Chronically Clogged Toilet

[paintnolish]

WTH!?! I can't stand it. Our downstairs toilet gets clogged several times a week. Before you say it's the kids putting in too much tp, it is dh (maybe he needs more fiber!). What could be wrong with it? It is so irritating! The public works dug up something in front of our house a few months ago and had to turn the water off. Since then, the water has been lower in the bowl and it get clogged way too often. What do you think? called a plumber?

 

[lattemomof3]

Our toilets (all 3 of them) also used to clog several times a week, I was just about to call the plumber and read on a Dis forum to try switching toilet paper. We used to use Charmin or Quilted Northern - we switched to Angel Soft and have not had ONE clogged toilet since! It is a cheaper brand of tp - but not bad, definately worth it to not have to get the plunger out! If you think it started happening around the time of the public works visit, I would probably check that out though.

 

[C.Ann]

Check the back of the toilet and see if the water level is full before you flush.. If not, it could be due to low water pressure.. Look for a valve under the toilet where the skinny water pipe is - adjust it a bit and see if that helps..

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I seem to remember some sort of rock type thing (dang, I can't remember the name! it wasn't really rocks either) that we would put in the toilets once a year and flush.

It kept the pipes clean and clear supposedly. We got it at Home Depot. We were living in a 30 year old house and had lots of problems with clogged toilets until we started using it. A plumber recommended it after he came out to unclogg the main line twice in 3 months.

 

[ead79]

We had the same problem with 2 of our toilets. I swear they could clog with 1 square of toilet paper, LOL! Finally we gave up and replaced the toilets. We got American Standard Champion 4 toilets, and it says on the box they can flush a bunch of golf balls. While we haven't tested that claim, I will say our toilets haven't clogged since (in several weeks). Consumer Reports rated the toilets highest, and they work for us.

 

[paintnolish]

I seem to remember some sort of rock type thing (dang, I can't remember the name! it wasn't really rocks either) that we would put in the toilets once a year and flush.

It kept the pipes clean and clear supposedly. We got it at Home Depot. We were living in a 30 year old house and had lots of problems with clogged toilets until we started using it. A plumber recommended it after he came out to unclogg the main line twice in 3 months.

We live in an old house, too (almost 100 years old!). I think I will check it out at Menards today and give it a try.

 

[happygirl]

WTH!?! I can't stand it. Our downstairs toilet gets clogged several times a week. Before you say it's the kids putting in too much tp, it is dh (maybe he needs more fiber!). What could be wrong with it? It is so irritating! The public works dug up something in front of our house a few months ago and had to turn the water off. Since then, the water has been lower in the bowl and it get clogged way too often. What do you think? called a plumber?

Save yourself a lot of money and buy yourself a snake and use it,

 

[laurie31]

How old is your toilet? We were having this problem (and yeah, DH even snaked it a few times). The bowl NEVER emptied on its own. We had to use the plunger for every single visit, no matter how small.

We replaced our old toilet with a Toto, a brand often seen in commercial use. We chose the Drake model, which is one of their lower priced ones, but for residential use, it's great. We have had excellent results with this toilet. I never thought I could be so excited about a toilet (LOL) but we're planning to replace all the toilets in the house with Drakes as soon as we save up the money for them.

Here's more than you ever wanted to know about toilets, and the Toto Drake in particular - lol. http://www.terrylove.com/wwwboard/messages2/42891.html

There's even a vid showing how it can flush more than any toilet should ever have to! LOL (using clean TP for the demo) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l78ooOwvRyY&feature=related If it can handle this, imagine how it does with "everyday" business. Even those...um...larger challenges can be removed with ease.

Good luck with your problem. I know how annoying it is for the toilet not to work right!

 

[paintnolish]

Save yourself a lot of money and buy yourself a snake and use it,

I think I'll make dh use it!

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

We had a similiar problem last year and it ended up being tree roots in the pipe in the front yard. It was only a problem with the hall bathroom at first...it was the last on the line draining from the house. DH ignored it of course until it started backing up the whole house when the washing machine drained. Ofcourse the whole time he was convinced it was my garbage disposal....I LOVE a garbage disposal. Thankfully DH and DBIL and handy..and brave...and dug up the line themselves and saved us $5000 that the plumber wanted for the work.

 

[paintnolish]

We had a similiar problem last year and it ended up being tree roots in the pipe in the front yard. It was only a problem with the hall bathroom at first...it was the last on the line draining from the house. DH ignored it of course until it started backing up the whole house when the washing machine drained. Ofcourse the whole time he was convinced it was my garbage disposal....I LOVE a garbage disposal. Thankfully DH and DBIL and handy..and brave...and dug up the line themselves and saved us $5000 that the plumber wanted for the work.

Oh no! We have tons of mature trees all over the place!

 

[firefox2]

Also, check the seals around the base of the toilets, if the seals are shot (there would most likely be some moisture at the base of the toilet, but not always), it makes flushing less effective. You can check this just by trying to rock the toilet back and forth, if the seal is good, chances are the toilet won't rock.

 

[paintnolish]

Also, check the seals around the base of the toilets, if the seals are shot (there would most likely be some moisture at the base of the toilet, but not always), it makes flushing less effective. You can check this just by trying to rock the toilet back and forth, if the seal is good, chances are the toilet won't rock.

It is actually attached to the wall! Hmm...