ran a snake from clean-out in towards the house as far as we could go (about 8 feet). We are on city septic. I think it might be an issue with the vent pipe, but we're a family of carpenters, so we are ignorant to plumbing issues. Please help!

It might be worthwhile to have a plumber you trust snake out the entire sewer discharge line, all the way to the street. There could be a partial blockage anywhere, especially at a bend, or it may be a partially collapsed pipe or a tree root problem outside the house.

At the same time, have the plumber check all the vents. Assuming this problem just began, and didn't always exist, it could be a clogged vent pipe, too...but with the sewage backing up into the tub, I suspect a clog in the discharge pipe somewhere.

Thank you. I guess we'll just call a plumber.