Okay, the guys inthe chat tonight heard a lot about this. Anyways, my toilet got clogged today so I went over to Walmart to buy a plunger. Well, when I was using it on my toilet to un clog it something happened to my roomates toilets. All of theirs went low on water and such, and the water won't go down in a reasonable manor after you flush...just like mine. And to make it worse one of the other toilets for some reason had crap come up out of the piping in to the bowl. What gives? To make the matters even more worse.....and embarrasing. I have ladies as roomates, and now none of our toilets are working. I don't understand how using a plunger on my toilet to free a clog would some how brake down the entire toilet system in the house. Now all three toilets don't work. Any plumbing advice would be appreciated.....what the hell did I do? .....don't say had too big of a crap etc.....
My advice: call the landlord if you rent and if you don't call a real plumber, ASAP. It ain't gonna be pretty, but you already knew that. My parents had that happen to our house about a year ago, and one of the main pipes under the house had completely busted - it took serious work and money to fix.
Does the house have an outside pipe access - a 4 inch pvc pipe that is capped off? If so, remove the cap and look to see if the water is backed up there. If it is, that means that the main line is clogged after that spot. If it is not it is clogged before that spot. You can rent/buy a snake and insert in the toilet if you don't see water in the outside access to remove the clog. If you do see water in the access, start the snake in the access pipe and head it toward the street. Or you could shove a garden hose down the access toward the street - sometimes it just needs a little help. If you are successful, you may redeem yourself and look like a real fix-it man. Wash up before you have a toast though...
One thing you NEVER want to do is call a plumbing company to snake out the sewer line on your own property. Instead, try do it yourself as Art indicates above. If you can't get it done yourself, call the city and have them come out. If the clog is on your sewer line on your property, and not on the main sewer line that effects both you and your neighbors, they'll tell you you need to call a plumbing company to get it snaked, but I always slip them a twenty and they do it for me. Much cheaper than the $120 my plumbing company wants to charge me for the same thing.
You can get a snake at Home depot or Lowe's for $20 - $40 depending on the size. I broke down and bought one about 3 weeks ago when my son flushed half a roll of TP down the toilet. Works like a charm and it is easy to use. Follow Art's instructions and you should be good. The reason that all the toilets are backing up is because the main line is clogged.
Thanks guys so much for all the info. I called the land lord today, he finally picked up. And he said they are working on it. Aparently every house on the street doesn't have flushing toilets. It was just a fluke that I happened to use the toilet at that moment and flush....unless I broke the whole streets sewer system....lol. I love this site so much! Man, all this info pouring in about toilets. You guys rule! I bought a plunger etc and thought I broke the system in the house. Thank goodness it wasn't me using the plunger. I talked to one of my roomates about it today...man. I am relived. now they don't have to think that I took a big crap clogged the house.
rockHEAD rule applies Uprising, until you post pics, we can't believe that you have hot roommates. Awesome stories could suffice though.
Recently, our shower was clogged up. I tried sticking my finger in the drain to see what the deal was, but I couldn't find anything that was causing the back up we were getting. Finally, I just took a plunger to the drain and the water went down.
Can anyone recommend a great toilet?? One of our's keeps clogging up (my 13 year old son... yuk!) and we're looking for a new one that will flush the hell out of anything! We've had a plumber out, who's pretty good (we've used him before) and he couldn't fix it (find a clog). He said he'd have to remove the toilet to try and figure it out, and did we really want to pay for that? He thought we might want to consider a new one, so we could save on the labor if the problem is the stinkin' toilet. (now I'm confused! ) Any suggestions appreciated.
I can't really reccommend a specific brand, but if you have to replace the toilet do it yourself. I replaced one in my house back in June. It is very easy, just make sure you get the right wax ring and don't break it. I had to get a second ring because I was not happy with the way the toilet seated on the screws the first time i set it down. I pulled it up and thought I had possibly broke the seal on the wax ring. Rather than test it and end up with crap on the floor, I replaced the ring and re-seated it. It took total about 2.5 hours. My old toilet had flush problems and had an odor we had a hard time getting rid of. we had washed it and cleaned it with all kinds of cleaners and it still would stink after a few days. The flush problem was related to the type it was. IT didn't have much power because instead of having holes the water flowed through it had lip that was completely open around the top of the bowl. When you flushed the water just kind of overflowed instead of actually flushing with any speed or pressure. Our new toilet works way better, and since we replaced it the smell is gone!
I use Toto (never heard of it before I bought the house) and it's one of those efficient ones, but it works every time. 1 flush, not that "King of the Hill" brand.
Thanks, Castor, although I can't lift things like I used to be able to, so I don't know if that's an option. It's great that your's improved things. I never realized there was that much difference between the various types, etc., although I knew there was a huge difference between the old style that we grew up with, and the ones out now. I've heard that there are 3 levels of toilets and "flush power." (lol!) I think we have the lowest level. I'm looking for level 3!
