There are few household emergencies quite as panic-inducing as walking into a bathroom only to be greeted by a toilet overflowing like a fountain at a kid’s birthday party. As the water rapidly rises and that sinking feeling sets in, visions of a full-blown plumbing disaster start dancing in your head. Talk about a crappy way to start your day!
For those of us in homes with some hard-working age on them here in Hawaii, overflowing toilet bowls are an inevitability we’ve all faced at one point or another. Our islands’ older housing stock has lots of vintage charm, but those well-seasoned plumbing systems certainly aren’t one of the perks. Even brand new porcelain thrones can pull this kind of shenanigan sometimes too.
While having a toilet go rogue and make a mess all over the bathroom floor is undoubtedly a hassle, it’s not a total plumbing Armageddon if you know the right steps to take. There are plenty of DIY tactics worth trying to get that overflowing situation under control before you resign yourself to calling for a plumber. Of course, some seriously stubborn overflows may eventually require those professionals after all. Either way, that commode isn’t going to unclog itself!
Immediate Steps to Take
So your toilet has decided to throw itself a little overflowing rager, huh? Time to be the bathroom bouncer and shut that party down before it gets too out of hand! When you’ve got water rapidly making a break for it across the floor, you’ve got to move quickly to avoid a full-blown plumbing disaster scene.
Priority number one is cutting off the overflowing instigator’s supply. Make a beeline for that toilet’s shut-off valve and give it a firm clockwise twist to halt the water flow. This valve will either be conveniently located right behind the toilet itself, somewhere along the nearby wall, or potentially even in an adjacent room. Wherever it’s hiding, find it and get that water supply cut ASAP.
With the overflowing firehose under control, it’s time to go into full-on sopping mode. Grab any towels, rags, mops – whatever spongy materials you can get your hands on – and start mopping up that spillover like your life depended on it. Seriously, treat it like you’re trying to dry up the aftermath of a tsunami. The longer that water has to linger, the more opportunities it has to seep into your floors and cause all kinds of damage.
As you’re furiously sopping up the mess, keep an eye out for any nearby items that could fall victim to water exposure too. If you’ve got stuff sitting on the floor or any low surfaces, quickly relocate it to drier, higher ground. You can even use those soaking wet towels to create a little emergency barrier ring around the scene of the crime.
The name of the game here is urgency. You need to shut off the main water source, soak up the flooding as fast as humanly possible, and protect any collateral bathroom items – all before that overflow turns your lavatory into the set of a disaster movie. Handle those three tasks quickly and efficiently, and you’ll buy yourself some precious time to actually diagnose and remedy what’s causing your toilet to overflow.
Identifying the Cause
Okay, you’ve managed to shut off the water supply and do some initial damage control on that overflowing toilet situation. Take a breather for a second – you just prevented your bathroom from turning into the set of a disaster movie with your quick thinking. But don’t celebrate too much yet, because the real detective work is still ahead.
Now that you’ve averted the immediate crisis, it’s time to start investigating what exactly made your porcelain throne decide to overflow water everywhere in the first place. There are a few prime suspects that could be behind this little overflowing fiasco.
One of the most common culprits is usually some sort of clogged or blocked drain trap right under the toilet itself. We’re talking about that curved section of pipe that acts as the drain – it’s a popular hangout spot for all kinds of things to get stuck and create a clog. We’re talking toys, excessive toilet paper, feminine products, you name it. If something is lodged in that trap, it can back up water in a hurry.
Sometimes the clog isn’t even coming from your toilet though. If the real blockage is further down in your home’s main sewer line drainage pipes, that sewage has nowhere to go but back up into your toilet and tub. Could be tree roots infiltrating old pipes, excessive grease/hair buildup, or even some rogue object that found its way into the line. Any of those could potentially be the culprit behind a nasty main line backup.
We also can’t rule out the possibility of your toilet’s own internal parts just being old, worn out, or damaged. A faulty flapper or flush valve could be causing constant water entry into the bowl until it eventually overflows. Or maybe there’s an actual crack or leak in the porcelain tank or bowl itself that’s the source.
Finally, let’s consider the plumbing system’s ventilation too. Those vent pipes sticking through your roof allow air to flow smoothly and prevent drainage issues. If those vents get blocked up or damaged, it can create negative pressure that forces water the wrong way – out of your toilet and all over the floor.
So in a nutshell, the usual suspects tend to be clogged drains (in the toilet trap or main line), broken toilet components, or ventilation problems. Once you narrow down which offender you’re likely dealing with, you can start looking into the right tactics for unclogging that drain and getting your plumbing system flowing properly again.
Unclogging Methods
You’ve done some sleuthing and have a hunch about what might be behind your toilet’s little overflowing tantrum. Time to gear up and get your hands dirty trying to fix it yourself! Depending on the suspected root cause, there are a few unclogging methods worth trying before you throw in the towel and call a plumber.
If it seems like a basic clogged toilet trap is the issue, your first weapon of choice should be the trusty plunger. But we’re not talking about some half-hearted, wimpy plunging here. Using a plunger effectively is an art form unto itself. You want to forcefully shove that rubber cup directly over the drain opening to create an air-tight seal. Then it’s about vigorously pumping that thing up and down with everything you’ve got – really put some muscle into agitating and sloshing that water around to try dislodging the clog. Let some air splurt back in every few pumps to keep things turbulent.
For more stubborn clogs that just won’t seem to budge, you may need to level up to the toilet auger (sometimes called a closet auger). This specialized tool is basically a super long, flexible metal cable that you can crank and snake down into the drain pipes themselves. With careful maneuvering, you may be able to hook onto and extract whatever is causing that nasty blockage. It’s not a pretty process, but an auger can be a clog’s worst nightmare.
Now if you’ve determined the clogging culprit likely lies deeper in your home’s main sewer drain line, those augers probably won’t be able to reach far enough. For tough main line backups, your main DIY option is chemical drain cleaners. These use extremely caustic, corrosive ingredients designed to dissolve and eat away at whatever is obstructing the pipes. You’ve got to be really careful with drain cleaners though – their harsh chemical makeup can actually damage and degrade pipes over time with repeated use. Not to mention they create really noxious fumes, so make sure you’ve got plenty of ventilation.
If you’ve diligently tried all those DIY unclogging tactics to no avail and your toilet still won’t stop overflowing, it’s probably time to hang it up and call in professional reinforcements. Plumbers have access to specialized equipment that your average homeowner just doesn’t have – things like hydro-jetters that can blast through even the most stubborn clogs with extreme high-pressure water streams, or fiber-optic cameras to actually see what’s going on deep inside those pipes.
The bottom line is, once you have an idea of the potential clogging culprit, you can start exploring the different unclogging options available. With some good old-fashioned elbow grease and maybe some expert professional help, you just might be able to get that plumbing system flowing freely again.
Don’t Let an Overflowing Toilet Ruin Your Aloha Spirit
There’s nothing that can suck the chill, laid-back vibes out of your day quite like walking into a bathroom with a toilet overflowing like a fire hydrant. As the water rapidly spreads, visions of expensive water damage start dancing in your head – definitely not something you want to deal with in paradise!
But don’t let an unruly, overflowing porcelain throne ruin your aloha spirit just yet. If you act quickly and give those unclogging methods a fair shot, you just might be able to get that plumbing situation back on its best behavior before any real harm is done.
Of course, some toilet overflows are just too stubborn and uncooperative to handle solo. When you’ve tried every trick in the book and it’s still spewing water everywhere, that’s the sign to call in the real professionals at Steve’s Plumbing & AC Service. As the Hawaiian islands’ most trusted plumbing experts, we have the tools and know-how to quickly diagnose and power through even the nastiest of clogs.
So don’t resign yourself to walking on water every time you need to use the bathroom. Give Steve’s a ring at (808) 563-4054 and let our plumbing superheroes get your porcelain pal unclogged and back to normal before it puts too much of a damper on your island vibes!
