What you can try if you have a BLOCKED TOILET

Richard Moyle, Plumbing since 1983

Top signs that you have a blocked toilet

•     Multiple plumbing fixtures are backing up at the same time.

•     The drain outside (ORG) Overflow Relief Gully is overflowing.    

• Toilet is overflowing

•     Toilet is making a gurgling noise.

•     Toilet water rises when flushed.

•     Toilet is draining slowly.

•    Sewerage smell.

Blocked toilets can be a regular occurrence at some homes, while others only have the occasional blocked toilet.

If you only have 1 toilet blocked, then this indicates that your blockage is isolated to just this toilet, or the branch line to the toilet.

If your toilet and bathroom is blocked, then the blockage will most probably on the bathroom branch drain.

If you have other fixtures also blocking such as your kitchen sink or other toilet then this may indicate a blockage to your main sewer drainage.

In any case, the drain needs to be cleared.

Plumber Richard, demonstrating the different types of OFF SET pan connectors, explaining why some of them can cause the toilet to block.

What you can try -

Try these few tips to see if this will help you unblock your toilet -

• Plunge the toilet using a toilet plunger.

• Carefully pour boiling hot water down the drain (careful not to have it splash back at you)

• Try using a commercial cleaning fluid like Draino or other brand. Be careful to only follow the instructions on the label.

  • NB: Do not use these chemicals if you have a septic system or your own on-site sewage treatment plant such as an Envirocycle or Bi-cycle.

• Try using a piece of wire or long handle bottle brush, carefully down the drain to push or retrieve any debris from the drain or push it past the toilet S bend.

• Call your maintenance plumber

Not for the faint at heart.

This is a very short video by Plumber David revealing a blocked toilet which was caused by an off set pan connector.

All of the above can be very messy and not for everybody’s stomach. You can also make more of a mess than you started with that will need to be cleaned up.

Please note: If your toilet is blocked because of tree roots or a broken sewer pipe, the above recommendations may not work.

It may be cheaper than you think to call your maintenance plumber, who has many years experience and all the correct equipment to unblock your toilet and offer you lots of good advise.

 

What causes a blocked toilet?

There can be many causes for a blocked toilet.

Plumber Richard using the Hi Pressure Jetter to unblock a toilet.

• Something may have been put down the toilet to cause the blockage

• Too much toilet paper

• Foreign objects such as toys, balls, toilet freshener, stones, pebbles, toothbrushes, cotton buds, sanitary items, flushable wipes, fish tank pebbles, cat litter to name a few.

• Ground movement causing the drains to move

• Tree root intrusion

• Damage to the drains

• Incorrectly laid pipes or back fall.

• Incorrectly installed toilet.

• Off set pan connector

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Below are photos of actual blocked toilets that we have cleared and repaired.

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