Your Guide to Troubleshooting a Blocked Toilet

An obstructed or blocked toilet is the greatest plumbing problem facing bathrooms. Most of the times, plumbers are called by home owners to save them from toilet water intruding undesired areas problem. It is not easy to deal with a blocked toilet since the causes are not easy to figure out. There are various ways which a home owner can use to identify the issues. This saves the time to both the owner and home owner since the plumber goes to solve the issue directly.

Blocked Toilet; Preventive measures

The following are preventive actions that a home owner can take before arrival of the plumber to avoid water overflows. First it is advisable to stop any rising water by taking off the toilet tank lid, then pressing down the lever to close it. Turning off water supply entirely is also another precaution. Water panels are normally located at the same point as electric and gas meters.

Plunger use

blocked toilet

The funnel cup plunger should be rinsed using hot water for not more than two minutes.  This softens the rubber to simplify molding on the toilet bowl exit hole. The person handling should now start dealing with the problem. First hot water and detergent should be added. The detergent slackens the clogged stuff. This lubrication allows the obstruction to move easily through the pipes to the sewerage system.

The plunger has to be placed in the toilet bowl. The cup should always be right away above the exit hole. By pressing the plunger and pulling up quickly the facilitator should be able to see small particles rising up the toilet bowl is simple obstruction is involved. When carrying out this activity the plunger should stay touching the toilet to avoid water splashing.

Using an auger

blocked toilet

Another method of unclogging a blocked toilet is by using an auger. This can be considered if the plunger did not work. The auger is normally used to unclog curved pipes. It is simple to operate since it involves just pushing the metal through the clogged pipes until the problem is all solved. When the auger fails to solve the problem, it is now necessary to call a professional plumber. This may require the whole system to be broken into so as to solve the problem.