Clogged or blocked toilet can quickly turn into a messy, smelly, and even embarrassing situation. While it’s common in most households to ignore minor toilet issues or try makeshift DIY toilet unblocking solutions, however delayed or improper treatment of a toilet blockage allows the problem to get exponentially worse.
Acting quickly and appropriately to get your toilet unblocked in a timely manner is essential to prevent severe backups, overflows, property damage, health hazards, and other unnecessary complications.
Why Timely Toilet Unblocking is Essential
What Causes Blocked Drains and Toilet Blockages
Before diving into solutions, you need to understand precisely what causes toilets to get blocked in the first place. Inside the toilet bowl is a U-shaped pipe called a trap. The trap holds water to form a tight seal against sewer gases entering from the main plumbing lines.
Over time, various objects, debris, and buildup can get lodged in the trap or drain pipe to cause a clog or partial blockage. Some common culprits include:
- Excess toilet paper
- Flushed hygiene products
- Kids’ toys
- Overuse of cleaning and deodorising toilet products – these can leave residue
- Hair, grease, and soap scum accumulating in pipes
- Tree roots infiltrating underground drainage pipes
- A broken or faulty waste pipe
A partial clog will slow the flushing capability of a toilet. But if left alone, bits of additional debris cause the clog to grow bigger until absolutely no water can pass through – resulting in a completely blocked toilet or drain.
Toilet Unblocking: Step-by-Step Guide
When faced with any type of toilet drainage issue, time is of essence. Here is a step-by-step overview of clearing toilet clogs:
- Turn off running water – Shut off the water valve behind or near the toilet. Flushing more water into an already clogged toilet can cause the toilet blockage to worsen and water to spill over the rim of the bowl.
- Use a plunger – With no water running, vigorous plunging for several minutes can often successfully dislodge a clog. Make sure to create a tight seal around the plunger over the drain opening.
- Try using a closet auger – Also called a “toilet snake,” this flexible metal auger can break through tough clogs by twisting its metal coil to bore through the blockage. Exercise caution not to scratch the porcelain.
- Remove the toilet – For stubborn obstructions that cannot be cleared with a plunger or auger, remove the entire toilet bowl from the floor for better visibility and access.
- Seek professional assistance – Some clogs requiring removal of a toilet prove too complicated for amateur solutions. Our qualified emergency plumber has specialised snakes that can reach deep blockages within the drain. Our plumbers are also equipped to fully remove and safely reseat toilet bowls.
Common Blocked Toilet Issues and Toilet Unblocking Solutions
While the same culprits tend to cause recurring toilet clogs, no two drain blockages are exactly alike. There also are a variety of other common plumbing issues that can arise beyond a simple clogged toilet. Below lists some typical toilet and plumbing predicaments along with their respective solutions:
- Running toilet – Flappers, fill valves, and other internal components become worn. These require replacement of toilet tank parts.
- Leaky toilet seals – A loose connection between the tank and bowl or at the floor bolt wax ring allows water to slowly leak. Tightening bolts or replacing seals stops leaks. Check here to know more about the symptoms damaged toilet flange
- Broken toilet handles and levers – Internal levers crack or links pop loose over repetitive use. Toilet handles, links, levers, and associated hardware need replacing.
- Toilet won’t stop running – When a toilet periodically emits a hissing noise or refills itself randomly, excess water is escaping through worn flapper valves. Replacements stop phantom flushing.
- Toilet backed up with sewage – Tree roots or a main sewer clog causes drains to reverse flow, pushing raw sewage into the toilet bowl. Requires extensive drain cleaning.
- Noisy pipes and water hammer – Loose fixtures and improper water pressures cause pipes to clang loudly with running water. Adjusting parts may work, but total pipe replacement might become necessary.
Toilet Unblocking Techniques: How to Unblock a Toilet
Before deciding to make a significant investment in toilet unblocking plumbers or contractors, use the following DIY methods to get rid of those clogged toilets:
- Baking Soda and Vinegar – Pour a cup of baking soda fully down the drain. Follow with two cups of heated white vinegar to trigger a chemical reaction. After letting it bubble and react for 5-10 minutes, flush with hot tap water.
- Mechanical Removal – Use Flexible plastic drain snakes or metal coil augers from hardware stores to manually scrape and pull up debris lodged in drains.
- Liquid Drain Cleaners – Chemical cleansers available at supermarkets and hardware stores can dissolve some basic clogs. However, these prove damaging to metal pipes and septic systems when overused.
- Pressure Washer Wand – Attach a hose sprayer securely over a drain then blast hot water continually to disintegrate and flush some clogs.
- Saltwater – Pour a gallon of boiling saltwater solution down the bowl and let sit overnight to work on breaking down buildup. Repeat treatments as needed.
- Unclogging Balls – When drain cleaners fail, dropping a dense rubber ball attached to a rope down your toilet and vigorously yanking up/down can potentially dislodge clogs.
Why should you Hire Professional Plumbing Services for Toilet Unblocking
While home improvement stores stock basic hardware supplies for minor repairs, our professional drainage plumbers have the high-powered equipment plus decades of combined experience and expertise to properly diagnose and fully treat the root cause of various toilet troubles and persistent clogs.
Contacting our emergency plumbers to service common plumbing issues including toilet unblocking, blocked drains or sewage backups prevents DIY mistakes that ultimately waste time, money, and effort.
Emergency Plumbing Services for Severe Blockages
DIY drain unclogging methods work for mild toilet clogs. However, extensive sewer line backups or toilet overflows resulting from severe main line obstructions call for our professional emergency plumbing services. Our qualified sewer and drainage plumber utilise:
- Industrial strength water jetters
- Mechanical snake cutters
- Video pipe inspection cameras
- Underground trenchless sewer replacements
These robust capabilities prove essential for handling backups of raw sewage flooding from toilets or multiple drain access points. Our emergency plumbers also provide full contamination drain cleaning, escaping gas venting plus leak detection services.
Looking for a professional plumber?
At ESBAH Emergency Plumbing, our team of fully licensed, bonded, and insured plumbers specialise in the latest methods for residential and commercial drain cleaning, pipe maintenance, plus 24/7 emergency plumbing services.
For rapid response times, transparent rates, and guaranteed quality results, contact our most trusted emergency plumber service for all your urgent blocked toilet, backed up sewer line, or stubborn plumbing predicaments both big and small.
Our effective solutions keep homes and appliances running smoothly for the long haul while preventing costly damages from arising. Stay confident relying on nearly a decade’s worth of first hand sewer and drain technician expertise ready to assist when plumbing issues demand prompt action.
