Caregiver for dementia person

[Caregiver 101]

I am daily challenged with a person who abruptly decides to flush down items that don't belong in the toilet. It is impossible to follow his every move, especially when he is up in the middle of the night. Recently, the toilet he uses has been clogged several times, due to attempts at flushing unflushables. I have had to call a plumber to clean out the trap. Plumber had to cut a hole in ceiling of floor below where toilet is to get at the trap and do repairs. This was very costly. Is there a type of mesh screen that can be placed over the trap of the toilet that will catch these unflushables so they can be removed before they clog the toilet?

 

[Reach4]

https://terrylove.com/forums/index....achine-for-flushable-wipes.84042/#post-605413
is made for stopping "flushable" wipes.

I guess it would reduce the hole size for exits of solids a bit too. I think a toilet with a smaller exit hole would be good. My Toto Vespin I think uses a fairly small exit hole compared to the older designs.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[WorthFlorida]

Other than placing a lock on the lid, there is one thing you might be able do. At the left bottom of the toilet is the water connection and you'll see a shut off valve. Close this valve and flush the toilet and the tank will not fill up with water, therefore it cannot be flushed until the water is turned back on. You then just open the valve and let it fill with water, then flush when needed, turn off the water again. As long as this person doesn't know how to open the valve it should work it for you.

The only issue might be the valve itself. If very old and rarely turned, the valve itself may leak a little through the stem. Many times the seat washer in the valve deteriorates and then you cannot turn it completely off or the the pieces of rubber from the washer can block the water flow after opening it.

Can you reach down each time to get access to it? If this is your plan of attack, you may want to have a plumber replace the valve and that it is easy to turn. There are two kinds, 1/4 turn and regular turn that takes a few rotations to close. The 1/4 turn is easier but some are a bit hard to turn.

Another possibility is you'll need to lift the tank lid off and unhook the flush lever to the flapper. This may be more hassle than it's worth.

 

[hj]

There is NO TRAP under the toilet so why did the "plumber" have to cut a hole? Also, ANTHING that goes throught the toilet is too small to plug the main line, (and would not likely be under the toilet either). You may need a better plumber.

 

[LLigetfa]

I mostly agree with hj. There is no trap and you need a better plumber. Access to the drain line under the toilet is done by unbolting the toilet from the flange.
Some objects that do manage to go down through the toilet could go sideways further down the line and hang up.
As WorthFlorida said, turn off the water supply and put a lock on it. If the old angle stop is unreliable, replace it with a new quarter turn.

 

[Caregiver 101]

Other than placing a lock on the lid, there is one thing you might be able do. At the left bottom of the toilet is the water connection and you'll see a shut off valve. Close this valve and flush the toilet and the tank will not fill up with water, therefore it cannot be flushed until the water is turned back on. You then just open the valve and let it fill with water, then flush when needed, turn off the water again. As long as this person doesn't know how to open the valve it should work it for you.

The only issue might be the valve itself. If very old and rarely turned, the valve itself may leak a little through the stem. Many times the seat washer in the valve deteriorates and then you cannot turn it completely off or the the pieces of rubber from the washer can block the water flow after opening it.

Can you reach down each time to get access to it? If this is your plan of attack, you may want to have a plumber replace the valve and that it is easy to turn. There are two kinds, 1/4 turn and regular turn that takes a few rotations to close. The 1/4 turn is easier but some are a bit hard to turn.

Another possibility is you'll need to lift the tank lid off and unhook the flush lever to the flapper. This may be more hassle than it's worth.


View attachment 58930

Thank you for your quick reply. I have already had the shut off valves replaced by the plumber. The old ones were replaced with the quarter turn ones. I am already turning the toilet water off after each time I use it, then turning it back on when I need to flush the toilet. I also disconnected the flush lever but he has opened the tank and tried to reconnect it. I was hoping for an additional solution since the toilet is often used in the middle of the night. So far, the person has not figured out how to turn the water back on (thank goodness). Some of the things flushed are wash cloths, socks, etc. These are unfortunately small enough to go down but then clog the line.

 

[Reach4]

Some of the things flushed are wash cloths, socks, etc. These are unfortunately small enough to go down but then clog the line.

Those would seem to be catch-able by the item in the link Terry posted in the post I pointed to.

 

[Smooky]

I have been to homes with this problem. Get rid of everything you don't need for the patient's care and then lock everything that you do need. Use paper towels instead of cloth towels for hand washing.