Closet Auger???

[Pat]

One of three toilets flushed fine except when there is any toilet paper involved and then... plunger man to the rescue!

Experienced advisors suggested wax ring is mispositioned or calcium build up or burr on an unglazed portion of path in trap section of toilet construction OR something fell in and is causing blockage.

The recommended tool is a CLOSET AUGER . . . NOT a regular plumbers snake! There is also a closet auger mat to place in the bowl to protect against unsightly mariing of the finish. I was advised to get a good one so went to Lowe's and dropped $22 for auger (cheapie for $7 didn't look none too sturdy) plus a $7 mat. Save your money on the mat and cut one out of a gallon milk bottle.

Don't know what it removed but it fixed the problem in a couple minutes of labor.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Don't guess I'd ever heard of a closet auger; had to look up a couple of pictures on the Internet. Was this your new home with the problem. I can recall one new home that had a problem with one toilet and we found that someone on the constuctioin crew had dropped a little scrap of 2 x 4 about 3" or so long into the drain before the toilet was installed.

[Pat]

Bird, it is a good new bad news story. The good news is that it isn't in our new home. The bad news is it couldn't be our new home because there are no installed toilets yet.

It is my mom's house. There are two master suites with private baths at one end and a guest room with hall bath opposite at the other end of the house. The septic connection is at opposite end away from the hall bath. All three worked fine and then suddenly one day the hall bath required plunging everytime toilet paper was flushed. A test flush after plunging always went fine. As the other toilets flushed OK, apparently "SOMETHING" got in the one and offered means of trapping paper. Anyway, the plumber on my new house construction offered to loan me a closet auger but I figured I should buy one. One of the partners in my GC outfit used to be in charge of all maintenance at a large nursing home and made the same recommendation, get a closet auger.

So, I did, and all is well.

I was cautioned that a regular plumber's snake may wad up and not go where it is supposed to and that in wadding up they have been known to jam and or crack a comode.

Once I saw what my wife came back with from Lowe's I remembered seeing them before but didn't know the name nor had I ever used one. I do think the rubber closet auger mat (sold separately) is a good thing to use with it to avoid scratching the visible part of the bowl but had I known about it in advance, I would have fashioned a substitute out of a piece of a plastic gallon milk jug.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[RobS]

And here I was thinking the closet auger would be a nifty way to lift the clean clothes from the laundry room up to the master closet [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Glad all worked out for you Pat. Also happy to hear this wasn't your new house. Any idea on when your move in will be [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Rob, When I heard "CLOSET AUGER" I thought of drilling holes in a closet.

Move in? I almost forgot about that phase. I thought like the Greek dude pushing the rock up the hill in Hades, that the intermediate phase lasted forever.

Quoting, OK would you believe paraphrasing?, "The Mythical Man Month", If an omlet is to be served quicker than normal, do you leave the heat set as usual and serve it raw or do you set the heat higher and serve it raw but burned on the edges? Like an omlet, this house project takes as long as it takes. Or a different anology... It takes about 9 months to produce a baby and it doesn't matter how many women you put on the job it still takes about 9 months.

Another... you can't push a rope. I have found no way to expedite the job. My GC assures me that if there were more clean, straight, and sober workers qualified to do what we needed done he'd already have them on the job. The two young brothers who were framing were switched to a different project. They were replaced by brothers of one of my GC partners. The pace of progress has picked up considerably as they work more than 25 hours a week. The plumbers have been working this past week and the roofer showed up for a few days.

The progress has at least doubled this week and was up significantly last week too. Then comes the holidays. Still I feel confident that we will be in before the 4th of July (or at least we have a good chance.)

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[bgott]

This thread is a little old, I don't get over here too often. Anyway, I am the proud owner of 23 toilets that can end up with just about anything down them. I have owned both the cheapo closet augers and the expensive Rigid auger sold at HD. It's been my experience that el cheapo works a lot better than the expensive one. The next time you are at a store with both compare the tips. The Rigid has a nice, civilized potato masher looking end on it.. It's great for shoving a wad of soft solids through ( is that an oxymoron or what? [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] ). Nice and safe, you don't have to worry about bumping the end against yourself and breaking the skin. Now, look at the cheapo. The end is primatively twisted with the wire poking out dangerously. You could hurt yourself on that! That nasty looking wire is what will get a hold of matchbox cars, toothbrushes, the toilet paper roller and other foriegn objects that can end up down the hopper. This thread came to mind when, an hour ago, we had to pull a toilet and pack it outside to remove a toothbrush that the high dollar Rigid couldn't remove after a multitude of attempts. Another little piccadillo I've observed on new construction or after "licensed" plumbers have been on the job. Some of those "proffessionals" like to drop the empty PVC glue cans down the DWV pipes to save themselves a little clean up. It works great until a can hooks a protrusion and turns sideways and then you have a blockage that is a real treat to unstop. Good Luck and happy fishing!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]