Hold off on flushing, laundry, and dishes. Adding water to a blocked main can push sewage up into tubs and floor drains.
If several fixtures gurgle or drain slow at once, the problem is the main line, not a single sink. Note which ones act up.
Find the capped pipe outside near the house. If sewage is standing in it, tell your plumber. That points straight to a main blockage.
When one sink is slow, it's usually a local clog. When toilets bubble as the washer drains, or a rotten smell drifts up from the lowest drains in the house, the blockage is deeper in the main line that carries everything to the sewer. Air has nowhere to go, so it burps back through the traps and brings the odor with it.
Around Gonzales and the wider Salinas Valley, tree and shrub roots are a common cause. Roots hunt for water and slip into small pipe joints, then grow into a mat that catches grease and paper. Older clay and cast iron lines are especially prone to it. A plumber runs a camera down the line to find the exact spot, then uses a rooter or hydro jet to clear it and shows you what was blocking it.
This turns urgent quickly. If you see sewage backing up into a shower pan, a floor drain, or the lowest toilet, stop all water use and call right away. Standing wastewater is a health issue and gets worse every time someone runs a tap. Catching it early often means a simple clearing instead of a bigger repair.
Describe what you're seeing to a real Gonzales plumber: call (831) 555-0109 or send the form. Free, no obligation.