Best ways to unblock a Toilet and when to call a Professional
The plunger won’t work, your toilet is still running and now the toilet’s water level is close to overflowing, these are all concerns that we want to tackle quickly. A&D Plumbing understand how frustrating, and sometimes embarrassing, a blocked toilet can be – so if you’re facing these unpleasantries, see if these toilet unblocking methods can help before calling out your local plumber.
What you need – unblocking toilet equipment:
- Rubber gloves
- Plunger
- Toilet brush
- Plumbing snake
- Newspaper
If you think that your toilet is blocked, steer clear from flushing it again. The toilet bowl should be fine with holding the first cistern full of water but any more and it’s likely to overflow. If the water isn’t draining away at all, you have a full blockage but if it slowly drains, you have a partial blockage.
Best ways to unblock a toilet:
- Place newspaper on the floor
It’s likely that at some point, water from the toilet will spill over and onto the floor. To keep your bathroom as sanitary as possible, take the necessary precautions and place down some newspaper or old towels.
- Pop on your rubber gloves
It’s certainly not a glamorous job, so get your marigolds on because it’s time to get rid of that blockage!
- Turn off your water supply
To avoid your toilet flooding the bathroom, turn off your water supply. It’s likely that you’ll be able to find a faucet at the back of your toilet which can be turned off, but if not, turn off your home’s stopcock for peace of mind.
- If your toilet is partially blocked – use your plunger
You will need a proper toilet plunger, they look like your normal bell plunger but has an extension collar with a smaller suction cup attached. This specially-designed product creates an even tighter seal which increases the power of the plunging motion.
Don’t start off doing this too vigorously, that’ll make water spray out of the toilet. Start gently to create a tight suction and only plunge harder once all of the air in the cup has gone. This air bubble that is then in the pipes, should push the blockage down and out of the system.
You can completely submerge the cup in the water but it might be a good idea to use a cup to reduce the level (if the water level is high) to prevent the water from rising and spilling out. Water will provide more force than an air bubble, increasing the water pressure should remove the blockage.
- If your toilet is fully blocked – use a plumbing snake
If plunging just isn’t working, try using a plumbing snake. You can buy them in most DIY shops or online, it is a long coil that’s fed down the toilet until it finds the blockage. When this happens, pull the coil back up and out and it should bring the blockage with it.
- Call your plumber!
Absolutely no luck? Call out your local plumber!
A&D Plumbing Services can help to clear blocked toilets, so if you find yourself at your wits end, give us a call and we will be right with you. Our team are reliable, trusted and accredited, and we can offer a 1 hour response time if it’s an emergency. With no call-out fees and an aim to beat any genuine quotes, you can be sure that you’ve come to the right place. Get in touch today – we operate throughout Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.