Ask Art: What Do I Do About An Overflowing Toilet?

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of watching the water level rise in your toilet bowl after flushing. There’s a brief moment of panic as the water level continues to rise, which subsides when it stops. The problem is when the water level just keeps rising and soon you find yourself facing an overflowing toilet.

Now dealing with an overflowing toilet in your own home is one thing, but it’s somewhat mortifying when it happens when you’re in someone else’s home as a guest. The main thing you need to do at that moment is not panic – rather alert your host as soon as possible to help get the problem resolved.  Dealing with an overflowing toilet at your own home is another story. While less embarrassing than it happening in someone else’s home, it’s something you have to deal with and get fixed.

Steps To Take When Your Toilet Overflows

Here are some steps you can take immediately if you see that the water level just isn’t stopping.

• Stop the Flow: You need to stop the flow of water ASAP – this can be done by lifting the fill valve.
• Turn Off: Turn off the water supply- you’ll notice that there’s a valve nearby, which can be closed to stop water from refilling in your toilet bowl.
• Mains: If the above two options didn’t work, you should turn off the main water supply to your home.

If none of the above options helps with the flow of water, and you’re still struggling. It’s time to call in the professionals at Art Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electric. Overflowing toilets are caused by clogs in the pipe system, however, if none of the previous steps helped to stop the flow of water – you could be dealing with a more serious issue.

What Causes An Overflowing Toilet?

There is a reason why an overflowing toilet occurs, it could be due to a clog in the plumbing pipes, an easy fix could be to use a plunger but that only works if the steps taken above work. If it’s not a simple clog you may need an emergency drain clearing service. The overflow could also be due to a blocked vent pipe and this is when an experienced plumber is needed to clear the blocked pipe.

One of the last reasons why your toilet could overflow is due to the float in the tank. Keep in mind that if your toilet bowl overflows it could be due to either a blocked drain or a blocked vent, but if the water is coming from your toilet tank – then the float is the issue. Depending on how it’s set, a float that is too high could cause the tank to fill with too much water.

Things To Keep In Mind When Handling An Overflow

There are some things you can do on your own and there are things that you shouldn’t, especially when dealing with an overflow.

• Don’t flush. Trying to force the water to go down by flushing may just bring up a massive number of things you did not want to see or deal with.
• Chemicals are not your friend. Certain chemicals can erode your plumbing pipes.
• Plumbers need to be licensed for a reason. YouTube is not the answer and messing with pipes when you don’t know where they lead to couldn’t cause more issues than you initially started with.

Overflow? More like Over-No!

By calling the licensed plumbing experts at Art Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electric, you can rest assured that your overflow problems will be a thing of the past. Our friendly team knows just what to look for and will repair your problem in the most time-efficient manner possible. For plumbing repair services that you can trust, call us today at 1-800-475-1504.