Clogged Toilets

I have 3 Standard (new in 1999) toilets that continuously clog. We're a family of 5 with 3 young boys, 10, 8 and 8. Doesn't seem right/normal that an 8 year old or 10 year old should be able to clog a toilet almost every time they poop! We use Scott 2 ply toilet paper which we have "administered" at times just to monitor just how much tp is being used. We've had a plummer do the "toilet paper test" and have been told the toilets are fine. We have a septic system that is pumped regularly (every 3 years). My wife and myself have also clogged the toilets. It's pretty much at least one toilet every day getting clogged. I plunge and and we're back in business.
What can you tell me before I build an outhouse?!
Graham

Pick up something like a TOTO Drake and say goodbye to those buillder grade toilets you have.
Many plumbers only work with and install the low end stuff. So..........to your plumber, that's as good as it gets.
There is a lot better stuff out there though.

Toilets of that age weren't always the greatest. But, to make sure they are doing the best they can, you should check a few things.
1. Check the water level in the tank...it should either be at the mark, or if there's no mark, about 1/2" or so below the overflow tube...adjust if required.
2. Note the water level in the toilet bowl...take a bucket of water and slowly pour some in and stop when it appears it isn't going up any more. See if it returns to the original level. If it does not, you may need a new fill valve. A toilet bowl that doesn't start out full, will use some of the water to first refill it, and often, take a second flush to get it to clear...the first refills it properly, the second, gets the job done.
3. Try holding the handle down and see if emptying the whole tank works any better. The flapper valves need to release the specified water, and not all aftermarket ones, even when they fit, are the right ones and close early.
4. Depending on your specific situation, if you used a wax ring with a funnel in it, that in itself may be part of the problem. Many times they work, but there are situations where rather than help (there's debate on if they help at all!), they can be the cause of the clogging...if they won't fit into the toilet flange without getting crimped, you need to seal it without one.

If all of those fail, then it may be new toilet time. If you search around here, more people here (myself included) have and like Toto brand...of the four toilets I've replaced for me and family, we have two Drakes, a Vespin, and a Carlyle...over a number of years, they have been trouble-free, which is most people's situation.

Graham said:

I have 3 Standard (new in 1999) toilets that continuously clog. We're a family of 5 with 3 young boys, 10, 8 and 8. Doesn't seem right/normal that an 8 year old or 10 year old should be able to clog a toilet almost every time they poop! We use Scott 2 ply toilet paper which we have "administered" at times just to monitor just how much tp is being used. We've had a plummer do the "toilet paper test" and have been told the toilets are fine. We have a septic system that is pumped regularly (every 3 years). My wife and myself have also clogged the toilets. It's pretty much at least one toilet every day getting clogged. I plunge and and we're back in business.
What can you tell me before I build an outhouse?!
Graham

Click to expand...

I have an American Standard Toilet that is total crap. I clog it all the time. So do my girls and their play dates. It appears that it is in the flush cycle. If I hold the flush arm down until all water drops - it never clogs. Just flush and release and it's time for the plunger.

Hate it.

The design of the waterway is what determines how it will flush. The toilet I use, (I have never SOLD a Toto, but have installed a few), has a simple inverted "U" passage so there is not place for stuff to get stuck. Others have twists and turns and even 90 degree turns at the bottom where things can get caught.