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Toilet beside a grab bar in a bathroom
The toilet before clearing the clog.

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Aisle 3 · Toilets

Toilet unclogging in North York

A toilet has a built-in S-shaped trap cast into the china. Most clogs stop right there, and a closet auger is the tool made for that curve.

  • We start at the trap, clean-out or floor drain
  • On the van: cable auger and jetter, sized to the line
  • You see the broken part before you hear a number
  • Every fixture on the run tested before we leave
Call nowTalk to a plumber(365) 990-1521
  • Licensed and insured (details on the call)
  • Price agreed before work starts
  • North York and next door

First, stop the overflow

Before anything else, reach behind the toilet and twist the little stop on its supply line to the right. If it is seized, lift the tank lid and pull the flapper closed by hand, or lift the float to stop the fill. That keeps the bowl from spilling while you think.

Plunger, then auger

A flange plunger, the kind with a soft extension at the bottom, seals into the toilet outlet. A flat cup plunger does not. Give it a dozen firm strokes with water covering the cup. If nothing moves, stop.

A plumber then uses a closet auger. Its cable sits inside a bent tube with a rubber boot that protects the porcelain. It follows the trapway around the bend and either hooks or breaks up what is there. Toys, cotton swabs, dental floss, cat litter and so-called flushable wipes are the regulars.

  • Bowl fills and drains very slowly after flushing
  • Water rises near the rim, then sinks over minutes
  • Gurgling from the tub or shower when the toilet flushes
  • Recurring clog with the same toilet

Before anything else, reach behind the toilet and twist the little stop on its supply line to the right.

From the counter

When the toilet has to come off

If the auger will not pass, or an object is stuck that it cannot grab, we pull the toilet. That means shutting the water, draining the tank and bowl, removing the bolts and lifting it off the flange. We can then reach the object from below and run a larger cable into the closet bend and the stack. Then the bowl gets set back down on fresh wax.

If every fixture is slow, the toilet is not the problem. That is a main line blockage and needs clearing from the cleanout.

Low-flow toilets

Many North York houses swapped to low-flush toilets under the old City of Toronto toilet rebate years ago. Some early models clog easily because they lack flushing power. If your toilet clogs weekly, a better-designed modern toilet may be the real fix.

Questions

Can I use drain chemicals in a toilet?

Please do not. They rarely work on a toilet clog and leave caustic water for whoever has to auger it.

Will a clog damage the toilet?

A clog itself will not, but forcing a metal snake without a protective boot can scratch the bowl. A closet auger avoids that.

How the job runs

  1. You callDescribe what is dripping, backing up or cold, and the cross streets.
  2. We ask questionsAge of the building, pipe type if you know it, where the shut-off is.
  3. We open it upTrap off, clean-out open or wall cut: find the actual fault before quoting the fix.
  4. We test itOpen each tap on that run, watch the joints dry and show you what came out.