Weeze

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh. I seem to spend my life trying to unblock toilets, and not even after myself. I swear I have never lived in a house like it. Or maybe that's just American plumbing for you, I really don't know. How can a 3 year old block toilets with such regularity? Now over 7 months pregnant and have been trying to unblock a toilet for 40 minutes. I have a bad back, sore legs and bright red hands, and it's still not mended.

I even resorted to googling "top tips for plunging toilets".

What's the betting that Mr Weeze gets in from work and mends it straight away.

Rant over.

avanutria

Get something like this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Peerless-H...Auger/17043693

We have one and it's definitely more effective than a plunger sometimes.

We get the occasional blockage but I must say it was much worse in our London house with Victorian plumbing...though the block was never in OUR house... the outdoor drainage was shared among four houses before going to the sewer, and someone down the line kept insisting on chucking baby wipes down the drain. As our backyard was the lowest by a couple of inches, we were always the first to flood...

tonrob

We have a really big toilet plunger. Really big. Evan after one of Mrs tonrob's monstrosities it only takes me 30 seconds to sort the bugger.

Get a bigger plunger.

Weeze

In the time I was away I've been on amazon looking at plungers! Who knew there was so much choice. Also alarmingly I found a recommendation to put washing powder down it. Now that is exactly the sort of thing I'd do in good faith and the Mr Weeze would come in to find shitey, washing powdery bubbles all round the house.
Also, I am suspicious that the dog has been trying to assist (insert vomit emoticon here)

Weeze

FFS that went exactly as predicted. 30 seconds after arriving in the house the bloody thing is fixed.

Englishmum

I'm intrigued. I've never seen one of those 'toilet augers' before.

How on Earth do you use it?

avanutria

I make DH do it

The pic is a little unclear...there's a black turnable handle on the end, then a long black shaft, then the metal bit sticks out the end. It looks like it doubles back and attaches to the handle again, but it doesn't.

Run the metal end down the toilet drain, then hold the two black parts and turn the handle. Inside the long black shaft the metal part starts twisting round and dislodges whatever is clogged. Then remove and flush and it should clear the clog.

Here's another example with a different pic: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/plumbin...er-191520.html

Edited to add - DH's dad actually has something similar in the UK, which we had to go borrow once or twice a year. But that one was made up of long pieces that you have to connect together and then shove down the long straight pipe. Not sure if there was a turning part to that one or not.

CAdreaming

Glad its sorted!!! I actually think US plumbing is better than UK --the flush seems stronger BUT I cant get used to the fact that the water in the bowl is really really high - all the time - not just when it flushes

avanutria

Haha, yeah DH has complained about that too.

N1cky

We had that problem in the last house, turns out there was a tree root growing in in the pipe

Bluegrass Lass

I found we had more, er, back splashes on UK toilets than we have here on the US toilets.

Michael

The trick with unplugging toilets is to make sure there is enough water in the bowel and submerge the plunger and then go up and down many times without allowing the plunger to get above the water line. The up and down action of the plunger in the water eventually creates a suction that unplugs the toilet. This will work 99.99% of the time within 15 seconds.

Most people have a problem unplugging the toilet since they remove the plunger out of the water after one or two up and downs and then try again. This may work but will likely take a long time.

Tarkak9

... snake the line (ie auger). You might also want to scope the sewer line to ensure nothing is starting to block the line - gunk, roots, weird shite being flushed down the drain... google to see if there are any $99 rooter services near you who can do it, otherwise a typical plumber may charge a few hundred to do the same thing.

.. you on a septic system or city mains?

GeoffM

Considering your diet, I'd be more worried about lethal gas buildup.

Arent US bog pipes 3" compared to 4" in the UK?

polar_bear

Never once blocked a toilet in the UK, done it about 20 times in 5 years since moving here!

Plunger always does the trick though.