Why does my toilet keep getting clogged?

[Sue G in PA]

Okay, it's probably an old toilet. Was here before we moved in and we've been here for 6 years now. I have to plunge the blasted toilet at least twice a day b/c it's clogged. My boys seem to think it is necessary to use the entire roll of tp when they use the bathroom. :glare: THAT is an obvious reason why the toilet gets clogged. However...I find that various times during the day, for whatever reason, it just.gets.clogged! I'm about to lose it. My dh just shrugs and says "I'm no plumber". Well...find somebody who is! I'm sick and tired of plunging the blasted toilet every day! We had our septic pumped less than 6 mos. ago, use RidX frequently, don't flush baby wipes or anything other than tp. What could be the problem? :confused:

[Claire]

The problem could be the actual toilet. Some just don't flush very well.

 

When we built our house, we put in Toto toilets which have a wider opening at the bottom and a very strong flush. They have never clogged. (They make a slightly different sound than regular toilets, though. To me they sound louder and faster.)

 

You might want to research toilets online and then get a plumber in to replace what you have with something that flushes better.

[pianoplayer]

It could be due to the amount of toilet paper going down at any one time. I would definitely get a plumber to check it out, but then I think that getting a plumber now to deal with a chronic problem is better than waiting until an emergency. Perhaps you can pitch it to your husband as paying for a regular plumber visit rather than the extra involved in an emergency call???

 

We had an issue with our toilet that was due to the place where the water comes INto the toilet getting crusted with mineral deposits. My husband turned off the water, drained the toilet, and scraped away the mineral deposits, and we got a more powerful jet of water coming into the toilet to, in turn, help flush. It was actually the plumber who diagnosed the problem, but let my hubby affect the solution.

 

Not much help, but lots of sympathy, as we have an older house with older toilets and have been through much the same thing as you describe. It really is frustrating!

[Ellie]

It may just need a replacement gizmo. I don't know what it's called, but if you go to Lowe's or Home Depot and tell the employee your problem, he should be able to walk you over to the replacement parts and tell you which one to get. It's an easy fix. We've had to do it on 3 toilets so far (we have 4 bathrooms).

[Kanga]

When we moved into our current house the toilet kept getting clogged. MY dh snaked it out and found the previous residents had flushed a fastfood cup w/ lid and straw down the toilet. It has worked well ever since.

[KidsHappen]

Anything that wasn't flushable? That's what it sounds like in which case it will need to be snaked. Or you could just hit it really hard with a hammer and then tell your hubby that you have no idea what happened by now it will obviously need to be fixed. :D

[Mekanamom]

Could be the toilet itself, could be the lines. Our mainline to the septic tank came unglued once. That was an adventure I never care to visit ever again. :glare:

 

Is it just your one toilet that is getting stopped up? No other drains affected? In our case ALL the drains in the entire house would get plugged up.

 

I'd start with a plumber who can look at the toilet and snake the line... they have cameras they can snake down there too, to see if they can identify a blockage, or tree roots growing into your pipes. If there are tree roots, they can snake a "chopper" down there to cut through them.

[Halftime Hope]

nt

[Mrs Mungo]

For starters you can try snaking it yourself with a small snake. You can buy them at the hardware store (small ones, not big ones) for $5.

 

When we first moved to North Carolina my hubby immediately deployed. My sister came to visit and one of the toilets kept backing up. We'd plunge it, it would be OK and then it would back up again. So, I went and bought one of those small snakes. I'm sure the sight was quite hilarious. My sister and I are both uner 5'2". We weren't tall enough to get leverage on it so I had to stand on the side of the tub and she stood on the sink so we could push it down into the pipe. We pushed and turned, finally pulled it out and there was a tampon on the end. :svengo: The toilet worked great after that. I would try snaking it myself before investing in a plumber.

[Sue G in PA]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll try to convince my non-DIY dh to snake the toilet before hiring a plumber. Sounds easy enough. :001_huh: If that doesn't work, I suppose I know where a portion of OUR rebate check is going...the local plumber. :glare:

[Lolly]

I really thought it was their fault. They had to be using too much tp and flushing stuff down the toilet. After the house flooded, literally, for the second time with sewage backup coming not only from the toilet but also the shower drain, we discovered that the real problem was coming from roots in the pips outside. Not only that, but those pesky roots were in two separate locations, so it didn't get fixed the FIRST time we had a sewage swimming pool dug in our yard by the city (not on septic). The second time around we found out that a hold had been knocked in the pipe outside and patched by pouring quick set cement over it. Now that was a brilliant idea, not.

[Gamom3]

I was told by a plumber that Charmin is a good one to clog your toilet with and bad on your septic tank.

 

I was having issues with our toilet getting clogged..our house is 3yrs old. I called a plumber and he asked what type of tissue we used. He suggested we change tissue and to use a snake. I did and we haven't had any more problems.

 

It could be the combination of to much tissue and the tissue being used.

 

Have you thought about the flushable wipes?

 

If you have girls..I know this is nasty(I even think it is), my db has issues with his septic tank, so his wife and 2 girls put the wet(not poopy) tissue in the trash can. He still uses charmin, but this cuts down on the amount in the tank.

[JFSinIL]

I remember reading in Consumer Reports a few years back that Charmin and other name brand were prone to clogging toilets - the tissue made to not come apart in our hands during use is less likely to dissolve quickly in the pipes. They recommended more generic, quick to dissolve stuff.

 

Or - your kids have SuperPoops. :-)

[Jean in Wisc]

It's an old water-saving toilet that was made to save water instead of being useful.

[Heather in the Kootenays]

We had an old toilet that plugged no matter what we did. We snaked it, replaced all the insides and even asked a plumber. We finally (after months of resistance) did what the plumber suggested - replaced it. The new one works like a charm.