Water Damage - Not Maintaining Your Toilet Could Put Your Whole Home In A Stink

We've all had to deal with an overflowing toilet before and depending on what the contents of it is at that time, it might be just a little more unpleasant to.

Overflowing toilets can be a real source of water damage over time if they are let to overflow like this on a regular basis, so you need to do your best to not put anything in the toilet that does not belong there.

If you have toddlers that like to play around in the bathroom, one of the things that you can invest in to keep them from putting objects in the toilet is a lid lock.

These are pretty inexpensive and can save you a lot of time cleaning up after a toilets overflowing that was caused by a toy car or even a small stuffed animal. They are designed so that an adult can easily open them, but a child cannot.

Your first instinct when a toilet overflows after you try to flush it is to simply try and flush it again. The water should return to its normal level before you try to flush it again and you should make sure that the rest of your household knows this, as well.

As soon as the toilet starts to overflow, turn the stop tap underneath the tank off. If this does not work, you can lift the lid of the tank and pull the cup or the float ball up. The main stop tap should be turned off next and this should be underneath the kitchen sink or wherever the water service pipe goes into the home.

Finding what is causing the block is the next thing to do. If you can manage to retrieve the object from the toilet with your hand, thats good. If not, you might need to get a plunger or a plumbing snake to try and unclog it.

If you need to use a plunger or a plumbing snake, bale out as much water from the toilet as you can first. The clog should be removed after one of these two methods and when you think it is gone, take a bucket full of water and pour it into the toilet before attempting to flush. If the blockage has gone, the water should go down normally.

If none of this worked, then you should call in an expert. There are a number of emergency plumbers that can be called in, depending on where you live. If a blocked sewer is the problem, then calling the water company is about the only thing that you can do. If it is a private sewer on your own property, then you need to find a drainage engineer to help you.