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How to Unclog a Toilet

Toilet

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A plunger is probably the cleanest, most sanitary way to unstop a toilet. However, if the toilet isn’t installed properly, its seal can be compromised by using a plunger. A big red flag is if a toilet keeps getting stopped up weekly or even daily. Frequent clogs are indicative of an issue that needs to be addressed. If the toilet only gets clogged every six months or longer, then it’s probably fine.

Toilet snakes are cable tools used to clear stoppages, but they have to be used with extreme care. Otherwise it’s very easy to scratch the porcelain on the bowl of the toilet. (Professionals generally use toilet snakes instead of plungers.) It’s also possible to actually uninstall the toilet, take it off the floor, bring it outside, and then turn it upside down in a safe area to clear it out.

Most people probably get squeamish about this next part, but if you can see an object in the bowl that shouldn’t be flushed, you can probably remove it before it ends up going down the trap of the toilet. If a toy or foreign object does fall into the toilet bowl, I would highly recommend putting on some rubber gloves, reaching into the toilet, and just getting it out before the problem becomes much worse. Do not flush the toilet to see if it’ll go down, because more than likely it won’t. It’s going to end up getting stuck and you’ll have a much bigger problem to handle.

You can definitely cause damage if you’re not experienced dealing with a toilet. A plunger is the safest, easiest, and most economical thing you can do. If you’ve tried a plunger on a stopped up toilet and it’s just not working, or if you’re using the plunger on a daily or weekly basis, it’s a really good idea to contact a professional. You can always reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air by contacting us online or giving us a call at 540-483-9382.

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Here are some toilet features that you might not know about already, but which are useful enough that you’ll wonder how you ever did without them. (I hope that some of this information will serve to enhance your repertoire of potty jokes.)

Most people don’t think about the water surface area in the toilet bowl itself, but I always bring it up during a conversation about replacing a toilet. If you go to your grandma’s house and use her restroom, generally speaking, it’s going to have an older toilet. You’ll notice that there’s a ton of water in the bowl. When you flush it, it’ll seem like the water swirls around forever until it finally clears down. Those two characteristics (lots of water and long flush time) are very useful in bowl cleanliness.

If you look at a new toilet (especially if it’s on the cheaper side), the bowl will often get dirty and stay dirty fairly easily. It’s not surprising, because a greater surface of water would protect the actual porcelain from getting dirty. New toilets also have government regulations requiring only 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Thats why they are engineered not to swirl as much as the older toilets do, and the water just goes straight out of them. The sudden, direct movement leads to a dirtier bowl.

You don’t usually think about how silent a toilet is when it flushes, which is another noticeable characteristic of older toilets. Older toilets tend to be fairly quiet, while newer ones can get very loud. It’s not uncommon for bathrooms attached to the master bedroom to get regular nighttime use. Having a quieter toilet would definitely be beneficial in that case.

These next two features are fairly commonly known, but if you’ve never experienced them yourself, you don’t know what you’re missing. You won’t ever want to go back to a regular toilet once you get used to them. The first pertains to the shape of the bowl: toilets either come with a round shape or an oval/elongated shape. The elongated shape is much, much easier and more comfortable to use.

Next pertains to the height of the actual bowl that you sit on: it’s either standard height or slightly elevated. If you’ve ever used a handicap accessible public toilet, you might have noticed that it’s higher than the toilets in other stalls. It’s not a big enough difference for you to spot at a glance (about two inches), but it’s definitely noticeable in terms of how close to the floor you are while seated. I like to call them comfort height toilets because the higher position is just more comfortable to use.

To most people, a toilet is just a toilet. But in our world, there are definitely characteristics we look at when selecting the products we offer to our clients. It may surprise someone when we discuss these things, but these are definitely features with noticeable benefits. If it’s almost time to replace your toilet and you have any questions, just contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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Back around Thanksgiving we talked about how the holiday season typically means more people are going to be in your home. That might lead to a clogged toilet if you’re not careful. This time, let’s talk about what should and shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet. If everyone in your home knows these easy-to-follow pointers on how to treat your toilet, you will be less likely to have problems.

First of all, don’t treat your toilet as a disposal outlet. If it’s something that can be thrown away, just put it in the trash can instead. We all know what a toilet is meant to be used for. Don’t try to misuse it by disposing of items that belong in the trash.

It’s all too common for us to get calls from people who’ve flushed a random object down the toilet. Small, slender objects like tampon applicators, toothbrushes, or even toothpicks can cause problems. When they go down the toilet’s trap, they’ll get lodged in since they can’t bend easily. The waterway has a very sharp bend in it. The outlet of a toilet trap (especially in older toilets) may be less than two inches. Even though the opening might not look small from the top of your toilet bowl, it’s very easy for objects to get stuck.

A good rule of thumb is don’t put anything down the toilet that isn’t biodegradable. Plastic objects, gum, tampons, and toothpaste tubes don’t belong in your toilet. We’ve even had people try to dispose of food down a toilet. Toilets just aren’t made for that—you’re eventually going to run into major trouble if you try to flush those types of things.

What’s the first thing someone usually does once they get an object stuck in the toilet? They head for the plunger. Plungers are actually not very good for the toilet due to the pressure they exert. If you use a plunger often, you can ruin the seal that’s under the toilet flange. Once that wax seal is compromised it can lead to rotting of the floor around the toilet or leaks that can damage your house.

It’s perfectly fine to use a plunger once or twice a year for the occasional soft clog. If you’re having to use it multiple times a month or more, however, you’ve got a problem that needs to be dealt with. Plungers are not long-term fixes. If you don’t tackle the underlying issue, there’s a good chance you’re going to have an even bigger problem later.

Let’s say that a pen was dropped down the toilet. It’s stuck in the trap but it isn’t preventing the toilet from flushing. If there’s just a little bit of water or paper, it flushes just fine. It will only get stopped up if there’s a larger amount of material. These kinds of sporadic problems won’t happen every day. That’s why you should get your toilet checked if you have a problem on a weekly or monthly basis.

You might get away with it for a while, but the problem will rear its ugly head when it’s least convenient. It might even happen during a holiday dinner while your entire family is over. I remember when a guest had trouble with the toilet at my own house. It was very uncomfortable and embarrassing to have someone come out of the bathroom to ask for a plunger.

Save yourself from the uncomfortable situations by making sure that you have a working toilet. If you want us to give it a look over, contact us online or give us a call at (540) 483-9382. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about how to treat your toilet the way it should.

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Toilets are obviously a very important part of the plumbing system (and even the entire home). Here are three common toilet problems that we receive calls about on a regular basis.

#1. The toilet leaks at the base and/or it’s loose to the floor.

If you sit on the toilet and you hear a squishing sound, it can be an indication of a major problem. You might also feel that it’s wobbly and rocks from front to back when you sit on it. The cause of this problem is when the wax seal/flange that attaches to the toilet has failed. Once this seal has been compromised, water will slowly leak around the floor and may even cause rotting.

We always check to make sure that the base of the toilet around the floor is caulked. First of all, it needs to be caulked to meet plumbing code. Second, it protects the seal’s integrity. If the floor is slightly unlevel, caulk will fill the gap and create a good solid base so the toilet doesn’t become wobbly.

If you have a loose, wobbly, or leaky toilet, you need to get the problem fixed immediately. It can potentially cause major damage to your home if you don’t get it resolved.

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#2. The toilet sounds like it’s running constantly.

If you hear running water or your toilet sounds like it’s flushing when you haven’t even used it, there could be one of several causes. It could be water leaking out of the tank into the bowl. It could also be a faulty fill valve (the valve that puts water into the back of the tank). A toilet that continues to run water into the bowl can end up wasting gallons and gallons of water in a 24 hour period. It might not sound like much, but it quickly adds up.

Leaky toilets can be especially detrimental to septic systems. They like to empty a tub all at once. If you instead have a small amount of water constantly going into the septic system, it can eventually become ruined.

Regardless of whether or not you have a septic system, you should definitely get a leaky toilet checked.

#3. The toilet doesn’t flush properly.

It could be stopped up completely or maybe it just doesn’t flush very well. Normally this happens to an older toilet that isn’t a high-performance flushing model. We can take care of the problem by just replacing the whole toilet with a newer, better one.

The bottom line is, toilets have many components that all have to work together properly. It could be the gasket on the bottom, the gasket between the bowl and the tank, fill valve, flapper, handle, or weep holes around the toilet rim. Instead of just making a quick fix on one item, make sure that you look at all of those things together. A toilet can nickel and dime you if you aren’t careful. Replacing the whole toilet would be the most cost-efficient solution and you only have to deal with it once.

If you’re having a common toilet issue and want us to come tackle the problem, contact us online or give us a call at (540) 483-9382.

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There are three factors to consider when deciding whether to replace or repair a plumbing fixture. First of all, the fixture’s age needs to be taken into consideration. If we were to come into a house and notice that the water heater has an average age of 8 to 10 years, we would evaluate that (along with other information) in order to make a recommendation to possibly replace the item, since it’s probably past the prime of its life. Age is definitely a large component in making sure that you’re not putting money into something that will continue to nickel and dime you in the future.

Another thing to consider is the cost of the repair. There are obviously temporary bandages that can be applied to problems, but repairing fixtures correctly can sometimes be very expensive compared to the cost of just putting in a new item. The benefits associated with purchasing a new item should be weighed against the cost of repairing the existing item. Sometimes, it might cost way less to repair a fixture instead of just replacing it completely. But then, if you’re going to have to do that same repair multiple times in the future, the cost will add up. In hindsight, you might end up looking back and realizing it cost more to keep repairing the same old fixture instead of just replacing it to begin with. Being open-minded to that can definitely be advantageous.

The great thing about Wisler Plumbing and Air’s customer service is that we will give you options. There will likely be a repair option and a replacement option available, and we will make the advantages of both clear to you. You’ll be able to see those options side by side and make an informed decision. Our recommendation to repair or replace the fixture will depend on the fixture’s age and cost. The beauty of it is, you can take our professional recommendation or weigh the consequences yourself. The power is left in the hands of the customer to decide.

When considering available options, we would never want a customer to wish they would have known about an option after the job is done. We make sure that customers know about the products we offer, and also other products that are out on the market. Many customers do their research ahead of time and show up knowing that they want an item replaced with a certain brand or type. We want to make sure that we can help the client navigate through the decision, so when they do make the investment to replace an item, they are sure the product meets their specific needs and criteria. It’s important that customers know the products that we offer, but also the other products on the market that we choose not to offer.

When we determine what products we’re going to use, we do a lot of research and consider many different criteria about the product. When you do buy a replacement item, you want to be sure that you’re replacing it with a product that just doesn’t look good, but is also high quality.

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