Every homeowner will see a toilet clog at one point or another and wonder how to solve this problem? Toilets are often ignored by the majority of homeowners until something goes wrong with their toilet and it develops a clog. A clogged toilet can be an unpleasant mess that can hinder your normal routine. Removing a toilet clog is fairly not very easy to do, but it can be done with some tools and a little technique. When all your efforts of unclogging a toilet fail, it’s time to call a professional plumber in Sacramento because some clogs can be severe and need an expert hand to remove. Before you retort to professional plumbing service, you should try the popular methods to fix a clogged toilet. Most of these methods are effective enough to unclog a toilet as soon as possible.
Keep reading to know the tips and ways how to fix a clogged toilet on your own:
Get a plunger
Whether or not you keep other tools in your house, keeping a plunger is a must. It is the most basic and top tool to unclog a toilet. Make sure you have a flange plunger with you at home as they are the most popular types of toilet plungers.
How to use a plunger
- Push the plunger down the toilet bowl and start to move it down gently. And this push is to let air from inside the plunger bubble out. While you push the plunger down the toilet bowl, do it gently and not forcefully.
- If the toilet bowl is already full to its brim, take enough water out so that the plunger can be used. Use a small bucket to do remove water and keep it to the level at which the plunger is appropriate to use without any splash of water.
- After you have created a good seal in the toilet bowl, push the plunger in down and up motions with some force while holding onto the seal. Last, pull the plunger up to break the air seal. Now, the water level of the toilet bowl should start reducing along with pushing the blockage out. If this doesn’t fix the clogged toilet, keep plunging up and down until the clog is removed.
Vinegar and Baking Soda Solution
Don’t have a plunger? There is another way to unclog a toilet. This method is free of chemicals and is easy to do. For this method, you will need two things: Vinegar and baking soda. When these two are used together can work great at removing clogs removing odors from clothes and maintaining your drains clog-free. Experts of appliance repair in Sacramento suggest using this mixture to clean washing machines.
How to use Vinegar and Baking Soda
First pour 1 cup of baking soda into the clogged toilet, followed by 2 cups of vinegar after waiting for a few minutes. Now, let the mixture sit and work for at least 20 minutes. After that, flush your toilet. If the clog has not been removed, do this process again until the clog is dissolved. Once the clog gets cleared away, it will create a vacuum sound and your toilet will start draining properly.
Note: The combination of baking soda and vinegar tends to create bubbles. For this reason, it’s vital to remove any excess water before you put these two things. Moreover, when you pour these two, make sure you pour them slowly to stop the water in the toilet bowl from splashing and overflowing.
Use a Toilet Auger
When all attempts to remove the clog with a plunger fail, you can get a ready-to-use toilet auger from the market. There is a toilet auger built into the toilet drain so always keep it with you. Compared to toilet snakes, they can remove clogs more effectively due to their design. In addition, a drain auger or toilet auger does not leave scratches on the porcelain of the toilet but is carried by toilet snakes in most cases.
How to use a toilet auger
When using a tool like this, the right way is to get the end of the cable close to the bottom curved end of the auger tube. Put some force on the cable and begin turning the auger while dropping the cable down into the drain. Because of the curved end of the auger tube, feeding the cable into the toilet will not leave scratches on the toilet. When the auger reaches the point of the clog, push it down with more pressure to remove the clog out.
You can also use an auger and plunger together as it helps in creating adequate suction to punch the material that is causing the clog and adhering to the toilet’s hole. While using a toilet auger, it’s important to wear gloves.
Note: Since bathtubs and toilets usually have a common drainage pipe, when punching a hole with an auger, the clog can get into the bathtub drain pipe and block it. Be sure to check the bathtub drainage for any blockages immediately after removing the blockage in the toilet.
Contact a professional plumber
All the above methods help remove clogs. But, if none of the above works in your case, this indicates you have a serious and stubborn clog in your toilet. In circumstances like this, you will have to rely on professional plumbing assistance. Professional plumbers have all the advanced tools to unclog a toilet. They are trained and experienced in dealing with severest of toilet clogs. Some work of unclogging a toilet requires only a professional hand or attempting the work yourself can lead to damage to your toilet.
Just like you can’t handle air conditioning repair in Sacramento by yourself, serious clogs and toilet problems are not worth attempting yourself. Save your time and money by hiring affordable plumbing services.
Tips to keep your toilet from clogging in future
Toilet clogs can end up requiring expensive repair services. Follow these tips to prevent toilet clogs in the future.
- Keep a dustbin near the toilet to dispose of items.
- Don’t flush anything except toilet paper. Even if the label says it’s flushable, never flush it. Things that must not be flush down the toilet include diapers, tissues, paper towels, facial wipes, or feminine hygiene products.
- Make sure your children only put toilet paper in the toilet pot. Anything except it must not go down.
