Lemme tell you, our bathroom’s wallpaper wasn’t the only problem that needed fixing recently. This is the story of a plumbing issue that stretched over a few weeks and finally wrapped up a few days ago. We try to share the good, the bad, and the ugly — this one fits squarely into the “bad” and “ugly” category, with a generous side of “gross.” For everyone’s sake, I’m skipping the graphic pictures.

When we were buying the house, we noticed a small, dried water stain on the living room ceiling directly below the bathroom. It was only about three inches wide and looked long healed, so the inspector and we assumed it was an old toilet overflow from years ago. We weren’t worried — a little primer and paint would handle it. We didn’t even photograph it, but it gave us a hint of where the trouble might eventually show up.

This fall the toilet started acting up. It would occasionally clog, and when we plunged it the water sometimes backed up into the shower. If you’re sensitive, maybe set down your breakfast now. The backups were unpleasant — especially since one of us was already queasy from pregnancy — so the other person was on toilet duty. A bit of plunging and an occasional snaking usually did the trick. But the backups weren’t consistent: sometimes the shower or the sink would back up even when the toilet hadn’t been used. We searched for answers and debated calling a pro, but the incidents were infrequent enough that we decided to wait until a planned remodel.

Then one day we had a clog that plunging couldn’t fix.

***PHOTO OMITTED TO PROTECT YOUR DELICATE RETINAS***

After a lot of frantic plunging I somehow caused a new water stain to appear on the ceiling below. The pressure from the plunging compromised the toilet’s wax ring and water began leaking again. That was our cue to call a plumber. He removed the toilet and ran a 150-foot snake, pulling out what he described as years of paper buildup deep in the pipes. We were relieved — problem solved, or so we thought.

Another week passed and the shower backed up again while I was filling a steamer during a wallpaper-removal session. Not only was the wallpaper work miserable, but the state of the shower made it even worse. We were beyond frustrated that the first plumbing visit hadn’t fixed the issue.

When the plumbing company sent a different technician this time, he formed a clear theory after hearing our timeline. His solution required cutting into the ceiling to verify the problem — welcome to the realities of owning a two-story home, where many systems hide behind drywall.

His hunch was correct: the bathroom plumbing had been configured wrong since the house was built more than 30 years ago. The main drain pipe was sloped the wrong way — essentially uphill — so instead of relying on gravity to move waste away, water pooled in the line. That pooled waste eventually found the lowest opening in the bathroom (the shower) and backed up. In short: gross and frustrating.

Fixing it meant cutting a larger hole in the living room ceiling, replacing piping, and even removing and reinforcing a load-bearing joist so the new pipes could be set at the proper angle. This was not a DIY job.

Having our house torn open wasn’t fun, but it was a relief to finally address the root cause. The crew finished the work in a day, then came back a few days later to complete the installation. The total cost was about $650, which felt painful at the time, but solving a problem that had likely persisted for decades was worth it. While the toilet was out, we even peeled a small swatch of wallpaper that had been hiding behind the bowl — a small, oddly satisfying bonus.

That left a gaping hole in the living room ceiling after the plumbing was fixed and the bathroom trim and paint were completed. We debated repairing the drywall ourselves. Patchwork requires mudding, taping, sanding, re-mudding and re-sanding, and smooth ceilings reveal imperfections easily. Not wanting a visible flaw that would nag at us for years, we hired a recommended local drywall pro.

He repaired the ceiling flawlessly in a few hours for around $100. He was friendly too — a small kindness that lightened an otherwise annoying experience. All that remains is priming and painting to blend the patch with the rest of the ceiling.

Update: Some readers asked whether a home warranty would have covered this. Our warranty had already expired, but even if it hadn’t, this issue likely wouldn’t have been covered. The problem was an existing condition — a decades-old misconfiguration — not a new failure that happened after we moved in.

Unplanned homeowner surprises never feel good, especially when they pull funds away from visible upgrades. Still, it’s satisfying to have the system correctly repaired and the house put back together. Ironically, another home-maintenance story is unfolding for us right now, so we’ll wait until it’s fully resolved before sharing. If you have your own plumbing, heating, or general house-systems horror stories, we’re all ears. Misery loves company, and sharing tips and war stories helps everyone out.

Psst — the “Volume Two” in the post title nods to an earlier leak we dealt with at our previous house. That older issue was something we could fix ourselves, which was a definite bonus.