why doesn't my toilet flush poop?
August 1, 2022 10:38 AM Subscribe
My toilet pretty much doesn't flush poop anymore, at least on the first flush. If one of us takes a dump, wipes, then flushes, it's maybe a one-in-four chance that everything goes down the drain. We're to the point where we just assume we're going to have to plunge, and if we don't, it's a celebration. Why?
It usually doesn't take much plunging to clear the clog. Sometimes as little as one plunge will do the trick. Flushing, a couple plunges, and then a second flush are also a good strategy. It's rare that the toilet gets so clogged that it actually takes time and effort to unclog. It's a nagging issue, not an urgent one.
None of us have particularly voluminous poops. Or at least, my daughter and I don't. I don't actually monitor my wife's output, but when I've complained about the toilet, she's never made it seem like she, uh, contributes more than her share. None of us uses a particularly unusual amount of toilet paper, either. Pee flushes without a problem.
It happens for all three of us. There isn't one bandit who clogs the toilet and then lets someone else find out about it.
It's been happening for a couple of months now, progressively worse. My landlord did some maintenance because the chain from the handle to the ball broke, and ever since performance has gone downhill.
I'd rather not get my landlord involved. He's out of town for a while, and his repairs tend to expand in scope mid-project. Several times he's come to fix something minor, and almost in passing said stuff like "oh by the way, you won't be able to shower for 72 hours". Which is the kind of thing that would've been helpful to be able to plan around. You're not supposed to use Drano in toilets. Is there something else I can do myself to clear this up?
It usually doesn't take much plunging to clear the clog. Sometimes as little as one plunge will do the trick. Flushing, a couple plunges, and then a second flush are also a good strategy. It's rare that the toilet gets so clogged that it actually takes time and effort to unclog. It's a nagging issue, not an urgent one.
None of us have particularly voluminous poops. Or at least, my daughter and I don't. I don't actually monitor my wife's output, but when I've complained about the toilet, she's never made it seem like she, uh, contributes more than her share. None of us uses a particularly unusual amount of toilet paper, either. Pee flushes without a problem.
It happens for all three of us. There isn't one bandit who clogs the toilet and then lets someone else find out about it.
It's been happening for a couple of months now, progressively worse. My landlord did some maintenance because the chain from the handle to the ball broke, and ever since performance has gone downhill.
I'd rather not get my landlord involved. He's out of town for a while, and his repairs tend to expand in scope mid-project. Several times he's come to fix something minor, and almost in passing said stuff like "oh by the way, you won't be able to shower for 72 hours". Which is the kind of thing that would've been helpful to be able to plan around. You're not supposed to use Drano in toilets. Is there something else I can do myself to clear this up?
A guess: when he repaired the chain, maybe he connected it too low such that the flap in the tank isn't opening as fully as it should (therefore not sending the water down with enough oomph). Maybe try adjusting the chain so it's a few links shorter?
posted by Betelgeuse at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022 [33 favorites]
posted by Betelgeuse at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022 [33 favorites]
Mmm when your landlord replaced the chain on the handle, did he set it way too low on the handle? Like, the first notch? Because it could be that the handle is hitting the lid of the tank, before it can open the whatnot all the way.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sorry, on preview, what Betelgeuse said
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022
Either a partial blockage in the pipe, or perhaps a new toilet is indicated. When I had that problem, after determining the pipes were clear, replacing the toilet fixed it. They do wear out over time.
posted by jtexman1 at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jtexman1 at 10:47 AM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
One way to find out: If you hold the handle down for several seconds on a flush, and everything flushes fine, then the handle/flap thing is probably your issue rather than anything in your pipes.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:48 AM on August 1, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:48 AM on August 1, 2022 [12 favorites]
You may also need your roof vents cleaned out. MOST of them, if they were built or dealt with for a problem in the past 20ish years, will have a critter guard over them, but things can build nests in there, it can just get clogged with spider webs and debris. That vent prevents a vacuum from forming in the drains, and if there is a decent blockage it can be enough to start seeing efficiency issues in the toilet.
I test the flapper by just taking the top of the tank off and lifting the chain/flapper thoroughly. Get a good flush? Mess with the chain or just replace the whole flapper assembly and maybe even the flush handle mechanism if it all looks like it's been a long time.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:51 AM on August 1, 2022 [6 favorites]
I test the flapper by just taking the top of the tank off and lifting the chain/flapper thoroughly. Get a good flush? Mess with the chain or just replace the whole flapper assembly and maybe even the flush handle mechanism if it all looks like it's been a long time.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:51 AM on August 1, 2022 [6 favorites]
Not to give, like, the worst possible answer - but when this happened to us, it ended up being a collapsing sewer line between the house and the street. It eventually collapsed fully, flooded the basement with sewage, and made for a rough couple of days while our yard was dug up and the sewer line replaced. I hope for your sake that is not the answer here.
posted by okayokayigive at 10:51 AM on August 1, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by okayokayigive at 10:51 AM on August 1, 2022 [7 favorites]
The unusual culprit is simply blockage of the small hole on the near side, at the bottom of the bowl. This is where most of the water is supposed to blast through when you flush. If you have really hard water or try to conserve water by flushing less often, it'll build up faster…and it gets progressively worse in the way you describe.
Put on a rubber glove and use something like the end of a straightened wire coat hanger to scrape out the inside of the hole. Don’t be rough-handed and avoid using a very hard metal that might crack the porcelain if you accidentally lever it. Be a bit patient too, it often seems impenetrably hard at first but once you scrape past the top layer, it'll crumble out in bigger chunks. 99% of the blockage will be in the first couple inches of depth, so no need to go deeper that that.
posted by brachiopod at 11:03 AM on August 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Put on a rubber glove and use something like the end of a straightened wire coat hanger to scrape out the inside of the hole. Don’t be rough-handed and avoid using a very hard metal that might crack the porcelain if you accidentally lever it. Be a bit patient too, it often seems impenetrably hard at first but once you scrape past the top layer, it'll crumble out in bigger chunks. 99% of the blockage will be in the first couple inches of depth, so no need to go deeper that that.
posted by brachiopod at 11:03 AM on August 1, 2022 [2 favorites]
Given that pee is going down OK, and assuming the other toilets in the home are OK, my first guess is that the siphon jet is obstructed.
The siphon jet is the small underwater hole that emits a jet of water when you flush. It's near the front of the toilet, opposite the ... big hole that leads to the sewer. This can get obstructed with mineral deposits, which reduces its ability to evict solid waste.
(If you don't have a siphon jet then you're probably not in North America, in which case please say where you are, otherwise you're going to continue to get suggestions that assume you have a North American toilet.)
If the siphon jet is the problem then the fix is: 1) empty the bowl as much as possible (i.e. plunge all the water out so there's at most a cup of water at the bottom of the bowl). 2) Pour enough acidic toilet cleaner in to completely submerge the siphon hole. Leave for as long as you can, at least an hour, overnight if possible. This will soften the mineral deposits. 3) Then flush a few times. You might literally see pebbles fly out of the siphon. If you have the patience/stomach, re-empty the bowl and use an old toothbrush to scrub inside the siphon hole to remove the remaining deposits.
On preview: what brachiopod said (but acid cleaner is easier than a coat hanger, and less likely to damage the porcelain! But a coathanger is the perfect tool to clean out the jet holes at the rim of the toilet bowl, which will often suffer from the same problem as the siphon at the same time.)
posted by caek at 11:04 AM on August 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
The siphon jet is the small underwater hole that emits a jet of water when you flush. It's near the front of the toilet, opposite the ... big hole that leads to the sewer. This can get obstructed with mineral deposits, which reduces its ability to evict solid waste.
(If you don't have a siphon jet then you're probably not in North America, in which case please say where you are, otherwise you're going to continue to get suggestions that assume you have a North American toilet.)
If the siphon jet is the problem then the fix is: 1) empty the bowl as much as possible (i.e. plunge all the water out so there's at most a cup of water at the bottom of the bowl). 2) Pour enough acidic toilet cleaner in to completely submerge the siphon hole. Leave for as long as you can, at least an hour, overnight if possible. This will soften the mineral deposits. 3) Then flush a few times. You might literally see pebbles fly out of the siphon. If you have the patience/stomach, re-empty the bowl and use an old toothbrush to scrub inside the siphon hole to remove the remaining deposits.
On preview: what brachiopod said (but acid cleaner is easier than a coat hanger, and less likely to damage the porcelain! But a coathanger is the perfect tool to clean out the jet holes at the rim of the toilet bowl, which will often suffer from the same problem as the siphon at the same time.)
posted by caek at 11:04 AM on August 1, 2022 [4 favorites]
Jinx.
posted by brachiopod at 11:05 AM on August 1, 2022
posted by brachiopod at 11:05 AM on August 1, 2022
My dad and I found a small, stiff wire pipe cleaner brush that has worked perfectly to clean out that siphon hole without issue, if that turns out to be your problem. It was a few bucks at a big box hardware store.
posted by stevis23 at 11:15 AM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by stevis23 at 11:15 AM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
This is a problem in my building. First, it’s easier and less scary to break up the deposit before trying to flush it. Also, this stuff really works.
posted by dianeF at 1:12 PM on August 1, 2022
posted by dianeF at 1:12 PM on August 1, 2022
Check the float valve, tank level first ,full tank full flush. then proceed with chemical and mechanical methods mentioned above.
posted by hortense at 1:30 PM on August 1, 2022
posted by hortense at 1:30 PM on August 1, 2022
When we had a similar problem, and went through basically every step suggested above, we were struck at "start ripping into the wall to check that vent pipe" or "replace the toilet altogether." So we went for the easy step and replaced it. When the guy took out the old toilet he found that the exit pipe or whatever it's called was thoroughly narrowed by...we didn't even know what? Like, years of minerals excreted in our urine, maybe?!? Who the eff knows, but it'd shrunk down so tiny that yeah, pee flowed through but poop just barely, and usually requiring plunging. A new toilet fixed that instantly.
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:45 PM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:45 PM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
The root (haha) of our very similar problem was significant tree root incursion to the drain line. Mostly but not fully blocking the drain so sometimes flushing worked, sometimes not. Only found when removed the toilet.
posted by gryphonlover at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2022
posted by gryphonlover at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2022
If your daughter is very young, or if other people's young children have been in your house recently it's possible that one of them flushed something accidentally and it's stuck. In my house it was a small fork. My kids never confessed.
posted by mareli at 5:00 PM on August 1, 2022
posted by mareli at 5:00 PM on August 1, 2022
That hole is the siphon break, that lets in air, that lets the poop drop fast enough to clear the gooseneck which, blocks the vapors up from the main line. Using a phillips head screwdriver will break up the blockage, the minerals build up over time. Your toilet will be good again, if this is the thing.
posted by Oyéah at 8:01 PM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 8:01 PM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
The simplest thing that can go wrong is there just isn't quite enough water making it into the toilet with each flush. That would lead to symptoms such as you describe, where it (barely) flushes, but doesn't really flush vigorously or completely enough to handle a slightly more difficult job.
Lack of enough water in the flush could be for several of the reasons outlined above, and perhaps it happened when the landlord messed around with the toilet last time.
Simple way to check if this is the problem is to get a bucket with a gallon or maybe two of water. Push the flush lever and the immediately, also dump the water from the bucket straight into the bowl.
If that makes it flush normally, then you can work on getting some more water going in each flush. What might entail adjusting the chain so it pulls the flapper up higher, adjusting the float level in the tank (higher=more water per flush), cleaning out the jet thing, or some of the other solutions mentioned above.
If adding more water to the flush does not help much or at all, then you are on to more exotic solutions such as a narrowed or clogged drain pipe, siphon area of the toilet, clogged sewer/attic vents, and other solutions as outlined upthread.
posted by flug at 12:13 AM on August 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Lack of enough water in the flush could be for several of the reasons outlined above, and perhaps it happened when the landlord messed around with the toilet last time.
Simple way to check if this is the problem is to get a bucket with a gallon or maybe two of water. Push the flush lever and the immediately, also dump the water from the bucket straight into the bowl.
If that makes it flush normally, then you can work on getting some more water going in each flush. What might entail adjusting the chain so it pulls the flapper up higher, adjusting the float level in the tank (higher=more water per flush), cleaning out the jet thing, or some of the other solutions mentioned above.
If adding more water to the flush does not help much or at all, then you are on to more exotic solutions such as a narrowed or clogged drain pipe, siphon area of the toilet, clogged sewer/attic vents, and other solutions as outlined upthread.
posted by flug at 12:13 AM on August 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
The unusual culprit is simply blockage of the small hole on the near side, at the bottom of the bowl. This is where most of the water is supposed to blast through when you flush.
This is the first thing that comes to mind, especially if you have hard water. Try using Zep or CLR.
Also, the little holes around the rim of the bowl are likely also clogged with hard water scale. I use a wire hanger to poke through the scale build up.
I think these are the first two things I would try before messing with augers, and vent pipes.
posted by terrapin at 7:15 AM on August 2, 2022
This is the first thing that comes to mind, especially if you have hard water. Try using Zep or CLR.
Also, the little holes around the rim of the bowl are likely also clogged with hard water scale. I use a wire hanger to poke through the scale build up.
I think these are the first two things I would try before messing with augers, and vent pipes.
posted by terrapin at 7:15 AM on August 2, 2022
Response by poster: An update.
Predictably, since I asked this question, nobody has really had to let one rip. So we haven't been able to test anything at volume yet. But...
I scraped the siphon hole with a bottle cleaner, and it didn't really seem to do anything. It didn't dislodge anything, and the bottle cleaner didn't pick up any noticeable dirt.
I took the tank lid off, because I realized that depressing the lever all the way off would raise the arm above the lid level. So with the lid on, the arm is not fully raising. I think this is promising, but we'd need, uh, a larger sample size to confirm.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2022
Predictably, since I asked this question, nobody has really had to let one rip. So we haven't been able to test anything at volume yet. But...
I scraped the siphon hole with a bottle cleaner, and it didn't really seem to do anything. It didn't dislodge anything, and the bottle cleaner didn't pick up any noticeable dirt.
I took the tank lid off, because I realized that depressing the lever all the way off would raise the arm above the lid level. So with the lid on, the arm is not fully raising. I think this is promising, but we'd need, uh, a larger sample size to confirm.
posted by kevinbelt at 8:22 AM on August 2, 2022
If the problem is the siphon jet (and it may not be!) then a bottle cleaner (i.e. a brush) will not dislodge or remove anything. You're trying to remove a solid mineral deposit that has built up over months or years. This isn't like doing the dishes. You need acid cleaner and/or something rigid, metal and sharp (screwdriver, strong coat hanger, etc.)
Good luck!
posted by caek at 8:45 AM on August 2, 2022
Good luck!
posted by caek at 8:45 AM on August 2, 2022
We had this issue, and replaced the toilet. It did not help.
The issue was never resolved. I feel like it is a vent issue, but all other drains and toilets work normally so I have placed it way way down my list of chores.
A very odd suggestion for you to try: run some water in the sink nearest the toilet before you flush. I'm about 30% convinced that there is some kind of vacuum issue due to our out of code S trap under the bathroom sink.
posted by Acari at 2:38 PM on August 4, 2022
The issue was never resolved. I feel like it is a vent issue, but all other drains and toilets work normally so I have placed it way way down my list of chores.
A very odd suggestion for you to try: run some water in the sink nearest the toilet before you flush. I'm about 30% convinced that there is some kind of vacuum issue due to our out of code S trap under the bathroom sink.
posted by Acari at 2:38 PM on August 4, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by number9dream at 10:46 AM on August 1, 2022 [1 favorite]