How to clear out a blocked toilet drain
Blockages in drains that are not cleared quickly or properly will eventually start to back up, which may lead to overflowing if the problem is not taken care of. This may not only result in a larger mess for you to have to clean up but may also mean a larger bill to pay for any repairs that are needed.
You may be able to fix a blocked toilet drain by yourself, and we have listed a series of home methods below that you may wish to try to achieve.
Home solutions for fixing a blocked toilet drain
There are some home solutions available if you wish to try unblocking your blocked toilet drain by yourself. These include:
- Plungers
- Chemical cleaners
- Drain snakes
If you choose to carry out one of these methods by yourself, it is important that you wear protective clothing to avoid coming into contact with harmful bacteria. This includes wearing appropriate PPE.
Plungers
Plungers are a tried and tested method for unblocking most blockages in toilets. Make sure the end of the plunger is submerged by the water and completely cover the drain hole. It is important that water is being pulled and pushed through rather than air. After you have tried this, flush the toilet to check if it has worked. Larger blockages may require several attempts for this to work.
Please note: take care not to be too aggressive when using the plunger, which may cause further damage to the pipe.
Chemical cleaners
If you have a blocked toilet, a drain cleaner may be able to clear the blockage. These are powerful enough to dissolve and clean out some blockages, such as toilet paper or other waste blocking drains, and maybe the solution required.
Please note: Don’t use chemical cleaners if your property runs off a sewage treatment plant, as this can affect the bacteriological action of the treatment plant.
While keeping the room ventilated and wearing safety gear, pour the chemical into your toilet drain and follow manufacturer guidance.
Drain snakes
Another method that you may choose to try is using a drain snake. These tools can work their way around pipes to break up minor blockages and get the water flowing again.
Once you can feel the blockage with the drain snake, push against it until the water begins to drain. If you cannot feel any drain clogs using this method, it is most likely that the problem will be out of reach.
When to contact the professionals
The methods we have listed above can be effective at unclogging a toilet in some cases, but this does not mean that they will work on every occasion. There is a chance that the blockage may be too far along the pipe to reach, it may be too large for a home method to work, or you may not have access to the correct solution.
There is also the possibility that trying one of these methods will result in the problem becoming worse. This might be because the blockage ends up being pushed along the pipe, or the drain itself may become damaged. If this happens, this will result in a larger problem developing because you will have to clean up any areas affected by overflowing water and pay for the pipe to be cleaned and possibly even repaired or replaced.
Our solutions for clearing a blocked toilet drain
Here at ASL, we can choose from a wide variety of methods for clearing out your blocked drains. These have been used on many properties across the South of England, keeping our customers’ drains flowing as they should for a long time to come. We can even provide advice on what to do to help you ensure your drains do not become blocked again.
Our solutions for clearing blocked toilet drains include:
- Chemical drain cleaners
- Drain rodding
- Wet vac
- Descaling
- Drain jetting
For a full breakdown, please read our article on how we professionally clear blocked drains.