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Learn About How You Can Prevent Toilet Stoppages In Your Home 

Before I can tell you how to prevent stoppages, let’s first recap some common causes of toilet stoppages. We can’t prevent toilet stoppages if we don’t know the causes of them. Pardon my rant while I confess I read 3 articles today from other plumbing companies that were wrong. Low pressure will not stop your toilet from flushing.  Toilets are gravity fed.  This means that your toilet tank fills, low pressure or not. It eventually fills and when you flush the toilet tank empties into the bowl via gravity.  There is no pressure when flushing your toilet.  Rant over. 

 

 

Some of these issues will require repairs or replacement in order to prevent toilet stoppages. But we can be wise with the use of our toilets to ensure that they last longer and prevent stoppages. The goal is never to use a plunger.  

An Old or Poorly designed toilet 

There is not a lot you can do to prevent a stoppage with an old, or poorly designed toilet. The only option you have with an old, badly designed toilet is to replace it.  The issue with old toilets, or poorly designed toilets is that they lack the ability to flush solids well, including standard use of toilet paper.  Old toilets that require replacement lack the ability to put enough water into the bowl at a high enough speed to properly create the vortex required for a proper flush.  Old toilets often have trapways that are rough from years of use that create a textured surface.  As waste and toilet paper are flushed through the trapway, they are more easily caught due to the poor flush and now a rough surface.   

Toilets that are cheaply or poorly designed struggle for the same reasons.  Poor vortex in the bowl as it flushes and trapways that are too narrow, or the porcelain isn’t properly coated.  Both old and poorly designed toilets will always struggle to be used regardless of your attempts to prevent stoppages.  The best thing to do is put the plunger down and invest in a new toilet.  

 

Misuse 

Misuse is something that we can easily solve together. Often we don’t know that what we are flushing down our toilet is causing stoppages.  I don’t know about you but I don’t remember taking any classes in school that taught me not to flush certain things that seem flushable down my toilet.   

Things you shouldn’t flush down your toilet is thankfully a pretty short list.  This list of course doesn’t include the items we should all know not to flush down the toilet, like toys, tooth brushes and foreign objects.  

Wipes – this is wipes of any kind, makeup removers, baby wipes and flushable wipes.  While flushing down your toilet might seem like a convenient place to dispose of these items, it can ultimately lead to toilet stoppages.  

Q-Tips – Q-tips might seem like a weird item to add to the list but they can create quite the problem within your toilet and drain line.  On their own, Q-tips appear to be harmless. But when they meet other Q-Tips or toilet paper they create quite the web of chaos. It’s best to dispose of Q-Tips in your trash can not your toilet. 

Feminine Products – This is sometimes a challenging subject to discuss with clients, as a female myself I realize it is a sensitive subject but I’m going to get real with you.  If you’re experiencing toilet stoppages this could very well be the cause.  While feminine products often say “flushable” that doesn’t mean that your toilet, or your sewer line are in the perfect condition that it requires for those items to magically disappear with a flush of the magic toilet wand.  

Paper Towel – Flushing paper towels is a big no-no. Anything that you flush down your toilet should be able to breakdown with water in seconds. Paper towels are resilient and tough. They hold up to wiping, scrubbing and cleaning. Paper towels will create stoppages in your toilet and in your main line.  Paper Towels should always be disposed of in your trash can or compost if you’re into that kind of thing.  

Too much toilet paper – Too much toilet paper can easily back up a perfectly good toilet.  Toilet paper when used in excess can be difficult to dissolve quickly and can create a stoppage.  Be wise when using toilet paper amounts, use just enough.   

A stoppage that is past the toilet 

 A stoppage that is past your toilet that is creating a relationship between you and your plunger is an issue for a plumber.  Your plunger is only designed to push things through or past the immediate area at the trap way of your toilet.  If you have a stoppage that is past the trap way of your toilet it is time to put that plunger down and call your favorite plumber.  If the stoppage is past 6’ from the toilet then a toilet auger won’t reach the stoppage. At this point you will need a main line machine to clear the stoppage. All plunging your toilet is doing is delaying the inevitable. That dreadful call to a pro, causing you grief I know you don’t want or need in your life.  

A Vent blockage 

 A vent blockage is similar to a stoppage further along the line than the toilet, it requires a plumbing professional.  Vents are designed to allow adequate air flow through your sewer line.  If the vent is blocked with an obstruction the air flow is blocked and it creates a suction on your sewer line rather than a flush.  Very much like placing your finger over a straw, the liquid cannot move without air flow.  The same is true of your sewer system.  If there is a blockage in your vent it’s time to call the big guns and get that taken care of once and for all.   

 Faulty parts 

 Parts that aren’t operating correctly in your toilet can lead to a poor quality flush that will hinder vent the simplest of duties we expect of our toilets.  The toilet tank needs to fill properly in order to flush properly.  If your toilet needs a repair this is sometimes something our handy DIY clients like to do on their own.  Every toilet is not created equal. Some toilets are easier to repair than others.  We have low flush, dual flush, pressure assist and multiple sizes of flush valves.

It can be a bit of chaos.  If you’re experiencing poor flushing due to bad parts in your toilet tank and aren’t quite up to the task of tools and know how you will want to trust your local licensed plumber to take care of the issue so you can get back to a quality flush and put that plunger away for good.  

Services in Phoenix & Beyond

If you’re in the Phoenix area and would like an in home consultation about clearing your toilet stoppage please reach out. At Robins Plumbing we are happy to help. Are you facing issues with your plumbing? Feel free to “Call a Robin” and we will do our best to help. If you live in the Phoenix metropolitan area and need help clearing your toilet stoppage trust Robins Plumbing!

With over 20 years of experience in the plumbing industry, you can trust our professionals to deliver a professional consultation to see what solution fits best for your home. We also offer a variety of residential and commercial plumbing services, including: drain cleaning, water heater repair and replacement, sewer camera inspection and locating, backflow prevention, commercial and residential jetting, water treatments, and more. Visit our reviews online to see what others have to say about our local plumbing company!