My toilet is currently clogged, tried a 3' snake and plunger and the clog won't budge however whenever I run water in the bathroom sink I get a gurgle/bubbling in the toilet. I understand these two can be connected so not sure if that should be any concern on a normal thing. My question is after trying both a small snake and plunger and giving the situation would it be better to rent a larger snake or will this job require professional help?
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Small snakes often don't really help all that much. The bubbling and gurgle in the toilet from the sink just says that the clog is after both the toilet and the sink, not in between since both are affected. It's not a complete clog, as apparently, the sink isn't backing up...it can drain, albeit, slowly.
A plunger as most people try to use one probably won't do much unless you block off the sink's drain and overflow (if it has one). Otherwise, the force won't go anywhere useful. FWIW, most people think a plunger works best by forcing it down, but it's the opposite that works. Slowly push it down, then rapidly pull it up. See if that helps any. WHatever is clogging it is jammed in. Trying to force it down often doesn't work, but by pulling it back, it has a chance of rearranging itself, and clearing.
A plunger as most people try to use one probably won't do much unless you block off the sink's drain and overflow (if it has one). Otherwise, the force won't go anywhere useful. FWIW, most people think a plunger works best by forcing it down, but it's the opposite that works. Slowly push it down, then rapidly pull it up. See if that helps any. WHatever is clogging it is jammed in. Trying to force it down often doesn't work, but by pulling it back, it has a chance of rearranging itself, and clearing.
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You'll probably need to remove the toilet to do the job right. The line will be a minimum of 3" so you'll want to rent an appropriately sized snake. Are any other bathrooms affected? Do you or someone in your household flush wipes, tampons or other products? These are important to know so you can choose the correct head to start with.
It is the only bathroom in the house and there should be no foreign objectives flushed. This problem has recently started upon replacing the old toliet with a dual flush newer one. Typically whenever there is, eh, solid waste it gets clogged. And I think removing the toliet is currently out of the question with it being filled.
I didn't have time to try this in the morning so I'll give it a try when I get home.
Thank you
You can try snaking it through a smaller drain but you run the risk of catching whatever is clogging the 3 to 4 inch line. That could be difficult or impossible to pull through a 1 1/2 to 2 inch line. You may end up making things worse.
There are several ways to empty a dirty toilet. I do it on a regular basis so I have a shop vac just for that. If you don't feel comfortable even emptying a toilet then you may want to consider giving the job to a plumber.
In the 70's I was sometimes "on call" for weekends. I would have a large machine for snaking mainlines. It's not a job for a homeowner. Heck, it's too dangerous for me. As a plumber doing service calls, I hand sewer snaking calls over to outfits that specialize in it. They have the tools and the skill.
And that skill takes some time.
And that skill takes some time.
Thank you for all the comments. A quick update, I went and bought a 25' power auger and have been using that. Got a few feet (10-15') and then went to pull it up. Got it almost all out then hit a snag, gave it a yank and the auger came out but nothing else. Went to start feeding auger again and it wouldn't go much further than a few feet. Did this about twice now. Am I moving in the right direction or am I making the situation worse?
It isn't that I am not comfortable in it it is more so I want to avoid getting stuff all over if at all possible.
I followed the pipe down into the basement and there is an (excuse my ignorance) a little cover at the very bottom near the floor I could take off. The auger went past this point so I could take this off and have a huge mess in the basement then try to continue to auger or should keep going at from the toilet?
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Since it sounds like water does go down, albeit slowly, if you wait awhile, you shouldn't get a discharge when you open the cleanout. When you start to unscrew it, if something starts to weep out, tighten it back down and wait a bit longer.
