An Unsightly Toilet
You are facing a toilet bowl filled with toilet paper. The flush works sluggishly, with not enough water to flush and clear away the paper. Could a foreign object be contributing to the “congestion”? Don’t you just feel like vomiting the laksa which you just had for lunch earlier when faced with such a disgusting scene?
A clogged toilet is one of the most common plumbing problems. When your toilet bowl is blocked, the flush water from the toilet tank has nowhere to go. The trap is the most common catching spot for toilet clogs. When there is a clog, flushing the toilet cannot generate enough water power to clear the trap, so water will flow back up again. This causes the flush water to overflow from the toilet bowl and onto the toilet floor.
Most toilet clogs are caused by an object that is stuck in the toilet trap and not in the drain line pipe in the floor. If your toilet is completely blocked or partially blocked (when it flushes incompletely or sluggishly), try using a plunger to clear the blockage caused by human waste and toilet paper.
If plunging is unable to clear the blockage, try unclogging the toilet using a closet auger.
A closet auger is used when an object — like a sponge, a child’s toy, or any foreign object is the cause of the toilet blockage. A closet auger is designed to grab or snag the object so that you can pull it out of the toilet and not flush it down the drain line as you would using a plunger.
Clearing Toilet Clogs With A Plunger
- First, check the water level in the toilet bowl by sticking the plunger into the drain outlet. There should be enough water in the bowl for the plunger to be submerged at least halfway. This is to ensure that there is a seal formed around the flange of the plunger.
- Place the plunger over the drain outlet and press down to form the seal. Make sure that you are covering the hole completely.
- Press down and lift up on the plunger handle rapidly and repeatedly. It is important to be pushing and pulling with water, not air. Pull up on the plunger to create suction in the drain, the push in to create pressure. Such constant suction-pressure movements will eventually loosen the congestion at the drain.
You will know the clog has moved through the drain line when the old standing water goes down the drain. You may need to repeat the plunging process a couple of times for stubborn clogs.
Clearing a clogged toilet with a plunger is one of the easiest toilet problem which we can fix on our own.
Calling In The Experts To Clear Toilet Chokes
If plunging does not resolve the clog, there may be a clog further down in the main drainpipes. Now, you may have to call in a plumbing expert to help clear that major blockage.
Sometimes, the whole toilet bowl may have to be uprooted in order to clear the choke. As seen from the pictures below, the whole toilet bowl was removed completely from the ground, before the hair, grime and other waste material clogging up the toilet bowl base can be cleared away effectively. This job is definitely not for the faint-hearted, and is best left to the professional plumber.
