Dealing with a clogged toilet can be a disgusting job to clear the blockage and it can be a big cause of embarrassment when the toilet is so badly blocked, that you need to call in the help of a professional plumber. If you have a toilet that is prone to blocking or overfilling, even if it eventually clears itself, do not leave this problem to carry on too long. Rather call in a professional plumber and have them fix your toilet before the toilet solidly blocks.
Will a toilet eventually unclog?
Leaving a clogged toilet to sit overnight for a 24 hour period, may help eventually unblock the toilet. If the cause of the blockage is waste and toilet paper, during the 24 hour period, this being water-soluble may have broken down after sitting in water. The pressure of a reflush, should be enough to clear the pipes from the blockage.
Of course, if the item causing the issue is not dissolvable, like a children's toy, the toilet will keep blocking until the main restriction has been removed from where it is sitting blocking the pipework.
How much will it cost to unblock a toilet?
The cost of unblocking a toilet is determined on the severity of the blockage as well as access needed. If it is a simple case of the plumber arriving and using their plunger or toilet snake, to clear a once-off blockage, this might only take them 30min labour, charging just a one hour call-out fee.
If after trying to plunge the toilet, the blockage needs to be addressed from outside your home, and drain rodding or even using pressure jetting at the drain, this will involve more investigative work and another hour or so, so will end up costing more than a call-out fee, possibly a couple of hours labour.
If the toilet is prone to clogging, after the plumber has unblocked your toilet, they might need to replace the S-trap or a section of waste pipe. Depending on accessibility, this too can cause the cost of the job to increase with longer labour time. Especially if the plumber needs to order the parts and have a return visit to fit the new part. If the toilet is very old and not giving the best pressure when flushing, this would be a good time to have the plumber quote you on a larger job of eventually replacing the dodgy old toilet to avoid continual call-out charges for unblocking the toilet.
|
Cost to unblock a toilet |
Per |
Average total labour cost |
|
Unblock the toilet with a plunger |
Per hour |
£55 |
|
Unblock the toilet with a toilet snake |
Per hour |
£60 |
|
Unblock the toilet externally using drain rodding |
Per hour |
£150 |
|
Unblock the toilet externally using drain rodding and jetting |
Per hour |
£180 |
How to unblock a badly clogged toilet?
Before calling out a plumber to unblock your toilet, there are a few unblocking tricks to try yourself first;
Plunging the toilet
- the plunger must completely cover the drain hole at the bottom of the toilet
- push and pull water, if there is not enough water to cover the plunger then pour some down the toilet
- start slowly at first and then get more vigorous
- it may take a few minutes of plunging before the toilet eventually drains
Make a drain cleaner
- boil the kettle
- add 1 cup of baking soda and 2 cups of vinegar into the toilet
- pour 2 litres of hot water from the kettle into the toilet bowl (after a bit of fizzing has happened from the vinegar combo)
- leave the mixture to sit overnight
- next morning try to flush the toilet
Chemical drain cleaner
- choose a cleaner from the shops that is suitable for toilets
- follow the instructions on the bottle
Use a flexible wire snake
- a good tool to own, otherwise you can unbend a wire coat hanger to try to make a version of the snake
- use this to push down the bowl, with the hope of breaking up the blockage
- be careful to not damage the porcelain
- prod the blockage until you have broken it sufficiently to be flushed
If these tips have not helped unclog the blocked toilet, best to rather call in a skilled plumber who has experience in dealing with blocked toilets. What you want to avoid doing is constantly flushing, causing the toilet to then overflow because of the solid blockage.
What could cause a toilet to keep blocking?
Low-flush toilets that reduce the amount of water being used per flush, might have too little pressure to push waste out of the toilet bowl and leave the toilet prone to blocking.
If a drain waste line is clogged from age with soap scum, hair, lime scale, this might cause a backup, clogging the toilet.
If the toilet is unable to refill itself completely, there might not be enough water each time the toilet is flushed, causing blockages.
The S-trap behind the toilet might be clogged and may need replacing.
People flushing ‘flushable’ wipes down the toilet is one of the main reasons for toilet clogs as well as feminine hygiene products. They easily cause a major backup so these items need to be thrown in a dustbin rather.
Toddlers or children playing around a toilet dropping in foreighn objects, e.g.; cars or lego pieces, and then flushing them away most often get stuck in the pipes causing a clogged toilet.
If you have a septic system that is stalling or not turning over quickly enough, it can cause a clogged toilet. It is important to maintain a proper balance for ideal drainage flow.