Is Your Toilet Clogged? 5 Steps You Can Try Before Calling A Plumber

Plumbing, Question and Answer, Toilet Repair, York PA /

Having a toilet that is clogged is frustrating, but what is almost equally frustrating is to call for plumbing service to repair, the plumber shows up, and 5 minutes later they say “Well we are all good”.

You exclaim “That is it !?”

He says “Yep, I flushed it and everything is working fine.” Or something similarly simple.

Some Of The Most Common Causes Of Toilet Clogs – How To Avoid The Clog Problem In The 1st Place

Toilet clogs occur for a variety of reasons some of which are:

  • Way too much toilet paper – remember it may be better to make that extra flush than risk a clog.
  • Flushable Wipes – I know they say flushable on them. But these older homes which are quite common in York PA can not take them. The wipes do not break up. Also, the old sewer lines are made of cast iron pipe. Over time they get buildup inside which can cause the wipes to get snagged on the rough edges, and thus a backup begins.

Actionable Steps You Can Do – To Save Yourself A Trip By The Plumber

  • Let it sit for a couple of hours – That could be three or four hours. Now if this is the only toilet in your house this may not be the best solution. But if you have another toilet and have the patience to wait it out and think it is most likely just toilet paper, this is a good strategy.
  • Metal Coat Hanger – You can try a metal coat hanger. If I am at home and don’t have my tools with me, I would cut a coat hanger and bend it as long as I can. On the one end, I would make a little hook to grab any debris. Then I would stick it up as far as I can to help break up the blockage.
  • Just Flush It – The other thing you can do is try flushing the toilet when it’s clogged.
    • The more water that is in the bowl the more head pressure that is on the clog and that might help it push it out through.
    • ***WARNING*** Before you try this have the toilet lid off. If the water comes up too high – Just push the flapper (in the bottom center of the tank, the hole where the water is going) down as fast as you can.
  • Plunger – Try a regular old plunger.toilet-plunger-unclog-your-toilet-york-pa
  • Toilet Auger – These are available at many home improvement stores.
  • Check Water Flow – Make sure the jets are open the whole way around the rim of the toilet. Also check the main jet at the bottom of the bowl (the main jet is not in all toilets). Over time buildup occurs in these jets and the flow of water decreases. This is especially true on well systems with calcium deposits.
    • These jets are going the whole way around your toilet. They are up under the rim. I use a little Allen wrench or hex key tool. Go up inside your holes, just wiggle it around and open them up.
    • Then I make sure to hit the main jet at the bottom.

Last Resort – What To Do

We offer some additional steps for removing a clog on another clearing a clogged toilet post here.

If you tried all of the above or you decided none of the above steps are in your job description we would love to take care of your toilet troubles with a quick no hassle service call.

Call 717-755-5461 and Crystal will get one of the friendly techs out right away.

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Toilet Cleaners Can Ruin Your Toilet Flapper – The Right Way and The Wrong Way

Plumbing, Question and Answer, Toilet Repair, York PA /

In the video below Dave Henry discusses the right way and the wrong way to use the tablet cleaners you put in your toilet.

If you are using those chlorine tablets to keep your toilet clean, fresh and pretty, please make sure you are putting them in the bowl and not the tank. ?When I am out on service calls I often have customers ask me if this causes any damage to my toilet. ?The topic will often come up for a toilet service and repair call.

The problem is when you put these chlorine tablets in the tank they often warp the flappers and the plastic and rubber that helps your toilet work properly. ?Now it does not happen immediately of course but it does over time.

The problem is that all of the working mechanisms of the toilet are inside the tank.

This even includes the blue sludges you put in the tank.Which- is- tank- and- which- is -the- bowl- on- a- toilet

Now if you put the cleaners in the bowl you are just fine.

Not sure which is the tank and which is the bowl? ?Note the attached picture.

If you have additional questions or need plumbing service please use our plumbing contact form or give us a call at 717-755-5461.

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Preventative Maintenance That YOU Can Do – Keeping Your Drain Line Open

How To Repair, Plumbing, Question and Answer /

In this video Dave Henry gives you suggestions that YOU can do to keep your drain lines open and minimize the chance that drain clogs will occur.

Of course saving you headaches and money.

Preventative Maintenance

To minimize your chances of calling for a York PA Plumber try to do a little preventative maintenance – One thing you can do is have this simple tool you can pick up at Home Depot, it is called a zip-it tool. It has a bunch of hooks on the sides. You should periodically (every 6-12 months) go around your house and clean out your drain lines. This tool is for bathrooms and lavatory drains. ?Bathroom sinks and tubs. If you see the water is slow at going down the drain that would be a good time to use this tool

Boiling Water and Vinegar

For kitchen sinks get yourself a big pot and add in 3/4 water and 1/4 vinegar. Put on the stove. Bring to a boil. Then dump down you kitchen sink. You may also want to try this down your bathroom or lavatory sinks and tub drains and also your clothes washing machine drain. The hot water and the vinegar is a mild acid helps break up that gunk. Now it will not open your sink if its clogged, but it will help keep the gunk from building up.

Clothes Washing Machine Drain Cleaning:

For clothes washing machines put your washing machine on hot water on the extra large load setting. You want to get as much water as possible.

Fill it the whole way up and turn it to the spin cycle and dump it out. The hot water will help break up the gunk and the detergents in the drain lines. The detergents actually break down and turn it into a black gunk.

The hot water will help flush the drain line. Again, this will not help if it’s already stopped up or clogged. This is something that has to be done before it is stopped up.

The Coat Hanger Trick

Another little thing you can do is try a coat hanger if you don’t want to run to Lowe’s or Home Depot and get the special tool noted above.

Take a coat hanger, cut and straighten to make as long as possible. Make a hook on the end. Insert into drain line. You will most likely need to remove the stopper to get the coat hanger down the drain line. With the special tool above you most likely can leave the stopper in place.

You can also use the metal coat hanger on toilets.

Landlords And Property Maintenance

I would suggest you every year or so or when you have a tenant move out you make it a habit of cleaning out the drain lines to remove hair and build up. And dump the water and vinegar mix down the drains to remove the build.

This will keep your tenant happy and lower your unexpected expense of calling for a plumber in York PA.

Please consider Wilbur Henry for your next plumbing-related problem by using our plumbing contact form or calling 717-755-5461.

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Why Is My Toilet Running When Not In Use

Plumbing, Toilet Repair, York PA /

Have your ever experienced the problem such as:

You are laying in bed in the middle of the night or you sitting downstairs and you hear your toilet fill up for a second or two, or you get your water bill and you notice it a little higher than it usually is or you physically just hear your toilet leaking through when you come in your bathroom. Then you wander if you should call a plumbing contractor or if the issue is just a simple fix.

There is a simple test you can do. It’s called a dye test for your toilet.

As professionals, we have special dye tablets but you can go to any grocery store and get food coloring, and use any color you want. No the color does not matter.

You start by going to the toilet that you are having the issue with or better yet just check all of your toilets.

You flush the back of the tank and hold down the lever until most of the water is out of the tank.

Once it’s completely drained out as much as you can get, you drop the dye or in your case droplets of food coloring and close the handle and just let it set for 10 or 15 minutes. Better yet let it sit for an extended period of time to ensure there are no leaks, even slow leaks.

Now the water in the tank will turn whatever color dye you put in it, we use blue dye in tablets, so mine will turn blue. ?You do not want that color of dye from the tank getting into the bowl.

After you have waited 15 – 30 minutes or whole days, come back, and lift up the bowl, if there’s no blue or whatever color you used in the bowl, then your flapper is not leaking.

If you lift up the toilet seat and the color that you put in the tank is in the bowl then your flapper is leaking. ?Now you will want to replace the flapper. You can go to the local home improvement store and get a replacement flapper.

Or you can of course contact us by phone at 717-755-5461 or use our contact form to do the dirty work.

Thank you.

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