411 Plumb

How Come My Toilet Always Clogs?




There are many reasons why your toilet bowl can clog up. The toilet bowl is designed to flush regular toilet paper and not designed to flush other items. There is a long history of people flushing everything from paper towels, maxi-pads, tampon applicators, cigarette butts, cat liter and of course kitchen grease. These items when flushed can get caught up inside of the toilet bowl trap and even in the toilet flange and can create a partial clog or complete toilet line stoppage.

If you have just moved into an apartment or house and have not flushed anything besides toilet paper down your toilet there could be an existing problem with the toilet or the toilet bowl drain line. If this is the case you will want to contact the landlord if you rent. If you own the home you may either want to fix this problem yourself or call a professional plumber to repair the toilet for you. If you are handy you can attempt to figure out why the toilet is clogging all of the time. You can first try the basic ways to unclog the toilet which include using a plunger and toilet auger or hand snake.

If you have already tried to plunge the toilet and have also used a hand snake and the toilet keeps clogging then you could possibly have something stuck inside of the toilet trap or something partially blocking the opening to the toilet flange. What you will have to do is remove the toilet and check to see if the toilet flange or the toilet bowl trap have something lodged inside of them. Removing the toilet bowl can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on how handy you are and your physical strength.

There are also a few other things to think about if your toilet is clogging all of the time. You also will want to check and make sure that the water level inside of your toilet bowl tank is at the correct level. If your toilet tank is only filling partially that will prevent the toilet from flushing properly because it will not have enough of a water supply to do so. The next thing you will want to check it so see if your toilet flapper is opening all of the way when you flush the toilet. You can do this by removing the toilet tank lid and then flushing the toilet while watching the action of the flapper. If your flapper is not staying open long enough this could cause the toilet to only half flush.

If your house or building is on a slab and you have a septic system you will want to make sure that the cesspool is not overfull. If this is the case your toilet could be backing up because the septic tank /cesspool need to be emptied. If your house or apartment in on a slap and your toilet is clogged and you see waste water coming up from the tub, this usually means that the cesspool is full or the main sewage line is clogged. You will want to call a professional drain cleaning company, cesspool company or even a licensed plumber to help you empty the waste out of your septic tanks or even clear the main sewage line as well.