As a new homeowner, I have just experienced my first clogged toilet that I will have to handle myself (rather than call the super or something).
I have a plunger, but after trying to push it up and down in the toilet (supposed to suction the offending substance out, right?), I’m seeing no improvement. Am I using it wrong? Do I need a snake? If I do, what should I look for to make sure it’s suitable for toilet-unclogging?
Thanks. I’m sure this will occur every so often, and I don’t want to have to pay for a plumber every time it happens.
We had a similar incident recently in our new home. It took a combination of a snake/plumber’s helper type of device and then plunging. At least it wasn’t badly clogged so there was no overflowing. You do normally need to create a sort of suction over the drain portion and work it a bit. I looked in How Stuff Works and there were some good links, instead of coming to GQ. Must be my natural shyness to discuss things in public. Hey, you’re in luck, I bookmarked it. How toilets work
And if the water keeps flowing after a big 'ol flush, there is a handle located below/behind the toilet that you should turn until the water stops flowing. This will prevent the crappy toilet water from spilling out all over the floor :: insert barfing smiley ::
If you turn the handle and nothing seems to be happening you can lift the lid off of the back of the toilet and prop the floater ball up with a stick or something(a toothbrush :D). Whatever you do, move extremely fast - that bowl will fill up quick!
It is very rare to ever need a snake to unclog a toilet, unless you attempted to flush a wad of paper towels or moldy pizza.
Plunge fast and hard, right over the hole, but make sure you don’t splash water on your tuffskins.
Per bernse make a tight seal on the throat of the toilet drain with the bell of the plunger then vigorously push the plunger up and down lots of times. This works better when bowl water level is a few inches higher than the plunger seal so you may need to add a bit of water. Some nasty toilet water may splatter so put a towel on the floor around the toilet and wear old clothes when you do this or be naked and have the shower ready.
Newer plungers with large flexible bells work better than the classic, shallower simple cup shaped types as they can generate a good bit more air force on the obstruction.
Per bernse make a tight seal on the throat of the toilet drain with the bell of the plunger then vigorously push the plunger up and down lots of times. This works better when bowl water level is a few inches higher than the plunger seal so you may need to add a bit of water. Some nasty toilet water may splatter so put a towel on the floor around the toilet and wear old clothes when you do this or be naked and have the shower ready.
And no, its typically not going to suction the obstruction out. It will usually push the clog further along the line until it breaks up. if it does not break up it’s snake time.
Newer plungers with large flexible bells work better than the classic, shallower simple cup shaped types as they can generate a good bit more air force on the obstruction.
My roommate is a plumber - he told me a tale once of this old geezer whose toilet was blocked for days before he called him in (apparently he was so cheap he was ringing around for ages to find the one who did the best deal).
Of course, this guy was still using the toilet for days even though it wouldn’t flush anything away (!!!) so it was unbelievably revolting for my roommate to navigate his snakey wotsit down there.
When he found the obstruction (which was one of those airfreshener things) he still had to remove it… somehow that I’d rather not ask him about.
Well, anyway, my point is, obstructions in toilets aren’t always caused by what you think.
Excessuve yes of plungers will break the wax seal of the toilet to the outlet. They are only a few bucks for a new one at a hardware store and they have directions.
Let it sit a while for the paper to decompose a bit and then fill up the bowl to the top with water and the pressure may empty it. If not, the water will eventually drain out.
I just asked Mrs. ShibbOleth, and another thing we did was to use Baking Soda and Vinegar to help clean out the old goo in the pipes. Sort of similar to the concept of liquid plumber, but not so bad for the environment.
As I understand it, our friend Chaim now owns his own home, and therefore does not have a Super to call when his toilet is clogged, like he did before when he lived in an apartment.
The key to unclogging toilets (and you learn the hard way when you work where there’s a public restroom) is to put all your effort into the upstroke of the plunger.
The blockage is usually a sanitary napkin, or ball of paper toweling lodged in a crook of the pipe somewhere.
The downstroke will just jam it tighter, so don’t use force. Press slowly so the plunger compresses and empties of water at the sides. Then get it sealed all around and pull up as hard as you can. This will pull the blockage back off of the pipe ledge it’s sitting on and give it a second chance to find the center of the pipe to flow out of.
My mothers house has a really bad problem with the toilet overflowing, in fact my stepmom at my sisters wedding party overflowed it, wasn’t a pretty site. The only suggestion I have is keep a plunger near, and no they don’t “suck” the matter out, they actually push it down into the drain. A little advice, do not pour drano in your toilet, I tried this and rendered my bathroom a highly volitile no-smoking section for about 3 weeks, and it didn’t help at all.
“As a new homeowner…” Are you new to owning a home or the owner of a new home?? If your home is not new you need to be aware that there are times when a plunger won’t work. One situation is when the waste line leading to the sewer in the street is clogged up. This shouldn’t happen to a new house but certainly can happen to an old one. (Just happened to my 35 year old house). If it happens you need (at a minimum) a roto-rooter type of treatment. Another thing that can go wrong, and can happen to a new house as well as an old house, is a blockage or overflowing of a sewer system causing not just your you know what to emerge from the toilet to revisit you, but the you know what of your neighbors. This can happen if you are at the bottom of a hill and is especially likely if rain water can enter the sewer system. Of course if you aren’t on a sewer system, but have a septic tank, there are all sorts of other things that can go wrong.
A plunger works well, but I wisely invested in a snake. I’ve only had to use it the one time, but thank god I had it handy.
Lots can go wrong with the sewer lines in your own house, though…
I had water and…things…backing up in my basement. It was disgusting. The roto-rooter guy came and did his stuff, and determined that it was tree roots 30 feet from my house that caused the blockage. Christ, what a mess. I went down into the basement to see how he was doing, caught a huge whiff of shit, and made a very quick exit. Bleah!!
