Troubleshooting Tips for a Clogged Toilet Every Homeowner Should Know

If you own your home, you've probably had your fair share of plumbing problems. One of the most common is the clogged toilet. Clearing a clogged toilet will often require the services of a professional plumber. But before you make that call, the following are some troubleshooting tips you can try. Who knows? You might fix the problem yourself!

Tip #1: Don’t Keep Trying to Flush the Toilet

If you keep depressing the toilet flush handle with a clogged toilet, you risk having it overflow. Flushing adds more water into the bowl, and that water has nowhere to go but up. A sewage water overflow in your bathroom will obviously cause additional problems for you.

Tip #2: Identify the Source of the Clog

If there's too much human waste and toilet paper causing the clog, that's one thing. But if it's an object like a ball or toy, that's quite another. It may be best to try and remove that object first, before taking other steps to fix the clog. The last thing you want to do is clear the object from the toilet, but then it gets lodged in the pipe located inside your wall.

Tip #3: Use a Good Plunger

A high-quality plunger will have very pliable rubber, which is useful for making a better seal around the bottom of the toilet. Try to use a plunger with a foldout rubber flange (it looks like a wide funnel sticking out from the bottom of the plunger). This will further provide a better seal. When using a plunger the right way, you can fix the majority of clogged toilets.

Tip #4: Use a Homemade Drain Cleaner

Pour one cup of baking soda and four cups of vinegar into your toilet bowl. The chemical reaction can dissolve clogs and create some pressure in your toilet's plumbing, which can help dislodge a deeper clog. The gentle abrasive action has the added bonus of cleaning the pipes.
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If the above tips don’t work, it might be time to call a plumbing professional. Contact Smoak’s Comfort Control online and set up a time for one of our plumbers to come to your home and fix your clogged toilet.