My toilet is clogged, what should I do?

We’re sure you’ve been there: you flush the toilet, but instead of everything going down, the water starts to rise! What are your options for dealing with a clogged toilet? We’re going to cover a few different ways you can unclog your toilet, as well as what you can do to keep it from happening again.

Got questions about your home? We’ve got answers! Email us at thetradepros@doneritesvcs.com  or leave us a voicemail at 1-833-805-0167 and we may answer your question in a future episode.

Need to call in a trade pro? At Done Rite Services, we can help you with your HVAC, plumbing, and electrical needs in Tucson, Arizona. Find out more at www.doneritesvcs.com.

This episode was produced by Rachel Simpson Media. Learn more at www.rachelsimpson.media.

Transcript

Jordan: [00:00:00] Hi there, and welcome back to Trade Pros, a show where a couple of trade guys talk about trade stuff. We're here to answer your questions about your HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and other home systems, and to help keep your home running smoothly. I'm Jordan, 

Todd: And I'm Todd. 

Jordan: Today let's talk about clogs. As trade pros, we have seen all sorts of nasty clogs when working in people's homes.

Todd: Today we're going to cover some things that you can try at home to unclog your toilet, as well as what you can do to keep clogs from happening in the first place. 

Jordan: Let's also cover some things you shouldn't do.

Todd: So the first thing you could try if you have a clogged toilet is what everyone knows, a plunger. Sometimes plungers don't work and you need other means of getting that toilet unclogged. Do you have a toilet auger? 

Jordan: What's a toilet auger? 

Todd: A toilet auger is a device that you put down the toilet and it's [00:01:00] about 3 to 6 feet long and you shove it through the P trap of the toilet and twist it as you're going and it goes further down into the drain to clear some of those nasty clogs.

Jordan: That sounds simple.

Todd: It is fairly simple if you have the tool. 

Jordan: So after you've tried the plunger and the auger and nothing's working the next step is a mainline drain snake before you pull out the Mainline drain snake or rent one you have to be careful to know what your pipes are made of and where your main cleanout is There's a lot of things that can go wrong with a mainline snake 

Todd: Yes, knowing the routing of your plumbing is also important now Obviously if you didn't build the home, you wouldn't know how the plumbing was routed. If it's an older home, typically they use whatever parts they had on their truck to construct your plumbing.

I once knew a plumber who had to snake a toilet through the vent pipe on the roof, and before you know it, he thought that he was clearing a clog and heard screaming inside the house. So he pulled the snake back, and he had the shower curtain on the end of his snake. His snake went through the [00:02:00] porcelain on the toilet, whipped around the bathroom, grabbed the shower curtain. And he had it on the roof with him. That was a happy customer.

Jordan: Well, I guess you cleared the toilet that way. So once you have the drain cleared, what are a couple of things we can do to help keep it that way so you don't need to snake the drain again recently? There are a couple of things that help with toilets. First, be careful what you flush down them. As we've discussed in previous episodes, you don't want to flush feminine products, you don't want to flush plastic items, solid items, non-biodegradable items.

An additional thing you can do is get a product called BioCide or something similar to it. What this product does is it's a probiotic for your drains and it eats away, in a bacteria form, it eats away all the organic material that is flushed down your drain. 

Todd: If you end up with a clog that's too stubborn, it may be time to call in a trade pro.

Jordan: Thanks for listening. If you like this episode, then don't forget to subscribe. For more trade pro tips. 

Todd: If you'd like us to cover a home system question or topic, then [00:03:00] leave us a voicemail or email us and we'll talk about it in a future episode. That information is in the show notes. 

Jordan: And if you need to call in a pro, remember Done Rite services can help. We can help you with your AC, plumbing, or electrical needs. Just visit us at doneritesvcs.com. That's D O N E R I T E S V C S. com.