A toilet that won’t flush can be a real plumbing emergency, especially if your Owasso, OK home only has one toilet. It’s good to know that there are plumbers on call for such emergencies if the occasion calls for one.
Sometimes, however, you can easily get the job done all by yourself. Most toilet flushing issues are solved pretty quickly by taking a few steps. Find out if your inoperable toilet needs a quick fix or a professional hand.
Check if the Flapper at the Bottom of the Tank Needs Replacement
The rubber flapper is a small piece of bathroom plumbing that sits in your toilet tank. It controls the flow of water from your tank to your toilet bowl. If this piece of equipment is warped, cracked or broken in any way, it will stop the toilet from flushing.
This is a good place to begin your diagnostic, and see whether you can fix the problem on your own. If the flapper needs replaced, it’s easy to do and quite inexpensive. About $10.00 at a local hardware store will get you a new one.
Use Water from a Bowl to Help Flush the Toilet
If the toilet isn’t flushing, you can easily add water from a bowl or bucket to the toilet bowl, and it will flush. Be sure to dump the water, not pour slowly. The reason for this is the needs to be enough force to get all the contents out of the toilet bowl and through the pipes, avoiding clogs.
You can repeat this step more than once if it did not work the first time. This is most likely only a temporary solution, and there could still be an underlying problem.
Be sure to try flushing again after the first time, to see if the issue has been resolved, or if a professional needs to be called.
Contact a Plumber to Inspect for Backups and Clogs
Sometimes a plumbing emergency will actually require a plumber. Plumbers know their stuff, and can easily asses and fix your toilet troubles in half the time of an average person. They know your bathroom plumbing better than you do, and it’s better to pay a little now, for a better outcome later down the road.
Even in a single bathroom dwelling, you can rest easy knowing you have options when your bathroom plumbing goes haywire. Being a little handy in your home can save you time, money, and keep panic at bay.