Slow Toilet


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Old 06-18-10, 07:59 PM
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Slow Toilet

Hi, I have an upstairs toilet that flushes more slowly than usual.
First I used a toilet auger. Then I removed the toilet and ran a snake down the drain--3 times. --Still flushes slower than usual.

--It is a Kohler toilet. The tank seems to be emptying fully and the flapper stays up long enough.
--All the other drains in the house are fine. Does this rule out a clogged vent stack?
--Is a 25 foot long snake long enough to clear the toilet from the 2nd floor?
Any help appreciated. Thanks
 
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Old 06-19-10, 08:17 AM
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--Is a 25 foot long snake long enough to clear the toilet from the 2nd floor?

depends on the distance of the toilet to the main stack and what may be in between
 
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Old 06-19-10, 04:19 PM
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Has the toilet started flushing slow recently or has it always flushed slow?
 
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Old 06-19-10, 07:55 PM
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Thanks.....It flushes more slowly than usual....than it used to.
 
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Old 06-20-10, 04:22 AM
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With no other drains in the house having trouble I would start by giving the toilet a thorough snaking to insure the trap area is clear, which you have already done. You can test the toilet by taking it outside and setting it up on bricks. Fill the tank with water and flush it like you would in the house. Does it flush properly or drain slowly? If it flushes nice and strong you have confirmed the problem is not the toilet.
 
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Old 06-20-10, 04:43 AM
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Dang, that's exactly what I should've done when I had the toilet off. Thanks much.
 
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Old 06-21-10, 12:59 PM
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Toilets are pretty predictable - if the water is draining more slowly than it used to, it's pretty much guaranteed something is blocking the line. We fish something out of a toilet about once a year which the snake can bypass but which blocks the water either by itself or by catching solid material on it - spoons are a common culprit, as the snake runs past them but paper catches on them, we only find them when we remove the stool and flip it over.
 
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Old 06-21-10, 03:59 PM
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I've found houses with small children to be pretty bad. You never know what you will find. One of the worst was when a child flushed a ball down the toilet where it got stuck in the trap. Water could slowly flow around it and the snake would pass right by, but it would not flush properly. After having tried every trick in the book I finally had had enough and broke the toilet open to find the ball inside.
 
 

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