My toilet is about to overflow. What do I do first?
Water first, plunger second. If the bowl is rising toward the rim:
1. Close the shutoff valve. It is the small oval-handled valve on the wall or floor behind the toilet, where the supply line runs up to the tank. Turn it clockwise until it stops. That cuts the supply to the tank.
2. Lift the tank lid and look at the flapper. The flapper is the rubber seal at the bottom of the tank. After a flush it drops closed. If it is stuck open, push it down with your hand so no more water drains into the bowl.
3. Towels and a bucket. Dip water out of the bowl into the bucket until the level is back down, then take stock.
None of that fixes the clog, but it stops the floor from flooding while you decide what to do next.
Why is my plunger not working?
The plunger itself is the most common reason a plunger fails. Check these before you blame the pipe.
- It is a flat cup plunger. A cup plunger is made for a flat sink bottom and has nothing to seat into a toilet. You need a flange plunger, the one with the folded-out sleeve.
- Not enough water. The cup has to be covered. Plunging in a half-empty bowl pushes air, and air compresses instead of moving a clog.
- The seal leaks. Old rubber hardens and cracks. If you can see light between the sleeve and the porcelain, you are not making pressure.
- Too much force too early. A hard first push shoots the air back out. A slow first push, then short firm strokes, builds pressure that has somewhere to go.
- You quit too soon. Twenty strokes are not always enough for a stubborn paper clog. Give it two or three full rounds, with a rest between, before you decide it has failed.
What should I try after the plunger fails?
Go down this list in order. Each step is a little more effort than the last.
1. Dish soap and hot water. A generous squirt of dish soap, ten minutes, then a bucket of hot tap water poured from waist height. Not boiling, because boiling water can crack the porcelain.
2. A closet auger. This is a short toilet snake with a protective sleeve on the end. It reaches the trap, which is where many blockages that survive plunging sit. Feed it in, crank it clockwise, and stop pushing as soon as you feel resistance. Our guide to how to unclog a toilet has the full steps and the home remedies people try without a plunger.
3. Leave it alone for a few hours. A soft clog can eventually break down in standing water. Do not flush to check.
4. Check whether anything else is slow. Run a bathroom sink, then the tub. If those drain normally, the fault is probably in this toilet. If they do not, the toilet is not your problem, the line is.
What if the toilet will not unclog with a plunger or an auger?
When both tools fail, one of three things is going on. The blockage may be an object that the auger tip slides past instead of hooking. It may sit beyond the toilet, in the pipe under the floor, where a short closet auger does not reach. Or the clog may be a partial one that lets the water creep down slowly, which fools you into thinking the bowl is fine. Pouring in a bucket of water tells you which: if it rises to the rim and sinks over several minutes, the passage is still narrowed. Stop forcing the cable at that point, and treat it as a call.
Is Drano safe to use in a toilet?
Read the label on whatever you hold before you pour it. Some drain opener labels say not to use the product in a toilet, and a bowl full of standing chemical is a hazard to whoever plunges or augers it next. If you have already used one, wear eye protection and gloves, never plunge or snake without them, and never mix products. For how these products behave in pipes generally, see do drain cleaners work.
Why won't my toilet flush at all?
A toilet that will not flush is not always a clog. Lift the tank lid and press the handle. If the tank does not empty:
- The handle is loose or disconnected. The chain between the handle arm and the flapper has come off or gone slack. Reattach it so there is only a little slack.
- The tank is empty. The shutoff valve may be closed, or the fill valve may have failed. Open the valve and wait a minute.
- The tank empties but the bowl barely moves. Water is leaving the tank, but the rim jets, the small holes under the lip of the bowl, may be blocked with mineral. Hold a mirror under the rim and look.
If the tank empties properly and the bowl fills, rises, then slowly drops back, the trap is partly blocked. That is a clog, and the steps above apply.
Why is my toilet overflowing when it is not clogged?
If water is running over the tank or the bowl keeps filling after a flush with a clear drain, the tank is the likely culprit. A fill valve that does not shut off keeps sending water down the overflow tube, and a flapper that does not seal lets the tank empty into the bowl all the time. Close the shutoff valve behind the toilet first. Then lift the lid and watch whether the water level creeps up to the top of the overflow tube. A toilet that spills only after flushing, and drains slowly, is a clog and not a tank problem.
Where this goes wrong
- Pouring a chemical drain opener after the plunger fails. If it fails, you now have a bowl of caustic liquid to work through. Never plunge or snake a bowl holding opener without eye protection and gloves, and never combine one product with another.
- Forcing the auger. If the cable will not turn, it is jammed. Cranking harder can scratch porcelain or push an object deeper into the pipe.
- Flushing again to test it. Each failed flush sends more water into a full bowl.
- Repeated overflows onto flooring. Water that reaches the subfloor or drywall is a bigger repair than the original clog.
When is this no longer a toilet problem?
The plunger can fail because the clog is not in the toilet at all. Signs the problem is further down:
- The auger runs its whole length without meeting anything and the bowl still will not drain.
- You flush and the tub or shower gurgles, or a floor drain bubbles. Air and water that cannot get through the line look for the nearest way out, so a shared symptom across fixtures points to the drain line or its vent and not to this one toilet.
- Water backs up into the tub or shower when the toilet is flushed, or when the washing machine runs. Sewage coming up anywhere means stop using water and call.
- More than one toilet in the house is slow.
- The toilet works for a while after clearing, then does it again.
When should I stop and call a plumber?
Call when:
- Both tools have failed and the bowl is still full.
- More than one fixture is slow or gurgling.
- Water or sewage is coming up in a tub, shower or floor drain.
- An object went down and the auger cannot get it.
- You have already used a chemical opener and the bowl is still blocked.
See our clogged toilet page, or drain snaking for what the equipment looks like on the other side of a clog. If the pattern keeps repeating, why does my toilet keep clogging covers the causes, and recurring drain backups covers what to do about a line that keeps closing.
What it costs to have us do it
We do not publish a number for a clogged toilet, because the honest answer depends on what is wrong. What moves it: whether the clog is at the fixture or out in the line, whether the toilet has to come off the floor, whether a usable cleanout exists or has to be created, how far out the blockage sits, cable versus jetting, and city sewer versus septic. Our drain cleaning special is $59 and a 1,000-gallon septic pump-out is a flat $395. Everything else is quoted on site, in writing, after we look. Estimates are free.
What if the toilet is fine but the tub gurgles?
That points to a shared problem in the drain line or its vent, not this one toilet. Stop using water and call.
Is a toilet that overflows without being clogged an emergency?
Stop the water first at the shutoff valve. A fill valve or flapper fault is a repair, but if sewage is coming up in other fixtures, stop using water in the house and call.
Can hair be flushed down the toilet?
It is better not to. Hair does not break down, and it wraps around floss and rough spots in the pipe to form a net that catches paper.
What can I use to unclog my toilet besides a plunger?
A closet auger is the tool built for it. Dish soap and hot water can help a soft clog. Chemical openers are a poor choice in a toilet because some labels say not to use them there.
Where we work
American Rooter & Drain was established in Caldwell, Idaho in 1945 and has worked the greater Treasure Valley since 1945. We clear toilets and drains in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell, Meridian, Kuna, Eagle, Star, Middleton, Garden City, Emmett and the rest of the valley, plus Ontario, Nyssa and Vale in Oregon. See what we do in Boise, Nampa, Caldwell and Meridian. Call (208) 366-5771, days, nights, weekends and holidays.
