How to unblock a toilet?

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 155
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Hello,

Since last night my toilet has been blocked - very nasty!

I dont have a plunger or a wire coathanger, however Ive tried a few times to pour hot water down the pan. The water rises but slowly goes down to the normal level. However when I try to flush the block doesnt go away.

Id like to avoid paying £100 for a plumber so any advice would be great!
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Comments

  • annette kurtenannette kurten Posts: 39,543
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    try putting a bucket of (cold) water down it all in one go (not slowly).
  • breppobreppo Posts: 2,433
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    You could just wait for the toiletpaper to dissolve.
    Flush the toilet a couple of times and wait.

    Or you could try a plumber's snake or similiar product.
  • davidsevendavidseven Posts: 3,336
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    Go and buy a plunger.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    I use a wire coathanger in these instances. But you can go and get some nasty chemicals to help break up the blockage, mr muscle stuff does work. Or just some caustic soda and a kettle of boiling water should help.

    The fact that it is draining is good at least!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 155
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    BlackOpal wrote: »
    I use a wire coathanger in these instances. But you can go and get some nasty chemicals to help break up the blockage, mr muscle stuff does work. Or just some caustic soda and a kettle of boiling water should help.

    The fact that it is draining is good at least!


    Doesnt the Mr Muscle sink unblock stuff not burn the porcelin?
  • Mrs DoodlesMrs Doodles Posts: 4,337
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    If the toilet paper is floating in the pan take it out and then flush the toilet.
  • Rose BuddRose Budd Posts: 4,178
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    Make sure it is just your toilet and not the actual drain. I say this because my drains are a nightmare at the moment.

    Do you have an outside manhole? Lift it up and have a look, it should be completely empty otherwise you have a blocked drain.
  • InspirationInspiration Posts: 62,694
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    There may be a collective "Eww!" at this suggestion but what I used to do was pop my shower head into the pan, so the end was facing the pipe and then I'd turn on the shower full blast. That was normally enough to shift whatever was blocking it.

    Of course you then need to properly wash the shower head, but it was quite effective. ;) Of course you need a shower head that's close to the toilet for this to work!
  • myssmyss Posts: 16,457
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    Bleach + 30mins> should ease the load. Do you know what has blocked the toilet?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 860
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    Dynamite :D

    Failing that.....
    try putting a bucket of (cold) water down it all in one go (not slowly).

    this quite often does the trick. But as pointed out it must be chucked down in one go. The force usually then unbungs the loo.
  • MenkMenk Posts: 13,831
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    A bog brush and a carrier bag work just as well as any plunger. We had a block last week and tried many of the suggestions above but this was what worked in the end.
  • PictoPicto Posts: 24,270
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    Is it driving U round the bend?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 924
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    When we moved into our house last April, we shortly had a blockage - and during a party would you believe!

    We thought that we had cleared it by using traditional methods but it happened again after a few flushes.
    My Mrs was told about some insurance (can't remember who it's with now)for the drains where you pay so much a month and if you have a problem you don't get charged a call-out fee and it certainly paid for itself.

    she phoned them up, got it set up over the phone, and then they sent us a local drainage company to sort it out.
    It turned out that there was a big blockage about half way up our pipes that looked like had been there for quite some time until eventually nothing else could get past the blockage
    So she phon
  • burton07burton07 Posts: 10,869
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    cymru78 wrote: »
    When we moved into our house last April, we shortly had a blockage - and during a party would you believe!

    We thought that we had cleared it by using traditional methods but it happened again after a few flushes.
    My Mrs was told about some insurance (can't remember who it's with now)for the drains where you pay so much a month and if you have a problem you don't get charged a call-out fee and it certainly paid for itself.

    she phoned them up, got it set up over the phone, and then they sent us a local drainage company to sort it out.
    It turned out that there was a big blockage about half way up our pipes that looked like had been there for quite some time until eventually nothing else could get past the blockage
    So she phon

    Hello? Have you fallen down the toi
  • burton07burton07 Posts: 10,869
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    Hello,

    Since last night my toilet has been blocked - very nasty!

    I dont have a plunger or a wire coathanger, however Ive tried a few times to pour hot water down the pan. The water rises but slowly goes down to the normal level. However when I try to flush the block doesnt go away.

    Id like to avoid paying £100 for a plumber so any advice would be great!

    It could be the outside drains. Get some drain rods from Homebase or somewhere and open the nearest drain cover and plunge the plunger end along the drain channel for a bit. When it clears it will go "gurgle, gurgle" and all the sh*t and paper will sail along to the sea. That's all a drain clearing company will do anyways.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,098
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    burton07 wrote: »
    Hello? Have you fallen down the toi

    You just made my morning with that !!:D
  • annette kurtenannette kurten Posts: 39,543
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    Ive tried a few times to pour hot water down the pan.
    unless the loo is blocked by ice or fat, i don`t think hot water is the answer.
  • 83ray183ray1 Posts: 2,963
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    A garden cane is long and pointy and can be stored outside propping up your clematis until required. If people ask....the brown at the bottom is compost ;)
  • shuddupfluffyshuddupfluffy Posts: 3,274
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    If the water is draining away but not the blockage, it's more likely to be a blockage in the drain outside. Try lifting your access chamber lid, but be warned, it can be pretty awful!

    British Gas do a scheme where you pay for boiler maintenance which can be extended to cover plumbing and drains. Luckily we had it and didn't realise when our drains blocked. DynoRod came and unblocked it for free! It was brilliant!

    Our scheme costs £23 a month for the boiler, central heating, plumbing and drains!
  • fitnessqueenfitnessqueen Posts: 5,185
    Forum Member
    If the water is draining away but not the blockage, it's more likely to be a blockage in the drain outside. Try lifting your access chamber lid, but be warned, it can be pretty awful!

    British Gas do a scheme where you pay for boiler maintenance which can be extended to cover plumbing and drains. Luckily we had it and didn't realise when our drains blocked. DynoRod came and unblocked it for free! It was brilliant!

    Our scheme costs £23 a month for the boiler, central heating, plumbing and drains!

    My problem is that my drains block frequently but they block four doors down! Our drains all run into hers and then out to the main sewer and if someone from any of the four houses affected puts something down the loo like a facial wipe it will block and although I am furthest away my loo is always affected first (apparantly it's to do with the cowboy builders who built my house and made my drains shallower so it all runs back to me when blocked). If I get insurance then I am not covered as the blockage is not actually on my property ( I did claim under my house insurance emergency cover once and they told me) this so I have to wait for my toilet to be practically unusable before the landlord of the house four doors down will do anything! Last summer I even had sewage flooding out of the manhole cover onto the patio.:mad:
  • bjorkiiibjorkiii Posts: 483
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    a large piece of hosepipe rubber of course and just rive at it but always check your drains just incase theres a large monstrosity down there first.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 860
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    bjorkiii wrote: »
    a large piece of hosepipe rubber of course and just rive at it but always check your drains just incase theres a large monstrosity down there first.


    That's an excellent idea !
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,724
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    Rose Budd wrote: »
    Make sure it is just your toilet and not the actual drain. I say this because my drains are a nightmare at the moment.

    Do you have an outside manhole? Lift it up and have a look, it should be completely empty otherwise you have a blocked drain.

    Yes, we had some lovely back up the other day after I let out the bathwater. The people who came used rods and hoses to unclear it it. In the past in another house it was jetted by a Dynorod company - the house had a partially collapsed drain, so was inclined to block every so often.

    Toilets are usually blocked by an overdoing of paper so a stiff flexible rod or plunger usually does the trick. Isn't the bucket of water likely to cause it all to blow back in your face?
  • DEmmersonDEmmerson Posts: 1,650
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    Go and get some One-STop from a hardware store. More potent than Mr Muscle as it is acid. Will be fine on Porcelain.

    Just remember to open the windows first, apply it and retreat for the said time.

    It should dissolve any blockage as it is sulphric acid.

    AND WEAR GLOVES.
  • annette kurtenannette kurten Posts: 39,543
    Forum Member
    Cstar2229 wrote: »
    Yes, we had some lovely back up the other day after I let out the bathwater. The people who came used rods and hoses to unclear it it. In the past in another house it was jetted by a Dynorod company - the house had a partially collapsed drain, so was inclined to block every so often.

    Toilets are usually blocked by an overdoing of paper so a stiff flexible rod or plunger usually does the trick. Isn't the bucket of water likely to cause it all to blow back in your face?
    no, the suction pulls it through.
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