An overflowing toilet can quickly move from a nuisance zone to a total disaster. You need to find the cause of the problem and fix it, but you could be left with a messy, flooded bathroom to deal with later. To reduce how often you spend running for the plunger, here are some reasons why your toilet may be constantly overflowing.
Frequent Blockages
The main reason why a toilet overflows is because the drain line is blocked. This is the pipe connecting from the bottom of the bowl to the main plumbing of your home. When the toilet is clogged with excess paper or organic matter, a blockage occurs and the toilet begins to overflow.
Most people will experience a drain line blockage occasionally, but you don’t need to call a plumber for every clog. Keep a plunger on hand to gently free blockages and restore your toilet to working order.
Issues With Valves
Several valves control how your toilet’s tank and bowl are filled by lifting when you flush before dropping back into position to create a tight seal. When these valves fail to seal tightly, you might experience leaks that result in an overflowing toilet.
The flapper valve is the valve that controls the flow of water from the tank into the bowl after you flush your toilet. When the seal isn’t tight, water will slowly leak from the tank into the bowl, resulting in the bowl overfilling. Similarly, the fill valve, which controls the water flow from your pipes into the tank, can also fail to create a tight seal. If you suspect that your toilet issues might be caused by faulty valves, contact a professional plumber to come take a look and make needed repairs.
User Errors
The bane of every plumber’s existence is “flushable wipe” products frequently sold in drugstores. While the companies that produce these wipes maintain they are flushable, any plumber can tell you that only paper and organic matter should ever be flushed down a toilet.
Any paper product that can hold onto moisture without disintegrating, such as a baby wipe, can easily create a clog simply because it doesn’t break down rapidly when exposed to water. If you’ve ever tried to clean up a spill with toilet paper, you know that it begins to break apart and turn to mush shortly after you get it wet.
It’s not just wipes that contribute to chronic clogs. Feminine hygiene products, cotton balls, and paper towels are often flushed down toilets by users who don’t realize they’re potentially creating a serious blockage. If you want to save yourself the stress of having to toil over the toilet with a plunger or pay for professional plumbing services, don’t flush anything besides toilet paper or human waste.
Age of Toilet
You might not think of a toilet as something that needs to be replaced because it’s too old, but frequent clogs and blockages can indeed be the result of an aging toilet that no longer functions properly in a modern sewage system. Older toilets often have narrow drain lines and faulty valves that fail to create a tight seal. If you live in an older home and experience frequent clogs despite nothing else seemingly being wrong with the toilet, consider calling a plumber and upgrading to a newer, higher-efficiency model.
Issues in Sewer Line
When roots grow into sewer lines or the lines are clogged with trapped plant matter, the effect can be devastating for homeowners. If the problem of a clogged sewer line isn’t taken care of right away, the blockage can cause toilets to overflow uncontrollably, with little you can do to stop it besides turning off the main water valve to your home.
If you suspect that your sewer line might be clogged, call a professional to come unclog it as soon as possible. This will ensure you don’t end up stuck having to pay the bill for significant repairs.
Aside from minor clogs, fixing problems with your toilet is best left to the professionals. The team at Hutchinson Septic Service is ready to answer your call and restore your toilet to perfect working order. We also offer other plumbing and septic services, turn to us for septic pumping.
