Why is My Toilet Not Flushing Properly?

Is your toilet not fully flushing – all the way out to the city sewer? You’ll know if you’re having problems with an incomplete flush; it’ll be sluggish, like there’s not enough force to take it down the drain; or you may notice a slight (or not so slight) sewer smell in your bathroom.

When you call Gary’s Quality Plumbing for help, we’ll check that the sewer line is graded properly, that it’s unbroken and free of roots and other plant life. We’ll look at your toilet; Some of them are so poorly engineered that they can’t give you a good flush. We’ll check to see that the toilet and drain are installed per code and manufacture instructions. Deviation from this can cause problems from the toilet all the way out to the city sewer line. And last, but not least, we’ll investigate what’s getting flushed down the toilet. Flushing the wrong items down the toilet will not only clog the toilet; they can damage the drain itself.

To diagnose and fix problems like these, you need a professional plumber. When a drain clogs, there’s usually a reason for the backup beyond something getting stuck in the drain. You need to find out why it got stuck to begin with. Our plumbers can visually inspect the inside of your sewer line with a camera after the line is cleared, exposing any potential defects in the drain. Skipping that step means the problem can easily reoccur in the future.

But there is also one simple thing that you can do to prevent problems in the first place:

Don’t put trash down the toilet. Seems simple, right? All those ‘flushable’ items you find in the store – cat litter, disposable diapers, feminine napkins, baby wipes, etc. – tend to get hung up in a drain and cause the building to back up. They’re also known to damage pump systems, city sewers, and even your local waste water treatment plant. ‘Flushable’ is a marketing ploy that every plumber wishes would be discontinued! Remember, if it isn’t toilet paper or didn’t come from your body, don’t flush it down the toilet.

What we flush is important, but sometimes the problem lurks in the sewer system, itself. Call the plumbing pros at Gary’s Quality Plumbing at 972-424-6479.