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Posted over 8 years ago

Is that...............Poo?

The Landlords worst nightmare. "Um..Yea... So the toilets backed up, and there's STUFF on the floor, and STUFF in the tub, and we need you to come over and fix it."

Two things you know for sure:

1. They didn't stop flushing when it originally clogged. Toilets rarely clog on the first bad flush.

2. They didn't use the plunger, know where the plunger was, know what a plunger looked like, or have any clue there was a difference between a sink plunger and a toilet plunger.

More then likely they didn't know how to use it, or odds are they couldn't bring themselves to get close to a mess they want you to get in knee deep.

As a Service Plumber I have a million and one drain clog/ clogged toilet stories.

My favorite of course was the 11pm call from a college student, who not only hadn't called his landlord yet, expected me to come save him because he didn't want to touch it.

I believe the conversation went something like:

Me: "Did you plunge the toilet?"

Him: "No, that's why I'm calling you"

Hmmm.... Doesn't always give me a warm fuzzy about the next generation. LOL

So the purpose of this post? Plungers!

Every service call I go on for a clogged toilet I walk in with a plunger in my hand, and I always get the same response, "We already did that".

I smile and simply tell them that It is just protocol to use the plunger first.

9 times out of 10 I clear the toilet with the Plunger within 10 minutes or less.

There is a method.

First a little plunger education.

Below you see the two most common types of plungers. The Cup, and the Flange.

The Cup is ok if nothing else is available, otherwise, use the flange. the Cup comes in two sizes the sink plunger and the toilet plunger. both look the same , but the sink plunger is considerably smaller and will not clear a toilet. (If you can clear a toilet with a sink plunger consider yourself a rock star) Keep in mind, there are other styles of plungers. These are the most common.

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So the process:

1. If the water, fluid, or Poo is about 1"below the rim of the bowl, that is perfect. If its lower slowly and carefully "crack" the handle on the toilet. Allowing only enough water past the flapper to fill the bowl but not enough that the toilet should flush. Once again, the goal is 1"below the rim of the bowl.

2. Place the plunger in the bowl directly in the hole, trying to get a good seal.

3. Now comes the work! Plunge in short, hard, fast plunges, never breaking the seal between the plunger head and the flush hole.

4. After 5-6 good, hard, plunges, pull the plunger out suddenly, breaking the plunger head seal. Now don't pull so hard the you fall over and into the mess yourself. Just enough to break the seal.

5. The Head  pressure, from the fluid in the bowl, will usually hit the clog pretty hard and drive it on down the line.

It may take a couple of times to get it, but it will work.

Some of you are thinking, "Mike this is dumb. I already know this". If you know this then teach it to your tenants.

You would be amazed how many of your tenants have no idea how to use a plunger or even what end goes in first. Take 5 minutes to teach them, and don't be cheap, buy one for their rental.

The number one complaint I hear from people thinking about investing, is "what about that 3 in the morning, come fix my toilet call?"

Well, like I said, taking 5 minutes to teach your tenant how to use a plunger, just turned your potential emergency into goods nights sleep.

  


Comments (1)

  1. Love the article, thanks!!