Here, you’ll learn how to unclog a toilet when nothing seems to work. Have you exhausted all options known to you? This article will be of great help.
How to Unblock a Badly Blocked Toilet
One of the most important sections of a home is the toilet. This serves the basic need of human waste management hence should be functional at all times.
Most times, people overlook the importance of the toilet until it malfunctions or something goes wrong. Only then does its role become abundantly clear.
When it comes to toilet issues, clogging is among several things that could go wrong. Dealing with a clogged toilet can be quite difficult if you’ve tried several options to no avail.
What Causes Toilet Clogging
In a bid to find ways of unclogging a toilet, it’s necessary to first consider the factors or causes of toilet clogging.
There are several reasons why a toilet gets clogged. Some or all of these factors may apply to your situation. So, what are they?
Low-flow toilets are specially designed for water conservation. In other words, they use less water to clear the drain and trap.
First-generation low-flow toilets (those made in the mid ’90s) tend to have the most clogging issues. Another cause for clogging is the use or disposal of non-flushable items in the toilet.
There are toilet papers specially designed for safe toilet use or disposal.
While this is true, other types of tissue paper materials aren’t safe. These include paper towels among several others. They are hard to break down and create or make your toilet less efficient in terms of flushing.
A blocked plumbing vent is also likely to lead to clogging issues.
Also, sewer line problems may impact the way your toilet operates. Your toilet may get clogged when there isn’t enough water in the tank, or when there’s a buildup of hard water.
Slow septic systems and older pipework could also be among the many reasons your toilet is clogged.
Dealing With Stubborn Toilet Clog
How do you unclog a toilet when a plunger doesn’t work?
When your toilet becomes clogged, the natural step to take is to find ways of unclogging it. This might sound quite easy, but some clogs could become a nightmare to homeowners.
In other words, such clogging issues may become difficult to get rid of.
What you’re left with is to find any means necessary to dislodge items firmly lodged within your toilet’s plumbing system. Secondly, you’ll need to keep out all items that shouldn’t go into your toilet.
Most clogging issues are caused by indiscriminate disposal of items considered unsafe for smooth toilet functioning.
In a nutshell, you’ll have to remove the clog first, followed by strict observance or monitoring of what goes into the toilet. When these two are followed, the chances of reoccurrence of clogging are greatly reduced.
We’ll be dwelling more on the first which is to remove or clear out an existing clog.
Taking Action
Sometimes, clogged toilets can become so difficult to resolve when using basic unclogging techniques. Under such circumstances, it can become worrisome as your toilet(s) become unusable.
At this point, you’ll need to take drastic actions to get rid of the problem.
Part of such actions includes calling for professional help. Plumbers offer all sorts of plumbing-related solutions including toilet clogs. Sometimes, the cause(s) of clogs may extend far beyond where you think the problem is.
In other words, the causes may be with your drain lines.
However, there’s little chance of knowing when carrying out this procedure alone. With expert help, the problem is diagnosed and appropriate action taken.
The Plumber to the Rescue!
Plumbers play a key role in keeping plumbing systems functional.
Of course, your toilet is part of your home’s plumbing system. There’s a system for wastewater disposal as well as that for incoming clean water.
Each of these systems is maintained by plumbing experts skilled in each.
When nothing seems to work in terms of unclogging your toilet, it’s best to let your plumber have a look.
As professionals, plumbers are knowledgeable about the workings of the plumbing system and what could go wrong.
Issues with the plumbing system are probed and identified. This is followed by repairs. It’s important to note that such repairs could be limited or extensive. Major toilet clogging problems will require extensive repairs.
With the help of an experienced plumber, you won’t have to worry about how to go about the process. All you have to do is find a reputable plumbing technician and point the way.
The rest of the task is handled easily. Of course, questions might be asked about your toilet use.
DIY Strategies
Before serious clogging occurs, most homeowners can tackle basic clogging by using simple tools like a plunger. However this fails, it’s high time to seek better ways to manage the problem.
One tool that proves handy for difficult toilet clogging issues is a toilet auger. This is also called a plumbing snake.
As the name suggests, it’s lowered into the toilet and can extend to great lengths into your plumbing lines to dislodge items clogging up the system. So, how do you unclog a toilet using a toilet auger?
i. Snaking a Toilet
This simply refers to the process or method of using a toilet snake or auger to get rid of clogs.
There are simple ways to achieve this. These include inserting the cable into the toilet drain, cranking it down the drain, retracting the cable, and flushing the toilet.
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Inserting the Cable
Your toilet snake first goes into the toilet bowl to drive it through the drain lines. Here, the end of the snake goes in first before it’s driven through.
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Cranking the Toilet Snake Down
To make your cable properly go through the drain, it has to be cranked in a clockwise direction while slowly pushing it down until it’s through.
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Cable Retraction
At this point, retraction is needed to dislodge any clogs.
Here, the cable or snake handle is turned anti-clockwise while slowly pulling it out. If successful, you’ll notice your toilet starting to drain.
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Flushing and Cleaning your Toilet & Snake
With the clog dislodged, have your toilet flushed and cleaned properly. This includes the snake. Now, everything should be working normally. If not, you’ll need expert help.
These are ways to unclog toilets when nothing else seems to work. More important is the need to have your toilet maintained by avoiding or keeping out unsafe items.