toothbrush in my toilet bowl!

A bit of naive question. Our kid flushed a toothbrush through the toilet bowl. I have flushed the toilet couple of times and the water seems to go through OK. Should I go ahead and use the toilet or better to call the plumber right away to get it removed? any suggestions? btw, I live in a townhouse and the toilet is upstairs. So bit concerned if it gets clogged and leaks.

Thanks for your replies in advance.

 

Get a 3' crank-handle toilet auger, feed the auger into the built-in trap of the toilet through the bowl, and crank away until you retrieve that toothbrush.
If you try to flush paper, it will catch it and clog the toilet.
If you can't dislodge it from the bowl side, you may have to pull the toilet and dislodge it from the bottom (replace the wax ring, if you do).
Good Luck!
Mike

 

Alot of tooth brushes float and it may be at the top of the water.Take water out of bowl and it may just come right down if not use a coat hanger and jiggle.Alot of tooth brushes are to long to go over the trap top but some will.

 

Plumbrich and Mike - thanks for the reply. I tried removing the water from the bowl but didn't see the brush. Tried coat hanger, didn't work either. Any trick how I can use it though? I think the brush might have passed to the bottom of the trap. The only way looks like I need to remove the toilet and re-seat. I haven't done that, is it complicated? skill level 1-10 (10 being most difficult), how would you rate that?
Also, the water seem to flush pretty well.. does it mean that I don't have to worry or is it certain that it will be in the trap? please let me know.
thanks!

 

While water is out of bowl take a compact mirror and see if you can see any of it up in toilet.If not i would try flushing it with paper.It may have passed through.If it stops up then plunge it and take all water back out and pull toilet.Hopefully luck will be on you'r side and it passed through.If you have to pull it get a new wax ring and bolts.Take supply line off toilet then take the bolts loose and pull up.Turn toilet on its side and remove tooth brush and old wax ring.Put everything back in reverse.If you run into any probems let us know.Wet dry vac is great for removing the water out of bowl and tank.Also be very carfull when lying toilet on side.

 

Just to make sure I understand:

While water is out of bowl take a compact mirror and see if you can see any of it up in toilet.
I cannot see anything with a mirror.

If not i would try flushing it with paper. It may have passed through.
Yes, the toilet paper flushes through with no problem. So can I assume the brush has pased through?

If it stops up then plunge it and take all water back out and pull toilet. Hopefully luck will be on you'r side and it passed through.

when you mean it has hopefully passed through. Does it mean that I don't need to pull out the toilet? I have not used the toliet since my kid dropped the brush. I'm just wondering if I can live without pulling the toilet out? I have a toilet auger and trying to work it through.. its just been futile. Is it definite that if we something is dropped in toilet bowl, we have to remove it? or could it have passed to the septic tank?


If you have to pull it get a new wax ring and bolts.Take supply line off toilet then take the bolts loose and pull up.Turn toilet on its side and remove tooth brush and old wax ring.Put everything back in reverse.If you run into any probems let us know.Wet dry vac is great for removing the water out of bowl and tank.Also be very carfull when lying toilet on side.
If I need to do this as last resort, I'll come back to you guys for help again. I really appreciate the advice so far! Thanks.

 

Ok. I tried to remove the toilet tank but couldn't the screw and nut are bit rusted and they keep rotating. How do I get the tank out? any suggestion?

 

You don't want to remove the tank, you want to remove the whole toilet.

 

Now that you have spun the tank bolt, there is about a 99.9% likelihood that it will start leaking so you might have created a small problem there... As for the toothbrush, if paper flushes fine, then it may have gotten by the trap... If the paper is fine, then just use the toilet unless and until it backs up... If the paper backs up, you still should not pull the toilet up... A standard 3' closet auger will retrieve something like that pretty easy... Just pick one up at the local big box... As a last resort, you can pull the toilet up and see if you can retrieve the tooth brush from the other side... By the way, a toilet that stops up won't leak unless you let it run over... It is safe to try as long as you are there to control the water flow...

 

Hello everyone!

Thanks for your help. I certainly had doubts if I can fish out the toothbrush. Finally almost after a week, I removed the toothbrush. It had not passed thru the trap so was able to pull out with an auger and help with my hand! I also cut the bolt in my tank and put a new bolt. Thanks for all for the help.. you guys saved me $150!! I sure would have gone to a plumber by tomorrow:-)

Regards,
-v