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How To Fix An Overflowing Toilet Yourself

admin • Jun 22, 2018

One of the most essential components in a home plumbing stem is the toilets. We use toilets to relive ourselves and also to flush away all kinds of soluble waste. The problem is, some of us use toilets as our literal dumping sites. Some of us use toilets to dispose of everything including insoluble waste. This careless waste disposal behavior can cause your toilet to clog. Toilets can also clog due to buildup of oils and greases and other debris in the drainage and sewer pipes. Clogging means that there is something blocking the flow of waste from the toilet to the sewer or septic tank. Clogged toilets tend to overflow. This is when you flush the toilet and the water does not flow through but gets backed up. Overflowing toilets can be a real nuisance in your home. Luckily for you, we have a DIY remedy that you can use to fix your overflowing toilet without having to call a professional. Follow the following steps to fix an overflowing toilet in your home.

 

Close The Toilet Shutoff Valve

The very first thing that you should do if your toilet is overflowing is to stop the flow of water into the toilet tank. The typical toilet is supplied with water by a pipe from your main bathroom water pipe. If the toilet pipe is not installed inside the wall, you can easily trace the source of the toilet water from the bathroom to the toilet. The toilet pipe usually features a hand-crank valve for opening and closing the flow of water into the toilet tank. The first thing that you should do if your toilet is overflowing is to pull this hand-crank shutoff valve and close it to cut off the flow of water into the toilet tank. This will give you time to unclog the toilet without the water flooding your bathroom. But sometimes the toilet pipe is installed inside the walls and the shutoff valve is inaccessible or worse still inoperable. Some of these hand-crank valve stay for years without ever being moved and they rust and stick when you try to turn them. In such a case, you should proceed to step below. To avoid problems with your shutoff valves, make sure that you turn them back and forth every few days to ensure that they do not get stuck.

 

Close The Toilet Tank

The next step involves manually stopping the flow of water from the toilet tank to the toilet. You should open the lid of your toilet tank very slowly and place it a few feet away. Peer inside the toilet tank and check the rubber cover at the bottom of the tank to see whether it’s open or not. This is called the flapper. If the flapper is open, close it. You can also check the float ball or ball-cock to ensure that it is up. If the float ball is inside the water, lift it manually so that the fill valve shaft can close and stop the flow of water into the tank.

 

Clear The Clog

Now that you have stopped the flow of water into the tank, you can try to unclog the toilet. You can use a plunger to unclog the toilet. You can also try various DIY remedies or it may just be better to call a plumber offering Fredericksburg sewer services if the clog is quite serious. An affordable plumber will know how to handle the clog quickly and properly, saving you time, upset, & money.

 

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