Toilet clogged. What to do?

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cleoppa

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OK... a few years ago, when I first moved into the house, my toilet was clogged. I called a plumber and he cleaned it out but said probably I'd need to have more work done in a while because roots were getting in the pipes. Since then, I've regularly (about twice a year) put root killer down the drain. Usually I do it before I go on vacation, so it sits there a good while. And usually it starts to get a bit sluggish before and after it works fine.

Well, I'd been noticing my toilet was getting a bit sluggish, had to plunge it a bit. Then, it got a major clog. We managed to clear that up but I noticed it still didn't seem to be flushing just right. Not feeling like plunging every day, I used the other toilet and put root killer down it, like I'd done before (thought it didn't sit as long). It was still sluggish so I got these enzymes. I put those down the toilet with hot water every night for a week. All the time I did this, it was sluggish but flushed fine.

Still didn't seem quite right, but I got tired of waiting and used it. All it had was water and a bit of toilet paper and it would not go down. Tried it several times and I think it still has that toilet paper in it.

So... any suggestions? I've read online different things to try, like a toilet auger or soap or baking soda, but those seem to me to be for problems with the toilet or a little deeper. I think mine is deeper still (unless someone disagrees with me?).

I can't afford a plumber. I do have an auger, but I don't know if it's intended for toilets. Would draino or something be worth a try? Get the root stuff and let it sit for a week? I do have an outside drain cap thing, though it got buried and I'm not sure how to find it...

I could ask the city to clear out the lines, but it seems to be just the one toilet, so do you think it's the city's lines?

Thank you!
 

Terry

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Would draino or something be worth a try?

Draino is for grease. And I don't really like it for that either.
You may have something in the trapway that is catching the paper. A closet auger is good for that. If it's a solid object in there, it may need to be pushed out from the other side by removing the bowl and augering from the exit.

Sometimes, you have take a five gallon bucket and try pouring into the bowl and see if that breaks anything loose. That only works though if it's paper in the bowl. It won't do much if there is a main line blockage.
If other fixtures in the bathroom are draining fine, then it may be, just the bowl.
 

Hairyhosebib

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Is this still a problem? If this toilet is on the first floor and the home is on a slab it could be that a root has worked its way from under the house and penetrated the wax seal and a root ball has formed and is causing the problem. The other thing you might try and you really need to be careful is to buy a gallon of muriatic acid and pour it in the overflow pipe in the toilet tank. What happens over time is the holes in the rim of the toilet get plugged up much like a coffee pot. The top of the trapway will get water deposits that form rough areas and will catch toilet paper and slow the toilets ability to properly flush.
 
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