Pexels – CC0 LicenseNo one enters a bathroom to experience chaos, but that’s what happens if your toilet doesn’t flush. You may press the handle or the button or whatever setup your loo has, and then you hear the wrong sound, or worse, or nothing at all. The water may just sit there, perhaps rises a bit, and now you’re staring down at the bowl wondering if it’s about to overflow or if it’s something you can fix without needing to get too involved. Suddenly, you can’t just move on with your day, you have to deal with this annoyance.
This is one of those life frustrations that seems to have a natural sense for when it would be most inconvenient to happen, like right before guests arrive or after you’ve already run out of patience for the day.
Now, sometimes it’s a simple fix, and sometimes it’s not. The important advice is not to panic, not to flush again straight away, and to know what you’re actually looking for before you start fiddling with anything. So here are a few things to check and try before you start searching for an emergency plumber near me even if they can be a great resource, because it’s always better to know what you’re dealing with before the tools come out.
Let’s begin:
Check The Water Level In The Tank
Pop the lid off the tank and see what’s happening in there. If the water level looks low or if it hasn’t refilled at all, that’s probably your problem. It could be an issue like the float getting stuck or the valve not working properly. You can try gently moving the float arm (with waterproof cleaning gloves on) to see if the water starts coming in, and if it does, you’ve probably just unstuck it. If it doesn’t, you might need to clean the valve or replace it altogether, but at least now you know where the issue’s emanating from.
See If There’s A Blockage In The Bowl Or Trap
If the flush sounds like it’s trying its best but the water’s not going anywhere, then you’re most likely dealing with a clog. It doesn’t have to be anything huge for that to happen, as even a wad of toilet paper, a make-up wipe or a buildup of calcium in the pipe can mess with the flow, especially in older pipes or low-pressure systems. If you can get the plunger out, give it a good few solid pumps, and see if that changes the issue. Just make sure you’ve enough water in the bowl to get some pressure going, otherwise you’re just pushing air and you’ll fail to push down and unclog whatever is there.
Figure Out If It’s Time To Call For Backup
If you’ve had a look, tried the obvious steps and nothing’s improving, or worse, the water’s rising and you’re one bad flush away from a disaster we won’t go into, it’s time to step back and call someone who can handle it properly. Once you’re dealing with things like faulty pipes, blocked drains further down, or damage to the actual flush mechanism, trying to fix it yourself can make it worse and you don’t want that to become something you need to deep clean and repair your bathroom for. Just make sure to warn others in the household about the issue so they don’t walk in and make the problem worse.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily cope if the toilet doesn’t flush.
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