Clogged toilet - suggestions needed

[Robbiep]

Hi All,

I have been having come issues with my toilet at home and I first wanted to see if I could sort it out myself before I called a plumber.

The problem:
When I flush the toilet the bowl fills up with water and slowly drains.

Other information:
About 1 meter from the toilet, outside the house, I am able to open the lid of the main toilet outlet and see the toilet water flowing down slowly after flushing. This tells me the blockage is in the toilet and not the main drain.

What I have tried so far:
1: Plunger (hard to find one that actually works!)
2: Auger (from Bunnings)
3: Adding dish washing liquid and filling the toilet with warm water (hopefully loosening the build up)

Before I call in a plumber, is there anything I should be trying?

Look forward to hearing from you guys.

Regards,
Robbie

 

[DEC]

Get your hand in the toilet and have a dig around remembering that **** washes off
If that doesnt work get some garden hose and push that up and around the S

I have done both of these on mine before with results, but the issue was only in the toilet, not the pipes.

 

[Robbiep]

Thanks for the reply..

I tried stick my hand up the toilet, but i could get far enough up.

I tried the garden hose, but it didnt seem to manoeuvrefar enough, which is why i bought this:

http://www.bunnings.com.au/kinetic-10mm-x-150cm-toilet-auger_p4900033

 

[DEC]

http://www.bunnings.com.au/kinetic-10mm-x-150cm-toilet-auger_p4900033

Cool, didnt know they existed
Thanks

 

[The Y-man]

Chemicals?

http://www.fishpond.com.au/Health/Drano-Pipe-and-Septic-950ml/0046500719226

The Y-man

 

[spludgey]

Sodium hydroxide aka caustic soda.
You can buy 500g from supermarkets for less than $4.

 

[Robbiep]

thanks guys.. will give your suggestions a go and let you know how it goes

 

[nev]

Get your hand in the toilet and have a dig around remembering that **** washes off
If that doesnt work get some garden hose and push that up and around the S

I have done both of these on mine before with results, but the issue was only in the toilet, not the pipes.

I would strongly suggest not doing this in a I.P.
My plumber told me more than once he has pulling Syringes out (he refuses to do it nowadays)

Grab a mop and push it in the bowl as far down as you can and pump the mop up and down hopefully creating a suction to loosen what's stuck

 

[willair]

Caustic -Soda works well, but sometime it comes back to the dunny paper people use from my experience the cheaper brands bind up the system,
the more costly brands break down a lot faster,shiver at the thought..

 

[Tim86]

If you have access to the pipe outside, why don't you try running the hose up from that point? I've had a blocked sewer pipe outside before, I cut a hole in the pipe and ran some of that thinner black water pipe up it to get rid of the blockage. The garden hose wasn't strong engough, was just bending up.

 

[allegria]

I wonder if caustic soda is strong enough to dissolve matchbox cars
The tenants son stuffed lots of stuff down the toilet mid last year and a plumber came out and spent a lot of time pulling toys/clothes/sanitary products out of the pipes. (Tenant got the bill).

Now the tenants are gone and the toilet is a bit hit and miss with the flushing. Hopefully it is just because of the cheap toilet paper and the pipes aren't blocked with other things. I'll give caustic soda a go first. Just toss in a cupful and flush?

 

[SeafordSunshine]

Dear Allegria,
I had to laugh, as I spent saturday morning buyin the same device. It worked for me but I think I used it backwards...

I also used washing soda, (the salt looking granules) I mean the whole pack....

Leave for ten minutes... I go have a cool drink, I saw a bit of something changing colour that was my sign to know that things were happening..
then attack with the wiggly thing from behind

pun intended

I hope this helps

 

[Robbiep]

Well i managed to fix the blockage!

The combination of another plung as well as using an auger and a hose pipe seemed to do the trick. Just for good measures i put in some caustic soda

Thanks for the help guys!

Out of interest, what do you guys use to maintain your toilet and drain pipes and prevent future build ups?

I heard dishwasher liquid in the toilets and caustic soda down the sink drains is good every few weeks?

 

[Pixie]

try this...

i had a friend who suffered similar issue.. had a scan done in pipes and thought the professional had done it.. but the problem keeps reappearing...

in the end, my friend spoke to council who then checked their sewer assets and found it was their problem..

my friend, luckily, didnt end up forking that bill.. council had foot that bill...

perhaps worth trying speaking to your council / local asset company

 

[wylie]

We also had this in our PPOR. First time we paid the plumber but he said it was a problem where our sewer met the main line. Had already paid and left it be.

Next time it happened (a couple of months ago) I told council what happened last time. They came in and fixed it for us. Had it bee an issue in our yard we would have had to pay, but it was between our fence line and the main line.

Certainly worth checking.