What is the first rule of a clogged toilet?

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  • atgcpaul
    Veteran Member
    • Aug 2003
    • 4055
    • Maryland
    • Grizzly 1023SLX

    What is the first rule of a clogged toilet?

    DON'T flush it again until you've cleared the clog!

    My younger daughter clogged the downstairs toilet this morning with too much paper. Her older sister comes knocking on my bathroom door to report it. Not being able to help immediately, I tell her to go tell mommy. My wife--who's in the kitchen--yells upstairs to me that the toilet is clogged. I yell down, kinda busy, deal with it. Next thing I hear is toilet overflowed. Turns out my FIL who is temporarily living with us just flushed it again. Argh!

    Anyway, I got the clog cleared and my wife mopped up. SO glad it wasn't one of my relatives
    who did it because I'd still be hearing about it.
  • Woodshark
    Established Member
    • May 2006
    • 158
    • Atlanta

    #2
    Sometimes you got to wonder....what were they thinking???
    sigpic

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    • radhak
      Veteran Member
      • Apr 2006
      • 3058
      • Miramar, FL
      • Right Tilt 3HP Unisaw

      #3
      I could have posted this couple of years ago. My brother-in-law and family visiting, the toilet clogs, and his wife, trying to 'help', flushes it multiple times! The water overflows, onto the bathroom floor and out to the house. And then she calls for help! She must have lived a sheltered life to have not known a backed-up toilet !

      It got even better: my wife had put in a lot of effort to make the house look nice and clean for them, and this set her off: she starts yelling at me that somehow I did not call the maintenance guy before hand and whatnot.

      To my credit I absorbed all that and set about clearing the clog and cleaning the house; took a couple of hours. And when I pulled my wife aside to ask why she was yelling at me, she tells me that she was angry with her sis-in-law but did not want to create a scene and so she vented on me !

      But Paul, I gotta hand it to you: in my place, 'toilet backed up' is the emergency yell; I drop anything else I have to get to it (maybe that incident played its part). I dunno if I'd react as fast to a fire ...
      It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
      - Aristotle

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      • atgcpaul
        Veteran Member
        • Aug 2003
        • 4055
        • Maryland
        • Grizzly 1023SLX

        #4
        Originally posted by radhak
        But Paul, I gotta hand it to you: in my place, 'toilet backed up' is the emergency yell; I drop anything else I have to get to it (maybe that incident played its part). I dunno if I'd react as fast to a fire ...
        Dude, trust me, I would have, but I was *really* not in a position to do anything else at the time. What I didn't realize at the time I posted was that water had leaked down into the basement, too. I had to go get something down there and stepped onto some soggy carpet remnant. I let the dehumidifier run down there overnight and all seems well, but it looks like that remnant is going to get tossed.

        I have many more clogged toilet stories which still horrify and amuse the heck out of me, but as it's lunchtime, I'm not going to share.

        Paul

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        • capncarl
          Veteran Member
          • Jan 2007
          • 3564
          • Leesburg Georgia USA
          • SawStop CTS

          #5
          Ahhh, it brings back old memories. My wife and I were visiting old friends that we had not seen in years and were staying in the upstairs guest bedroom. That bathroom toilet flushed pitiful and I made the comment to the wife to use it with kid gloves. Late that night it got stopped up and filled to within 1/8" of the top. Nothing to unstop it with in sight and everyone else already asleep. We quietly discussed this problem and how to solve it. I voted to grab our luggage and quietly slip out and drive home and call them in the morning! We were saved when minutes later the toilet gurgled and everything went down. Now we are really careful with strange toilets and use the the courtesy flush method. Dang, this site discusses a lot of subjects doesn't it!

          Comment

          • eccentrictinkerer
            Senior Member
            • Aug 2007
            • 669
            • Minneapolis, MN
            • BT-3000, 21829

            #6
            Since my kids were little the rule was if the bowl fills up and won't go down... do NOT flush a second time!

            The rule worked pretty good.

            My kids are grown and have kids of their own. Guess what?

            They have a rule ... do NOT flush again if water doesn't go down.

            They have thanked me for my wisdom.... ;-)

            When I retired I started a handyman company. My first rule for customers is:

            Don't use Dran-o or any other chemical. It rarely works. And I don't like getting chemical burns.
            You might think I haven't contributed much to the world, but a large number
            of the warning labels on tools can be traced back to things I've done...

            Comment

            • capncarl
              Veteran Member
              • Jan 2007
              • 3564
              • Leesburg Georgia USA
              • SawStop CTS

              #7
              Since this thread is going nowhere fast, I suggest that anyone with a finicky toilet junk that old ceramic monster and replace it with one of the new models that can choke down a bucket of golf balls. I did and wonder how we lived through the early model toilets that were only 14" high and would gag on a gum wrapper. My new comfort height toilet can handle anything we leave it with and never complain and does not break my back getting off the throne. I wouldn't trade it for any of the old models!
              capncarl

              Comment

              • radhak
                Veteran Member
                • Apr 2006
                • 3058
                • Miramar, FL
                • Right Tilt 3HP Unisaw

                #8
                Now that we are already discussing toilets, I need to replace my 15 year old ones. Which make/model is recommended? Carl, which one did you get?
                It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
                - Aristotle

                Comment

                • capncarl
                  Veteran Member
                  • Jan 2007
                  • 3564
                  • Leesburg Georgia USA
                  • SawStop CTS

                  #9
                  Mine are Eljer 1.8 GPF "comfort height". I'm not sure they are the ones that are advertised to flush a box of tennis balls but that was what I wanted. They have 3" valves in the tank and larger "p" traps. I've put them to the test and have been surprised by what you can put through them! I really like the comfort height, I believe it is even higher than handicap heigth. After you get use to this heigth, when you sit down on a regular height unit you panic about half way down because you think you missed. Must have been really short people the old ones were made for?
                  Capncarl

                  Comment

                  • jabe
                    Senior Member
                    • Apr 2006
                    • 566
                    • Hilo, Hawaii
                    • Ryobi BT3000 & Delta Milwaukee 10" tilting Table circular saw

                    #10
                    toilets

                    I agree with Carl, just change your old toilet for a newer model. In Honolulu, the City used to give a tax break if you replaced your old toilets with a water saver unit. I changed my mother's toilets to the water saver, comfort height/chair height, elongated model she just loves it. I think it was a Kohler brand. For my own home, I bought the HD dual flush, chair height, elongated model years ago. I never had a problem with it plus they had great reviews on it with a 10 flush rating and it was only $99.00.

                    Comment

                    • woodturner
                      Veteran Member
                      • Jun 2008
                      • 2047
                      • Western Pennsylvania
                      • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

                      #11
                      Originally posted by atgcpaul
                      DON'T flush it again until you've cleared the clog!
                      It's interesting how people approach problems differently.

                      My first rule is "flush again": wait until the water level in the bowl returns to the normal level, then flush again. Usually the clog will clear, in our 1930's era toilets. If it doesn't, add some of the bacteria organic waste dissolver to the bowl, wait an hour, and try again.

                      Maybe newer toilets need to be treated differently, or others are dealing with stoppages other than organic waste - the dissolver wouldn't do much for a doll's head or toy
                      --------------------------------------------------
                      Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

                      Comment

                      • atgcpaul
                        Veteran Member
                        • Aug 2003
                        • 4055
                        • Maryland
                        • Grizzly 1023SLX

                        #12
                        Originally posted by woodturner
                        It's interesting how people approach problems differently.

                        My first rule is "flush again": wait until the water level in the bowl returns to the normal level, then flush again.
                        Maybe if people actually waited for that to happen, it may be viable, but I think people panic and reflexively try to double flush and that's when trouble ensues.

                        Comment

                        • dkerfoot
                          Veteran Member
                          • Mar 2004
                          • 1094
                          • Holland, Michigan
                          • Craftsman 21829

                          #13
                          My upstairs toilet is from 1906 - not very attractive but golf balls are nothing - this sucker would handle tennis balls! If we ever move, I'll be tempted to bring the old toilet to the new house

                          I have had bad luck with newer toilets. Probably because I tried to save money, but our newer main floor toilet clogs really easily.

                          I've never understood why everyone needs water saver toilets and showers just because they make sense out West. Here in Michigan, we need to conserve water like Arizona needs to preserve sunshine.


                          .
                          Doug Kerfoot
                          "Sacrificial fence? Aren't they all?"

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                          KeyLlama.com

                          Comment

                          • woodturner
                            Veteran Member
                            • Jun 2008
                            • 2047
                            • Western Pennsylvania
                            • General, Sears 21829, BT3100

                            #14
                            Originally posted by dkerfoot
                            I've never understood why everyone needs water saver toilets and showers just because they make sense out West. Here in Michigan, we need to conserve water like Arizona needs to preserve sunshine.
                            In some areas, I think the issue is more processing capacity to produce potable water. Toilets waste potable water, requiring new facilities to be built to handle growth, etc. If everyone switched to low flow toilets, the existing capacity might be enough.
                            --------------------------------------------------
                            Electrical Engineer by day, Woodworker by night

                            Comment

                            • capncarl
                              Veteran Member
                              • Jan 2007
                              • 3564
                              • Leesburg Georgia USA
                              • SawStop CTS

                              #15
                              I believe that it is not always the toilets fault, excluding the human stupidity of overloading it with a doll head, beach towel or whatever. I've see a lot of sanitary piping that was not installed properly. The worst flushing problem was a sagging pipe on a long run under a house. It caused a pounding effect and made for constant flushing problems. A sanitary drain pipe with several bends "ells" is also prone to have problems. Down south in my corner of **** you rarely see houses with a basement, they have a crawl space or are on a slab. Any underfloor piping is hidden because the owner can't see it and any problem is automatically blamed on the toilet. Other problems are caused by the septic sys being nearly full or inadequate.

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