blocked toilet

Shop deals on ebay
Support your community
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
D

dashfont123

Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2020
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
brisbane
Hi guys,

I have a blocked toilet upstairs. The downstair toilets are fine.

Flushing it will fill the bowl. Wait 30mins and it will drain out to normal.

Tried a plunger. Doesn't work.

What can I do to help myself before calling in a plumber?

Cheers!
 
Get this six foot toilet auger from Home Depot or elsewhere.

K6P 6 ft. Toilet Auger

https://www.homedepot.com/p/303528922

It works like a regular three foot auger, you snake out the toilet trap and part of the drain.

But it also can extend an extra three feet to reach farther clogs.

If this can’t reach the clog, you could try some Green Gobbler drain cleaner.

Another old trick is to add about a full cup of liquid dish soap to the toilet.
The soap gradually goes down the drain, is very slippery, and sometimes it lets the clog release from the drain.

Otherwise, call a plumber to snake the drain.
 
In the future, drop your load and flush, then wipe and flush the paper.

This helps prevent big poop/paper hybrid clogs, and the extra flush moves everything farther down the drain, away from the toilet.

If you are still plunging, you need a toilet plunger, which has an extension that fits down tighter into the opening of the bowl.

And plungers work best on the upstroke.
Push down slowly all the way, to avoid splashing.
Then pull up hard and fast on the wood handle.
The suction is what moves and breaks up the clog.
Do this many times to break up the clog.
 
D31639BF-4C9D-46CA-8A16-1B529E9AD71A.png This style of plunger.

And you can still use this type on a bathtub or sink, just fold the extension inside.
 
I advise trying to get the six foot auger.

Looks like you might be in Australia.

If that longer Ridgid toilet auger is not available, or one like it, there is a way to get a regular drain auger safely into a toilet.

You can buy a 3/8 inch diameter snake, the type with a zig-zag type of hollow pipe twisting handle, designed to be spun by hand.
I would get a 25 to 30 foot long one.
Don’t try anything skinnier, it will not work, it will kink up in that big drain pipe.

Then buy a two foot long piece of pvc or similar hard plastic plumbing pipe.
1.5 inch or 2 inch diameter.
Wrap one end with a big blob of duct tape, so it fits fairly snug into the base of the toilet bowl.
Have a helper hold and stabilize the upper end, and rest it on the rim of the bowl.
Or tape the upper end very securely to the rim.

Then run the snake through the pvc pipe, and into the toilet trap and down through the drain pipe.

This lets you get a long snake in there without scratching up the porcelain of the bowl, and without having to pull off the toilet.

You can also buy a 45 degree elbow and push that tightly on the end of the pipe, sometimes this helps guide the snake into the drain hole better than a straight pipe.
 
That is only 1/4 inch cable.

It might be ok, or might be too whippy to work properly in a large diameter toilet drain.

I don’t see any type of crank handle on it, but maybe it’s there somewhere.

You have to spin the whole cable by hand as you advance it down the drain.
 
Here is a more typical toilet auger, from that same store.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/irwin-toilet-auger_p0097883

It is the typical approx 3 foot length, which will reach clogs in the toilet or right under it.
Which is where they usually are.

The Ridgid brand auger I posted a link to earlier can be extended if needed, it has a six foot reach.

Whatever you buy, let us know how it goes.
 
This is a sh** situation.
Tried typical auger didn’t work. $32 down the drain. That’s if it wasn’t blocked.
Also bought snake auger. No luck. $24.

Can’t buy toilet paper.

After the toilet paper supply is available in Australia the next priority will be to call in the professionals.

thanks for the tips
 
Can you order the toilet auger that I originally suggested?
The six foot Ridgid auger.

Meanwhile, you will use that three foot auger again someday, so that was not a waste.

That goofy 1/4 inch auger seemed strange from the start.
Was there even a crank handle on it?
Did you get the longer auger to go all the way into the drain 20 feet or more?

Meanwhile, if the clog was far away, your other fixtures like a sink or shower would be backing up also.

Is toilet paper all gone due to panic shopping from coronavirus?
 
The snake auger did nothing. Avoiding buying online b/c of delivery times.

One last ditch effort to buy a toilet plunger. I've previously used a sink plunger.

Yes toilet paper is gone because we are all sh**ing ourselves from coronavirus it seems people are getting diarrhoea.

Seriously impossible to buy right now.

Even if it's the end of the world I will somehow fix this toilet.
 
Most of the snakes that Jeff recommended use a clockwise motion on the handle to work their way down the toilet. See if an occasional counterclockwise motion will help work the snake past the trap. US toilets have big openings so large diameter snakes seem to work better than the smaller ones with a 1/8" diameter. We hate to have you buy the smaller one, but it could be more flexible and get past the hump. Can you tell how much of the snake is able to get down the toilet? All the water saving regulations in the US have made toilets more susceptible to clogging. American Standard seems to be plagued in my home, but a Kohler toilet seems to be better engineered to make use of water flow from the tank. As for toilet paper, it is in very low supply in Hawaii, and people queue up before the local store opens in the morning, hoping that they can snag a few rolls. Try to avoid using tissue paper, but if you have to do that, let it disintegrate (as much as possible) in the bowl before flushing.
 
Have been Lazy but gone down in priority due to Pandemic.

Leaving it for 3 weeks does not dissolve or fix anything.

No idea how much of the snake is able to get down the toilet. Everything is in but probably all bunched in a circle down there.

Clog is due to toilet paper.
 
An auger only works if it is used correctly

Simply putting it in the terlet and removing it will not clear the pipe

First off. a 3 ft auger is a WASTE OF MONEY
you need a 6 ft auger or 2 meters

insert the auger in the terlet. then push it all the way down the pipe, turning the handle as you go
PULL it almost out, push it in, pull it out
Do this AGGRESSIVELY
It is best if the bowl is full of water

If. this does not clear the pipe
suction/dip the water out of the terlet
remove terlet from the floor. place in the tub..for clean up reasons
and insert your auger again.
next is a longer snake if that does not work
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top